since 2002, samina has scoured the globe unearthing creative initiatives across the emerging cities of latin america, asia and europe, as well as the rural settlements of the peruvian amazon and the western saharan desert. she has been the denizen of several urban societies; born in london, based between new york and barcelona, and previously lived in madrid, istanbul, houston, texas, and washington dc.

profoundly enchanted by the marvels of our creative spirits, samina is addicted to the discovery of fresh, authentic artistic expressions and movements. her work has evolved from journalism, ethnographic research and trend analysis, to the creation and production of provocative happenings, content collaborations with multi-disciplined artists, curating and commissioning, as well as the founding of a global members society of creatively eccentric magnetic individuals called the rabbit hole.

as a journalist, she has worked for and been published by several international publications including time out, wallpaper, british airways high life, and planet magazine, as well as served as the editor-in-chief of time out istanbul. samina has been quoted as a cultural expert in publications such as city magazine about global urban cultural trends and regularly lectures about social behaviours, and the creation of communities at the institute of european design (ied) in barcelona.

an approach called 'topsy turvy' consciousness

as a consequence of 8 years of global investigations, samina has developed a philosophical approach to her work called 'topsy turvy consciousness' – questioning, reinventing, untangling ideologies and forms; digging deeper to unearth our creative potential.

reflective of her investigations, in what she cites as the natural course of current global predicaments, 'topsy turvy' is a detangling approach to society's constructs, proposing a new space to expand and evolve our creative consciousness.

"as the repertoire of global icons across all infrastructures and systems – politics, religion, finance– has gone rather topsy turvy, an enormous space is emerging where every discourse is called to attention. things are not what they seemed, or rather, perhaps they were never what they were. traditional signifiers that connote value, identity and to which we attribute meaning have collapsed. topsy turvy consciousness dives in this marvelous current predicament, inviting imagination and creative consciousness to playfully embrace the unique dialogue that is emerging, and to propel a new and spirited  freedom of interpretation" - extracted from a behavioural report for sky tv.

ethnographies

applying this approach, samina detects and taps into both urban and rural social frameworks through first-hand contact and experience; engaging in on-the-ground exploration of unmarked street corners and alleyways on a quest to discover raw, creative authentic expressions in all its forms. this deep burrowing research is coupled with a robust repertoire of primary and secondary information sources, streaming from 37 cities across 4 continents, establishing a solid knowledge base which is both time-sensitive and future-forward.


graduating from georgetown's school of foreign service with a degree in culture and politics and a specialization in cultural anthropology, social theory and semiotics, samina identifies her findings within the context of societal dynamics, drawing cross cultural connections and assessing the macro importance for institutions and brands.

her portfolio of stories ranges from identifying "the emergence of fictional multiple identities amongst istanbul youth" to "fantasy defined as luxury within american society."

samina regularly consults the advertising industry as a behaviour and trend analyst, conducting tailored investigations involving video ethnographies, qualitative research, knowledge dissemination and applied strategy for a myriad of clients worldwide including sky tv, wgsn, youth intelligence, flamingo international, peep, crowd dna, anomaly and lowe counsel, among others.   

content creator, event provocateur, social instigator

a curious and hyperactive networker, samina applies her topsy turvy approach to earmark an distinct collective of burgeoning artists, creators, and cultural instigators worldwide – some definitive tastemakers and others yet undiscovered – all of whom she describes as "topsy turvy discourse challengers" - those digging deeper to explore their creative force.

with this combination of resources and network, samina is regularly approached as a curator and creative consultant to develop agendas, messaging and creative content for brand community initiatives and festivals.

the rabbit hole

in 2009, samina created the rabbit hole. an international highly interactive community of creative madhatters that challenge, question and reinvent ideologies. at its core, she creates, curates and produces experiential happenings or "scripted scenarios" to inspire the collective's creative potential, commissioning and collaborating with artists to create original works from their experiences. she has produced happenings at the chelsea art museum, on board a 14 hour moving yellow double decker bus in new york city, a catamaran in the mediterranean sea, among other sites.

the rabbit hole's ethos and community has attracted brands like le tourment vert absinthe and sud de france with whom samina has collaborated with to develop specific content, bridging the dialogue between brands, institutions and artists, and collaborating with a spectrum of multi-disciplined creators to develop original works that express 'topsy turvy consciousness.'

"the rabbit hole unravel discourses, unleashes creative potential and produces original works. it is a crystallization of topsy turvy consciousness, my global investigations of creative movements and social behaviors, and the repertoire of exquisite individuals who have inspired this ideology."

samina is currently immersed in the urban rabbit holes bogota, istanbul, barcelona and berlin. her latest project will investigate west african music communities at the festival in the desert, held in the sahara desert timbuktu in january 2011. among more sensible methodology, her research tools include bubbles, mousetraps and white feathers.