Short Summary
KUTULU BOXES: Curated boxes for unique experiences!
KUTULU is a company that designs curated boxes with different themes that will provide unique individual experiences for curious minds.
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OUR PROJECT
Support our dream project KUTULU!
We are setting up a female-led art business that aims to support interdisciplinary works between arts, crafts, research and entertainment. KUTULU is a company that creates curated boxes for different themes. Each box is designed to provide a unique individual experience for curious minds. The boxes can provide personal as well as shared activities that you can participate with others. Through KUTULU you may learn new things, interact with other KUTULU followers and have a fun day/night curated specifically for you. You may also participate in our private online events by which you will be supporting local artists, designers and business owners.
How KUTULU was born?
Kutu means box in our mother tongue, kutulu (with a box) is a reference to the Kutulu (Also known as Cthulhu) which is a fictional cosmic entity created by one of our favourite writers H. P. Lovecraft in his 1928 short story "The Call of Cthulhu". Kutulu is a hybrid creature with tentacles and dragon-like wings which was very inspirational for our company's hybrid vision.
The pandemic brought so many inconveniences and difficulties to our lives. But one of the things that we are so grateful for, is that we found ourselves in a house of collaboration and creativity when most needed. We had endless nights where we created games and art projects for each other. We organised house exhibitions, screenings and movie nights, and while we tried to keep each other safe and entertained, we started sharing these ideas with our close friends and we have received incredible feedback. This creative environment helped us deal with the anxieties we had for we felt our fields in arts & education are becoming less accessible to the public. This awareness helped us become more grounded and productive in creating our own business idea which would be helpful for our community as well.
We are not only good friends but we are also excellent collaborators. We worked in related fields for more than eight years, and we are fully trained as researchers, curators and event organisers.
Let us introduce you with some of the KUTULU boxes and ideas;
Nail Art Box:
We were always fascinated with the idea of using body parts as exhibition spaces. A couple of years ago, artist Funa Ye organised an open call for an exhibition in Nottingham where she asked participants to create an exhibition on nails. Since then, we are thinking about how the nail art community expanded as a beauty trend. We are fascinated by how nail art can be an activity where you can express yourself, your art, your mood and even your dreams by using different mediums. With our nail art box, we are not aiming to give you a final cut manicure, but more of a DIY experience where you can use different materials to create your own art while having a great time with your friends. And yes, nail art is for all ages, all genders! We will support our nail art box with workshops and commissioned designs by incredible nail artists.
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Cabinet of Curiosity Box:
Cabinets of curiosities, also known as 'wonder rooms', were small collections of extraordinary objects which inspired today’s museums. Historically, they were known to be places where people showcased their personal collections of natural findings, artworks, and curious objects with personal, scientific and mythical stories behind them. As a small replica of this unique collecting practice, which dates back to the 16th century, this box intends to revive similar interests by evoking your inner collector. With this box of wonders, you can be part of the stories that we have already started writing for you or you can also use it as a guide to create your own cabinet of curiosity.
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Artist' Box:
With the Artists' Box, we aim to introduce individual artists or art collectives by commissioning a box-based limited edition work. This box is just another way for us to show that we can use any platform to create and share art. Think this box as a portable art “space” where especially underrepresented artists could use to share their work. Each box owner will have a private link where they can reach artists' personal stories. Through this link they can also have online studio visits and access detailed information about the artists’ practice and upcoming/ongoing projects. Each year, we hope to work with at least four artists.
*Some of the artists that we are collaborating with have already started preparing their own boxes and we can't wait to share them.
Hex Box:
Hex Box is a very daring box for us! Initially focusing on the traditions of occult sciences, offerings, and charms, this box is curated for you to channel whatever memory, feeling, concern you have into a custom-made doll made by a local artisan, and partake a ritual following the instructions that you will find in the box.
*As an extension to the Hex Box, you will have the chance to reach artists, researchers, and historians who are experts on the subject and will help you to explore the secret sides of occult sciences, practices and stories.
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Play Box:
Well, we are kinky individuals, but awareness around sex and sex education came into discourse way later in our life; now, thanks to incredibly well connected online communities , this awareness could reach a wider audience. With play box you can experience an exciting erotic night where you can discover the history of sex and pleasure from different cultures and eras. You will have access to uniquely curated games which will offer you either a fun solo night or a kinky group activity ;) It could also make a thoughtful gift for your loved ones or an open invite for exploration!
*Each box will have a QR code that will lead you to a private video curated and prepared for you. This extended experience will range from instruction videos to artist studio visits and conversations with experts.
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Our project KUTULU is based on:
Eda: I am a PhD researcher and a photographer who loves working with different materials, locations, archives and people. I consider the research process as a creative and collaborative experience. With KUTULU, we will not only provide a personal experience but connect people through collaborative projects where we share our research process and create together through online talks, workshops and events. Mine: I'm an independent curator and worked in arts for more than seven years; having organised various art events and projects in different countries; I tend to see where accessibility and transdisciplinarity is still an issue in our current system. With KUTULU, we hope to share our personal experiences while supporting artists, artisans and local businesses by promoting and selling their work and products.
Knowledge production & research: We are library and archive freaks! We love learning from each other, from our communities and sharing them with broader audiences. We treat our boxes as unique art projects that can be experienced collectively as well as privately. With your support, we hope to continue our research to develop and produce our other box ideas.
Imagination: We are not afraid of expressing ourselves or think differently, and being willing to explore new perspectives.
Financial independence: We aim to raise awareness on inequalities of creative industries, including arts and education. We will, however, need to build our supporting financial structures so that we can help others as well.
Fun: Humour is a big turn on! So hopefully, KUTULU's core function will be just making people laugh while creating and learning something new!
Resilience: Staying faithful to our mission and values is essential, but we will have the flexibility to adapt what the future will bring.
At the moment, we have the prototypes and supporting events for our first five boxes. Thanks to your generous help and support, we are hoping to produce the rest of our box ideas, improve our design and find alternative ecological solutions for our packaging. With your support we will finalise our website and social media accounts where we can start launching our events with artists that will accompany our boxes at the end of this summer. Any support is highly appreciated, and we are so excited to share our journey with you all!
Risks & Challenges
As with any dream project, there are risks and challenges that may arise over the course of the launch. We believe that with your generous support we can start our online events in the following weeks and launch our company at the end of this summer but we are aware that any unexpected delays might occur due to Covid-19 restrictions.
Also unexpected delays may occur for shipping our rewards due to Covid-19 but we will keep our international supporters fully updated regarding the situation and they will know well in advance if there is likely to be a delay.
We can not wait to share KUTULU with you and also continue working on our additional ideas of how to turn this business idea into a sustainable community art project.
Other Ways You Can Help
If you can't contribute please do not worry! There are other ways you can help us:
- Spread the word! Share this campaign with your networks and friends
- Follow our Instagram account and share with others! : https://www.instagram.com/kutulu_boxes/
- And please please use the Indiegogo share tools, we have only a month to collect the support we seek!
Social Media Platforms:
Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@kutulu_boxes
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kutulu_boxes/
For all your questions & suggestions please contact us - hello@kutulu.co.uk
Thank you for supporting us!
Eda & Mine
