CURRENT MISSION

To experience the illusions of our reality

ABOUT ME

Hello! Pleased to meet you, I'm Dominique. I am a nomadic artist and although I have been based in London for 12 years, the last 5 years, I have been travelling the world, learning, observing, doing art projects and participating in communities as much as I can. I am fascinated by the myriad cultures and people of the world. I am a mix myself, half French and half Indian and this mix of east and west seems to give me a great advantage of being very adaptable to any situation. I've lived in quite a few different places and at least 3 continents including Africa. I make art, I dance, I walk and I like to look out of the window on the plane.

PHILOSOPHY

True freedom is space and time, possessions take up energy and attention.
Morality=responsibility.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I host and I have also surfed a couch in the past. I would like to participate in both ways when I can as well as just find opportunities to meet CS community members.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I've been hosted in Toulouse by an inspiring young couple while I was attending a dance workshop. My hosts were so friendly and welcoming that it turned into one of the best breaks. Through them I met a little CS community too.I have hosted a couchsurfer but not through CS, it was through a friend of a friend of a friend scenario. She was actually the first person to tell me about CS. And I thought 'what a wonderful idea!'

Interests

As a self-employed artist, you could say all my time is free or none of it is! All my time is spent feeding into my ideas through making, drawing, dancing, books, exhibitions, performances, walking, daydreaming. I love reading especially philosophy, cultural and social theory, poetry, spiritual and inspiring literature. I love philosophizing as well as aiming to create a more equal, responsible, truthful and inspired world and I have been doing a great deal of research into gift economies and how a future model for our globe could include this principle as one of its main tenets.

• arts
• books
• literature
• poetry
• performing arts
• dancing
• dining
• yoga
• modeling
• meditation
• walking
• drinking
• reading
• traveling
• drawing
• magic

Music, Movies, and Books

I like independent and world cinema, some favourites are Tarkovsky, Peter Greenaway, Derek Jarman. I love music, more genres than I can name but especially African music, I've heard some great bands from Cameroon, Senegal, Mali. I also love classical music, Mozart, Purcell, Mahler, and more. Then again I really enjoy electronic and sound music, I appreciate many modern composers and artists and one band I've noticed and like is Wildbird and Peacedrums. Others include Arcade Fire, Coco Rosie, Feist, Cat Power...well a whole load of music. Books: as I said philosophy, theory (Baudrillard, Zizek), psychoanalysis (Jung), art but also some fiction authors like Tom Robbins, Martin Amis. Classics like DH Laurence, Thomas Hardy. One book I've hugely enjoyed was 'The Magus' by John Fowles. I love reading and normally read at least 3 books at a time.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

When I was travelling in Egypt many many years ago. I had just spent my last money on a trans-desert taxi. I didn;t even have money for a cup of tea when we stopped in th freezing midnight desert. There was a very kind fellow passenger, a man who was going to Cairo for his work, by no means a rich man. He had bought himself a tea and a little bit of food. He saw me and my partner with nothing to eat or drink and insisted on giving us half of what was on his plate and in his cup. This generosity and awareness of others has stayed with me since.

Teach, Learn, Share

I teach performance and dance, yoga, meditation. I am very encouraging of any attempt someone makes to develop their personal talents as I believe that by tapping into these we can find true happiness and joy.

What I Can Share with Hosts

Experiences, local knowledge, sometimes a space.

Countries I’ve Visited

Armenia, Australia, Egypt, Georgia, Greece, India, Italy, Norway, Portugal, South Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

France, Germany, Japan, Seychelles, South Africa, Spain, United Kingdom, Zimbabwe