Remedios Zafra: "AI writes poems, and cultural workers write invoices, and this is terrible."

BarcelonaTo create or to imagine, you need time, but where is that time? How do we find it in an age of precariousness and in which more and more bureaucratic tasks accumulate, which new technologies do not facilitate but rather increase even more? "Those of us who dedicate ourselves to cultural work have less and less time to do creative work, because we have to dedicate many hours to bureaucracy, and there is a growing disaffection with our work," reflects the writer and essayist Remedios Zafra (Zuheros, Córdoba, 1973). "AI does the most beautiful work, like writing poems, and I have to dedicate myself to making invoices," adds the author of'Enthusiasm. Precariousness and creative work in the digital age' and Fragile. Letter on Anxiety and Hope in the New Culture, both published by Anagrama.Zafra, who participated in the cycle What is a good life?, organized in collaboration with the ARA (Argentine Association of Cultural Heritage), under the intellectual direction of philosopher Daniel Gamper and moderated by Antoni Bassas, reflected on bureaucratic burdens, lack of time, and precariousness among those dedicated to culture and creativity. Zafra not only spoke of problems, but proposed possible solutions. She offered hope.

Dedicating oneself to doing creative things can have its pitfalls. "You're so enthusiastic that it's impossible not to abuse you," someone has once told me. "Somehow, they've managed to use enthusiasm and kindness to legitimize abuse," Zafra laments. "It's been easy for these companies and institutions to assert this enthusiasm, because since we don't like it, we like it." All of this has certain dangers, especially in an increasingly precarious world of work: "It can generate frustration and a certain resentment, because there is constant competition that breaks down the bond between equals," she adds.

Deviating from the path we have set is possible

One of the advantages of working in culture is that it's a territory that allows us to address complexity and contradictions. If there's time, something that currently isn't the case because many workers are overwhelmed by bureaucratic work, we can think and imagine other alternatives. "Thinking that things can be done differently allows us to activate this positive emotion, which is hope," says Zafra. It's not easy because we're often immersed in routines, we're always in a rush, there's a temptation to delegate more and more to machines, and new technologies have led to a certain disarticulation of collectives. "Sometimes we think we should always be active, doing things, but in reality, we're immersed in a loop and we should be able to deviate, take ownership of our time, and not let technology and work infiltrate everywhere," says Zafra. "Another way to deviate is to share not so much the successes as the weaknesses."

There's the possibility of change, according to the writer and essayist. To demonstrate this, Zafra concluded the roundtable discussion at the Pedralbes Monastery with an analogy. "Feminism has used sisterhood, the alliance between equals, to demand and offer solutions for transforming society and escaping patriarchy. The positive interpretation is that it is possible to change things and improve them," Zafra concludes.