Noor Shamma brings postcards back into vogue

Those of us who grew up in an Internet and cellphone-free era will no doubt recollect the thrill of receiving and sending hand-written forms of communication like letters, postcards and of course, greeting cards. The rapidity of technological advancement meant these simple joys were eventually replaced by the need to keep up with the times, which rarely afforded space for introspection. When local 'artrepreneur' Noor Shamma paused to reflect on how the digital world was distancing people from each other, she was so affected that one day, she decided to do what many of us want to do but can't seem to find the time or motivation for - send a postcard. "It was a very spontaneous idea," she told City Times in a recent interview. "It was triggered after I started to think about all the challenging things happening around the world. The world can be a very ugly and inhumane place and I really had a strong feeling that although the digital world that we all now access every day has many positives, it can be hugely impersonal. My phone is practically glued to my hand every day and I realised that we are losing the essence of physical, written communication and interaction with one another. So I just did it. I sent a simple postcard, the most basic method of physical communication, to family, friends and strangers."
Noor said sending these first postcards eventually led to something bigger and more meaningful, The Postcard Initiative.
A postcard a day - for a good cause!
In January 2015, Noor, who is Head of Communications and Public Affairs at the Paris-Sorbonne University in Abu Dhabi, posted on Instagram that she would be sending out postcards worldwide and the addresses started pouring in. She was thrilled with the response. "My idea was to send out a postcard a week; but by mid-February, I had over 70 addresses, and they drastically increased from then on. Today I have over 400 addresses from around the world. I wasn't expecting that much interest, but people worldwide were very enthusiastic and very interactive. I was thrilled. From a postcard a week to almost a postcard a day!"
The overwhelming reaction made Noor want to further develop her idea. "That is when I decided to make something more tangible out of it; find a cause and give it more meaning. The World Health Organization (WHO) releases regular statistics about blindness and eye diseases at a global scale. According to this data, every year, the number of affected people rises at an alarming rate. In fact, one person in the world goes blind every 5 seconds - over 90% of the world's visually impaired live in developing countries and over 1.4 million children below the age of 15 are blind.
"In May 2015, I approached Noor Dubai Foundation, a non-governmental non-for-profit organisation that aims to eliminate all forms of preventable blindness globally. Today, The Postcard Initiative is endorsed by the Foundation, and is an ongoing initiative that is dedicated to restoring the gift of sight. I contacted local and international artists (including photographers, doll makers, embroidery designers, visual artists, jewellery designers, fashion designers, painters, cake designers, poets, writers, graphic designers, architects, pottery artists, illustrators, floral designers, musicians and wedding designers & planners, etc.) to produce their work onto postcards for a donation fee to help cure blindness and visual impairment.
"I have a total of 53 submissions by 41 artists of over 20 different creative professions and 15 nationalities. These artists' talents and submissions are so diverse yet they all share one thing in common: The art of giving. I am truly privileged to be working with these artists whilst exposing their amazing work, all for a good cause. It's really quite ironic that I managed to revive classic communication through modern communication tools. This project (The Postcard Initiative) combines both - it was launched via social media and it connects to people through both the digital (social media) and the real world (postcards). I think it's a really interesting process and maintains a real sense of humanity."
Design your own postcard!
Noor has also launched the Design Your Own Postcard project as part of The Postcard Initiative. She said, "Children, and even adults, can take part in the very creative process of designing their own postcard, where they also get to write messages to family and friends or choose to send these postcards to the children in developing countries (to be arranged via The Postcard Initiative and Noor Dubai Foundation). The price per postcard is Dhs25 only. And for every postcard bought, one child in a developing country gets a pair of glasses. I have already conducted a few Design Your Own Postcard workshops hosted in different locations in the capital, and many entities have helped promote this initiative."
While modern technological applications are undoubtedly necessary, Noor feels that sometimes, we should revisit some of the older ways of existence.
"Letters and postcards combine the different arts of writing, communication and expression. Not only that, but the whole experience of receiving mail, the stamps, the handwriting, the smell of the paper, and so on, it is all loaded with a physical energy - something you can touch and feel, as well as emotion. There's anticipation, excitement, longing and so much more. I think the physical and the digital should coexist," she said.
The sentiment that went into writing and posting letters/cards in earlier days is quite rare in youngsters today because of the ease and speed of using technology like WhatsApp and the Internet. Does she feel like the human touch has been lost somewhere along the way as far as communication is concerned?
"Yes. Unfortunately, we tend to spend more time on our phones than we do with family and friends. With the digital world taking over, everything has become so predictable and there's nothing to look forward to anymore. We have been exposed to people's behavioural patterns, lives and interests to an extent where there is no longer a surprise factor. We've established that familiarity with strangers despite the fact that we've never technically met. That can be beautiful, but it is very scary, because it feels like we are losing that humane touch to relationships. As basic and simple as postcards are, they bring back that tangible feel to communicating. I think people miss that."
Postcards brought  about a change in perspective for Noor.
"I now realise what really matters the most and how something so little for one person can be a lot for others. Holding something physical in your hands sent to you by another person with their handwriting on it really does mean something," she said.
The Postcard Initiative has received a good response from outside the UAE as well, says Noor.
"The reactions I have been getting from people receiving those postcards are truly wonderful. There is gratitude and joy - and the desire to connect and communicate. It's been overwhelming, in a beautiful way!
There are currently over 450 addresses from over 150 cities from 50 countries around the world on my mailing list!"
Noor has a busy future planned.
"My hands are quite full between the postcard initiative, my full-time job, my master studies, some pop-up art workshops and arts & crafts classes that I conduct frequently - and of course my 7-year-old daughter. However, I am currently working on new pieces for my first solo art-exhibition that will be happening during the first quarter of 2017. Additionally, there are a few very exciting projects and collaborations to be revealed soon," she said.
enid@khaleejtimes.com