‘The year 22 was a catch-22. We literally all lived through difficult circumstances from which there was no escape’, states Moe Minkara, Executive Creative Director & Founder of Beirut-based Mink agency. In the following interview, Minkara gives us a glimpse into his agency’s journey over the past year, how they navigated the myriad of challenges, managed to thrive while also keeping a positive mood all through.

To continue functioning in a country where nothing functions is in itself a miracle. Could you share with us what are the efforts that have been deployed all through the year to keep your business alive amid the successive crises and stay inspired in an environment that doesn’t help creative inspiration to flow naturally?

The year 22 was a catch-22. We literally all lived through difficult circumstances from which there was no escape. Yet, if you look at the speed of jokes and often dark humor that comes out of the Lebanese instantly after an issue, a national catastrophe, or a disadvantage of some sort you would quickly understand that our environment is not what is halting or slowing our creativity and inspiration as a nation. I would rather blame it on the inhumane distractions that we have had to live with for years now, such as the lack of electricity, fuel, the continuous political deadlock, the banking system… I can probably go on forever. Like many others, we have built our own creative bubble and we all live humbly in it. We do our best to keep the mood positive and we go out of our way to invest in the needed infrastructure to ensure that at least within our own space, things function, as they should. It is all about creative discipline. I am a firm believer that motivation and inspiration have their peaks whereas discipline yields consistency. Without creative discipline we would not have made it through.