Kinga Burza: A Few Of My Favourite Things

From I Kissed A Girl to this year's Tui spot, Forever's Kinga Burza ability to flip between music video, fashion film and commercial work has marked her as an artist of merit for well over a decade.

Based in Paris, and with a Polish-Australian background, Burza's eclectic tastes are showcased in the items she's chosen for this Favourite Things piece; ranging from some treasured (and seriously impressive) artwork from her child to a home cinema setup that has the shots editorial team jealous.

The Ceramics & Art Work

I love ceramics and always have collected pieces from my travels. 

Hand-painted vases, candle holders, teapots, lamps, plates, bowls, whatever I can normally fit in my backpack. 

Now I may have passed on this fever onto my six-year-old who, for almost a year now, has been making lovely pottery works of her own. 

It’s so incredible to see the result of her brain connecting to her hands with a little bit of terracotta and paint. 

Probably a parents cliché, but my kid's artwork is treasured and adored more than any other in our house.

The Books

I used to indulge in films more than books, pre-kids, pre-covid, when going to the cinema was effortless and spontaneous and I could stay up as late as I wanted with minimal consequences. 

Then reading to my kids refreshed my itch for written storytelling and the accessibility to pick up a book anytime, anywhere and read as little or a lot was a great comfort especially during confinement when personal time was scarce. 

I am often inspired by stories so find that I gravitate mostly to fiction but non-fiction has had great importance too, especially if I’m stuck when writing. 

Reading about writing seems to calm and comfort should I ever get into a panic over writer's block.

The Sentimental Notes

If you’ve written me a handwritten note, I’ve most probably kept it. 

I am quite partial to handwritten letters, cards, postcards and pretty stationery. 

Upon receiving these little love notes, I tend to dump them in a dedicated shoe box and every once in a while I'll go through them and it makes my heart sing to remember back to special milestones and moments shared from loved ones. 

I have great aspirations to arrange them in a fancy album one day.

The Projector

In that previous life, (pre-covid, pre-kids) the cinema was my most frequented happy place but then I placed a projector above my bed opposite a white empty wall and subscribed it to all the streaming channels one can afford and it became the next best thing. 

Between Apple TV, Netflix, Mubi, OCS and iTunes and all the DGA awards show screeners, I’ve never felt more overwhelmed to make a decision on what to watch first. 

The only negative to having so many choices is that I can literally spend an entire evening scrolling through film trailers until I fall asleep.