Aleksandra Bora | Event Planner

A long time before The Pixel Trade project I always wanted to visit Spain. Whenever I heard the notes of Spanish music or tasted the flavours of Spanish food, it just seemed perfect. I touched down in Barcelona and for an unbelievable long week I got to spend time with Aleksandra and her partner Rob in a small village called Teià, just outside of the city.

The Pixel Trade was focused on shooting images for Aleksandra’s move towards freelancing intimate and interesting events. Give her a shovel and a lighter and she’ll create a scene that’s perfect for any kind of gathering and will leave you wanting to have events for the sake of having them...

                    Interview with Aleksandra

Describe your most memorable adventure as a child.

I am not sure if it falls under the category of an adventure but it's the first thing that springs to my mind. When I was a child, my family spent 4 years living in Sweden and the last summer before we moved back to Poland, we went on a big camping road trip through most of Sweden and Norway. I have great memories of nature, landscapes, discoveries and being happy with basics and I'm pretty sure that month left me in love with both travel and Scandinavia until now. It was probably also the most memorable thing we did as a family. My parents liked the trip so much they borrowed money towards the end of it in order to see more. You've got to know we were soon going back to Poland which was still behind the iron curtain with limited travel possibilities beyond it. Luckily things changed rather soon.

What kind of events do you like organising?

What I like to organise most are social events with a theme. The more it evolves around great music, beautiful local food and people wanting to be with each other the better and what makes me tick are unusual venues – hard to find, unique and surprising. I'd like to do more intimate things that celebrate something beautiful – an occasion, a person, an experience.

Was there ever an event when something went completely wrong?

Of course! Nearly every time you organize something there's a challenge. I have dealt with crisis due to a bird flu outbreak, a flood, extreme weather conditions, strikes, theft, fires, heart attacks… you name it. But what is beautiful is what happens to people who step in and help make things work. It's the nicest part of my work – see how a crisis makes a team. There's just one thing I haven't yet found a cure for: large amounts of alcohol at corporate sales parties. Things go down to a level you'd rather forget about your clients ;-)

What is the most difficult part of what you do professionally?

For the last few years it has been being away from home far too much. I have made sure others have a great time while my own life was changing shape back home. This is the main reason for which I'd love to spend more time organizing events that lay closer to my heart than some companies great sales results.

What inspired you to live in Spain

Love.

What was one of the most dangerous times of your life?

The most dangerous times in my life have always been related to either losing someone I loved or being afraid that I'll lose them.

When was the last time you cried?

Last week. I'm glad you asked when and not why ;-)

If you could teach a group of kids one thing, what would it be?

Out of the serious things in life, it would be tolerance. But a skill I had as a child that would be worth passing on was storytelling to myself. It was priceless to be able to entertain myself.

Describe your most memorable adventure as an adult.

Ha! That would be a funny one. I guess moving to Barcelona and making it a home without going mad is my biggest grown up adventure. I'm not the Peter Pan type, but I am sure Barcelona keeps me young at heart and I hope it will continue to do so forever.

If you had to recommend a favourite music album, what would it be?

I'm hooked on songs more than entire albums but if I close my eyes and think of a perfect background for a road trip with Rob and Ticky then we play Eddie Vedder's "Into the Wild".