Empowerment Interventions
Does It Matter Where They Come from?: Puppetry with a New Agenda
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Marie Kruger
As the background to exploring a new agenda in puppetry, this paper starts with a brief overview of the most noticeable social and political agendas that have included puppets, ranging from political propaganda and the scuffle between political enemies, to the fight for gender equality and informative actions that had the potential to address educational and social problems. The focus of the paper, however, is on a new agenda, which centres on the plight of uprooted people – asylum seekers, political refugees and economic migrants – from societies locked into conditions of extremism, war, conflict and extreme poverty. The plight of people from high-stress environments, desperately crossing borders and wandering over the oceans looking for a place to improve their welfare, while trying to deal with the emotional struggle that stems from displacement and the frequent hostility of surrogate societies, drives this new agenda. Working on the borderlines between entertainment and education, some activities take place in refugee camps as new sites of reception and even sites of production, concentrating mainly on young refugees who are suffering mental and emotional damage arising from wartime events and life as a refugee. At the other end of the spectrum are a number of professional performances at schools and art festivals, in community halls and even mainstream theatres to promote attitudes and behaviours that will promote harmonious coexistence and respect for refugees and other migrants by cultivating a critical approach towards discriminatory and racist or xenophobic attitudes in surrogate societie
Pacification or Empowerment?: Art-based Initiatives for the Well-being of Refugees and Asylum Seekers
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Kate Phillips
There are unprecedented numbers of refugees. High levels of mental distress identified in this population often remain unmet through psychological and community services. Factors such as language, culture and trauma could influence efficacy and acceptability. The non-verbal and symbolic potential for expression within art-making may provide a unique form of intervention. Non-clinical approaches may also be advantageous. A mixed-methods systematic review was undertaken to ascertain the effectiveness of art-based interventions with refugees. The review is inclusive of art therapy and other visual art-for-health initiatives such as participatory art. No exclusions were made on the basis of age, country of origin or settlement context. The included articles were analysed to identify context- mechanism-outcome relationships and produce a realist synthesis. Initiatives using a range of mediums were identified including painting, drawing, sculpture, weaving and photography. Study designs and interventions were heterogeneous, reflecting a range of formats, modalities and methodologies. Findings suggest that involvement in art-based interventions correlates with reductions in symptoms such as anxiety, and improvements in well-being measures such as self-esteem. Important aspects of the process include memory, mourning, identity, hope, occupation, creative self-expression, a sense of connection and the (re)construction of meaning. Art-based approaches offer a useful and acceptable range of interventions to help improve the well-being of refugees. Consideration of the variety of contextual factors may help to optimize the creative and relational elements central to these interventions, and to further develop approaches seeking to improve personal well-being and effect social change.
Asylum Seekers Creating Art in Academia
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Tali Gil, Ephrat Huss, Vered Slonim-Nevo
Asylum seekers from Africa in Israel were taught six courses by volunteer lecturers from various local and academic institutions. They were accompanied by real fear of the future: the knowledge that they must choose between prolonged imprisonment without a release date and a voluntary return to Africa The theoretical framework on which the activity is derived from a multidisciplinary vision that includes forgiveness as a therapeutic tool, socially-engaged art in connection with theories of art as a space of resilience and re-framing, and social theories in which art is a shared space that generates knowledge about the asylum seekers' experiences. This study examines the above theories through the analysis of artistic activity in project shared by the asylum seekers and the volunteers who accompanied them. The research findings show that through the language of art, they succeeded in processing painful experiences, memories, difficulties, suffering, and longing. The painting gave participants ways to deal with the current situation and to express protest, hope, and even attempts at forgiveness. The experience also provided the participants with a trigger for discourse within the group itself and with the facilitators and volunteers, as representatives of the dominant society, and thus to communicate in it the experts, who ultimately tell their story. The combination of all the paintings into one joint work and the discovery of the FREE YOUR MIND slogan illustrates the spirit and strength of the project and a sense of partnership within the group and with the volunteers.
