Artistic Activities Research Articles

Promoting Health and Wellbeing Through Non-Clinical Arts Programming: Multi-Stakeholder Perspectives From the Veterans Health Administration.

While the value of art therapy is well-established and arts are increasingly leveraged to promote health and wellbeing more broadly, little is known about the impacts of non-clinical arts programs. In this preliminary investigation, we sought to fill this gap by exploring diverse stakeholders' perspectives on the impacts of non-clinical arts programming on Veterans receiving care at the Veterans Health Administration (VA). Semi-structured qualitative interviews with Veterans, VA staff, and community partners. Interviewees were recruited from 7 VA medical centers that have recently implemented non-clinical arts programming to promote Veterans' health and wellbeing, some of them in partnership with community organizations. 33 individuals were interviewed, including 9 Veterans, 14 VA staff, and 10 community partners involved in non-clinical arts program implementation. Interview transcripts were analyzed using iterative rounds of qualitative content analysis. The following impacts on Veterans were described: (1) mental health improvements, (2) renewed sense of purpose; (3) increased social connectedness, (4) improved self-esteem, and (5) self-driven engagement in art activities. Non-clinical arts programming was perceived by diverse stakeholders to offer important benefits for Veterans' health and well-being. Offering non-clinical arts programming inside and outside healthcare facilities' walls is a promising direction for the field of public health undergoing a shift towards holistic approaches to improving individual and population health outcomes.

Adapting, expanding and embedding community and culture into health ecosystems

Abstract Background Community anchor organisations (CAOs) work with communities who experience health inequalities and disadvantage, providing a range of activities and services to meet individuals’ needs in an integrated way. This study explored how CAOs use art, cultural and nature-based activities as part of their work to respond to the needs of people facing inequalities and considered how activities can be scaled in this health setting. Methods This study used community-based participatory research within a case study approach to work with four purposively sampled CAOs. Participants were community members, volunteers, staff, trustees, partner organisations and commissioners. Data collection methods included: document analysis, interviews (n = 45), workshops (n = 5) and focus groups (n = 11). This study was also supported by data collected by trained community researchers (n = 18). Framework analysis was conducted for within- and cross-case analysis. Results In the context of CAOs, the delivery of art, cultural and nature-based activities were found to be an important mechanism for developing trusted relationships with marginalised groups, who may lack trust in statutory services and health focused activities. Other facilitators to community engagement were the CAOs’ longevity, localness and co-location of services within a trusted and familiar place that connect people to personalised support. Barriers to scaling up included funding models as well as insufficient dialogue and understanding between CAOs and the local public health ecosystem. Conclusions CAOs have long term trusted relationships with disadvantaged communities and are influential in connecting individuals with projects and services. Findings suggest that the effectiveness of action to address inequality through art, cultural and nature-based activities could be improved if the role of CAOs was recognised more coherently in place-based public health plans. Key messages • Creative activities enable meaningful engagement with disadvantaged groups within place-based settings. • CAOs must be recognised more coherently in place-based strategies to reduce health inequalities.

Arts and Mental health

Abstract Art includes performing arts, visual arts, literature, culture, and online/digital products. Its interventions are multimodal, combining a variety of activities, such as evoking emotions, emotional and cognitive stimulation, and imagination. Depending on the type of art, they may also involve social interaction, physical activity and communication. There is a large body of research suggesting that art engagement can enhance different dimensions of mental well-being (eudaimonic well-being, life satisfaction, evaluative well - and positive emotions). Some or all of these benefits have been found in individuals who participate in art activities. Based on these findings, art on prescription has been used in some European countries, including the United Kingdom, and Scandinavian countries. Art on prescription is mostly delivered in partnership with art organizations. The aim of this talk is give an overview on art on prescription in different countries in Europe and enhance understanding of the mechanism for whom art on prescription is a promising intervention in the field of mental health. Building on the mapping and review of reviews challenges of art interventions will be discussed such as study design or evaluating effectiveness and identifying population groups for whom art interventions work best.

THE SYN(ES)THESIS PROJECT – A MULTI-PURPOSE EXPERIMENT IN INTERDISCIPLINARY ARTS

In the spring of 2021, the “Pancho Vladigerov” House Museum in Sofia brought to life a new creative initiative that aimed to simultaneously enlarge the scope of the museum’s activities, open up new artistic paths, and allow for an innovative approach to the cultivation of a wider audience base given the ongoing pandemic at the time. In April of the same year, the SYN(es)THESIS Project was officially introduced to the public through its inaugural concert exhibition; since then, it has involved the partnership and support of no less than twelve institutions in Bulgaria and has culminated in three complete annual editions with multiple events and components. Three years later, with a remarkable array of creative results in several artistic fields, the project presents the intriguing tale of an original interdisciplinary experiment. This paper invites a closer look into its structure and organization, its participants' compelling and inspired productions, and its potential for further expansion into new creative territories following its main established principles. In its essence, the SYN(es)THESIS Project aims to explore the multitude of possibilities for synthesis, interactions, and interconnections between the various arts through inspired individual and group-coordinated creative work. As such, it is meant to build bridges, often in unexpected ways, between artists, artistic disciplines, and institutions at multiple levels, even between the educational and professional spheres and their respective audiences. To foster the above goals, the project employs an array of creative approaches that, as its very name suggests, allow for manifold combinations and artistic interpretations. In practice, the root words “SYN” (Greek, “together”), “THESIS” (“statement”), “aesthesh” (“feeling”), and “SYNTHESIS” all have a certain relationship to its main guiding principles; and, while the number of these morphemes is fixed, the project does provide an open framework in which the potential directions for artistic work can, at least in theory, be limited only by one’s imagination and the specific relationships between the various creative mediums. In this regard, the project encompasses a rather open general format; concurrently, with every new session, all possibilities are narrowed down to specific combinations of artistic activities. This consequently allows for a clear, yet ever-evolving structure to be re-established as the basis for creative work.

ИКОНОМИЧЕСКИЯТ И ПОЛИТИЧЕСКИЯТ КОНТЕКСТ И ВЛИЯНИЕТО ИМ ВЪРХУ РАЗВИТИЕТО НА ПЪРФОРМАНС АРТА ПРЕЗ ПЪРВАТА ПОЛОВИНА НА ХХ ВЕК

The study investigate the influence that the economic, political and cultural context had on artists expressing their ideas through the means of performance in the first half of the 20th century. Dynamic changes in every field of social life, and especially in the scientific and technical, directly or indirectly, stimulate artists to publish manifestos, search for a synthesis between the arts, protest artistic actions, or those aimed at self-examination. These attitudes impact the discovery and practice of new forms of expression in modern art.

The association between empathy and artistic practice: a cross-sectional study with medical students

BackgroundEmpathy is essential to medical practice, and efforts to cultivate it often include incorporating liberal arts into medical curricula to promote it. However, the association between empathy and engagement in artistic practice beyond the medical curricula remains unclear. This study aims to assess the association between medical students´ empathy and their engagement in artistic activities.MethodsStudents enrolled at 11 Portuguese medical schools were invited to participate in an online survey. The survey included questions about their artistic practice, and the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI) to measure empathy.ResultsA total of 450 medical students completed the survey. 158 students (35%) were actively engaged in the arts, 118 of which practiced music (75%). Participants involved in artistic activities demonstrated significantly higher scores in the Fantasy subscale compared to their peers. Participants engaged in multiple artistic activities scored significantly higher in overall IRI, as well as in Empathic Concern and Fantasy subscales, compared to those practicing only one artistic activity. Participants who began their artistic practice earlier tended to achieve higher scores in overall IRI and on the Empathic Concern subscale.ConclusionsThe present study highlights a significant positive association between artistic practice and empathy levels among medical students. Further research is recommended to clarify this association, potentially informing revisions to medical school curricula.

Enhancing Creativity: The Impact of Multilingualism on Creative Arts Instruction and Expression in South African Schools

Teachers heavily rely on the dominant language of instruction—a spoken and written mode of communication—rather than expressing creative art forms through actions, signs, symbols, and other means. The reliance on monolingual forms of instruction to teach these art forms may diminish their efficacy. This research thus aimed to optimise the use of multilingualism in the context of Creative Arts and expression. Teachers teach Creative Arts with the aim of equipping learners with fundamental knowledge and skills in the arts, thereby fostering creativity, imagination, and appreciation for artistic activities. Multilingualism also entails using the human senses to see, understand, and navigate the various symbolic worlds humans encounter. The study adopted a transformational paradigm based on qualitative participatory research, focusing on ten eighth-grade learners purposefully selected from a particular school. Semiotics, the study of signals and the epistemology of their presence in society, served as the theoretical foundation for the research. The researcher collected data through focus groups and observations and then used a narrative analysis method for analysis. The findings revealed that limitations such as insufficient instructional time, a lack of training and linguistic dominance, a lack of resources, and limited preparedness impede the effective use of multilingual instructional methodologies. The researcher concludes that compulsory incorporation of semiotics in Creative Arts instruction may be crucial in fostering creative thinkers who cannot only express creative practices in a conventional manner but also use their talents in other domains, such as animation in creative practice. Keywords: Multilingualism, Creative Arts, Semiotics, Transformational Paradigm, Participatory Research.

Visual arts activities relate to interest and cortisol for children in Head Start preschool.

Visual arts activities relate to interest and cortisol for children in Head Start preschool.

The Spiritual Education Value and Practical Approaches of Early Childhood Dance

Early childhood dance is an art activity for young children created according to the characteristics of their physical and mental development, which is characterized by intuitive image, sociality, and children's fantasy. It is characterized by intuitive image to show the form of all things for young children, which shows the knowledge of truth; young children shape their good character in the collective dance environment of cooperation and communication, which is for the sake of goodness; and young children experience the charm of dance art in the dance world of children's fantasy, which is for the sake of cultivating beauty. The truth, goodness and beauty it contains can nourish young children's hearts and promote the formation of positive psychological qualities in young children, which is an important way to educate young children. In this sense, educators should fully explore the value of early childhood dance according to the level of physical and mental development of young children, so as to achieve the dance wisdom - to promote the development of young children's cognitive ability, to dance ideology - to enhance the quality of young children's will, to dance and express their feelings. --Cultivate young children's positive emotions and feelings, nurture children's personality, and guide children's pro-social behavior. To realize dancing to nurture the heart and dancing to nurture people, and to promote the comprehensive and harmonious development of young children's body and mind.

Kim Bok-jin - the founder of national sculpture in Korea during the Japanese colonial period

This study analyzes the biography and work of Kim Bok-jin (pseudonym: Chongwan), the first Korean to graduate from the sculpture department of Tokyo University of the Arts in Japan during the Japanese colonial period (in 1925) and the first sculptor to introduce Western realist techniques to Korea. The study will also examine the national motifs in the works of Kim Bok-jin against the backdrop of a difficult historical period, and analyze a number of his little-known works through the prism of Korean studies. The main content of the study is the sculptures of Kim Bok-jin “standing woman”, “statue of Maitreya Buddha” “Baek Hwa”, “Youth (Boy)”, “Old man”. He is a significant figure in Korean sculpture: from 1925 until his death in 1940, Kim Bok-jin regularly exhibited his works at the Joseon Art Exhibition, and in addition to his artistic activities, he also ran the Art Research Institute, nurturing young artists. He also engaged in journalism, criticism, and political activity as a member of the Joseon Communist Party. The purpose of this study is to rethink the work of Kim Bok-jin, the founder of Korean sculpture, who was posthumously awarded the Order of Merit of the National Foundation in 1993.

PENINGKATAN KREATIVITAS PESERTA DIDIK MELALUI TEKNIK MENCETAK DENGAN MEDIA PELEPAH PISANG DI DESA TRUNAMANGGALA

Art is one part of the world of education that can be a means that can be used to develop the creativity of students. graphic arts is one form of encouraging students' creativity in art such as using banana leaf as a form of utilizing natural materials around in making students creative to create a graphic art such as batik. this is one of the importance of implementing a program to increase students' creativity through printing techniques with banana leaf media. The purpose of this community service is to utilize natural resources and improve creativity skills for students. This community service method uses a community education model through a graphic arts education approach. The results of this community service show the enthusiasm of students towards community service activities at elementary schools in Trunamangga Village, Cimalaka District, Sumedang Regency, where students when doing art activities printing banana leaf media show a very good and pleasant response.

Reception of War Trauma in Art: Measures of Permissible Cruelty of Reflection

The aim of the article is to study the reflection of percepting the war trauma in art in the context of the cruelty problem. Results. Ways of reception of the war topic issue in art are viewed, as well as conflict, struggle and manifestation are indicated. After conducting interviews and questionnaires, two paradigms are determined in grounding the war reception: 1) “two paradigms, possible solutions aimed at overcoming this conflict are determined. Scientific novelty. The ways of reception of the war trauma in art through reflection and adaptation are separated and analysed. Art is a safe refuge”, therefore, everything that can injure should be avoided, and during wartime, art should be exclusively entertaining (the leading directions are adaptation and allegorical escapist reflection without direct reference to traumatic topics), and 2) “Naturalistic art about war”, according to which art should be as serious and tragic as possible, faithfully convey the war horrors, avoid entertaining content (the ways of reception are naturalistic reflection and actions of art activism in manifestation options (murals) and struggle (actions of artistic resistance)). Conclusions. The conducted research shows that despite the fierce competition, the paradigms are not controversial but complementary in nature. They reflect different stages of reception and, accordingly, the aspirations of various social segments that go through these stages of trauma perception. If only one of these paradigms is defined as a generally accepted cultural policy, this can significantly discriminate some part of population: entertainment content traumatises those social segments that have undergone adaptation and are now actively working to overcome it. Therefore, they feel guilty for not being serious and sympathetic to suffering. Naturalistic art can traumatise those who suffered from the war, have not yet passed the stage of adaptation, have not yet received psychological help, do not know the means of stabilization, and seek to replenish their resource of positive emotions through art. As well as denying the entertainment component, avoiding cruelty in art is not a solution of the problem, because in times of war people are in different life situations, and turn to art with various purposes. The practice of warning about somewhat sensitive content is quite effective, helping art to find a proper audience and helping to overcome trauma.

Painting workshops for people living with dementia as a means of expression and communication: revelations from our elders

Purpose This study aims to explore art workshops for people living with dementia as a process enabling creative expression and fostering communication with others. Design/methodology/approach To enable detailed exploration of the expressive powers of painting and drawing, the authors draw several examples from a series of painting workshops for people living with dementia, which formed part of the PPI for research into experiences of restraint within care. Findings Artwork enabled personal expression, facilitated conversation with others and revealed hidden knowledge and abilities, but also revealed dangers of miscommunication, specifically here related to technological changes and spirituality. Research limitations/implications Individual differences in responses to painting will exist meaning that the specific findings outlined here are unique to individuals and not always generalisable. This follows from the quality of the individual communication that may be enabled by painting, meaning that close attention to each person is both fostered and required. Practical implications Art activities can provide a means to enable deep personal expression and agency in people living with dementia, which can contribute to countering dehumanisation. Social implications Attention to the process of painting can be beneficial in fostering verbal and non-verbal communication with individuals who have difficulties in communication. Attention to cultural issues in care needs to incorporate understanding of spiritual and religious issues and take note of gaps in understanding related to technological as well as cultural changes between generations. Originality/value Much work in this area explores art activities for people living with dementia in terms of beneficial outcomes. This work explores the creative process inherent in painting, drawing upon insights from art theory and providing in-depth individual insights through case studies. Both researchers in this study are artists and the work drew upon their understanding of the processes of painting.

THE CONTRIBUTION OF PUBLIC DIPLOMACY INSTITUTIONS TO THE PROGRESS OF THE COUNTRIES IN WHICH THEY ARE LOCATED IN THE PROCESS OF INTEGRATION INTO THE EUROPEAN UNION, A REVIEW OF ORGANIZATIONS OF TURKISH PUBLIC DIPLOMACY IN NORTH MACEDONIA

Edmund Gullion first used the concept of public diplomacy in its modern sense in 1965, he tried to define it as an attempt to influence public attitudes in foreign policy. Therefore, it is explained by Cull that public diplomacy covers areas of international relations other than traditional diplomacy, the efforts of governments to create public opinion in other countries, the activity of non-governmental organizations and for-profit organizations between countries, communication between diplomats, reporters and intercultural communication processes. These initiatives, which are not carried out directly or solely by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, are provided by agencies and sub-organizations specially created by the states. Thanks to these organizations, diplomatic relations are strengthened while carrying out activities abroad. These activities can be divided into two different categories such as education, cultural, artistic and linguistic development and activities for the promotion and benefit of the country, while in the second part there are initiatives for the development of infrastructure and superstructure such as health, education, technology and transport, which will develop the country in which the institutions abroad are located. In countries like North Macedonia, which wants to join the European Union and is in the negotiation phase, the infrastructure situations and development potentials such as health, education, technology, transport and the legal order are very important for the country. This study aims to examine the process carried out by the Republic of North Macedonia, which is at the crossroads of integration into the European Union, from another perspective, to touch on the contribution of foreign countries to the country in this direction, especially the contribution of Turkish institutions.

Später: Objectless Eschatology and Radical Hope in the Poetry of Paul Celan

abstract: In this article, I examine Paul Celan's career-long preoccupation with the notion of a new beginning and the eschatological possibility of bringing about a hoped-for better future through the artistic act. Drawing on three major reference points in Celan's conceptualization of this struggle—Heideggerian eschatological thought, Jewish messianism, and the utopian tendencies of the early 20th century European avant-garde—I suggest another theoretical framework through which to understand Celan's divergence from these approaches: Jonathan Lear's theory of "radical hope." Although not a literary concept, I argue that Lear's "radical hope" offers a unique vantage point from which to consider what I call Celan's "objectless hope," shedding new light on its peculiarities and on the poetic techniques with which it is made manifest.

Upper Extremity Injuries in Swimming

Given the rise of swimming as a casual, competitive, artistic, and health-related activity in the past few years, it has become increasingly important to look at injuries that can be caused by swimming. Through studying swimming-related injuries to the upper extremities, swimmers can understand how to prevent major, long-lasting injuries and how to treat these injuries if they occur. The National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS) Database was used to analyze data on swimming-related injuries to the upper extremities in the last five years. In these past five years, 82,834 injuries to the upper extremities of swimmers have been reported to the Emergency Department (ED). The study highlights the most common upper-extremity-related injury in swimming and how to prevent it, as well as how to treat it. In addition, it is vital to note that future research could delve into possible equipment that would help prevent the injury altogether.

Cultural Therapy and Concern for the Archive. The Case of Documentary Video Archives by Tomáš Rafa

In this paper, the author explores current perspectives on contemporary art projects through the concept of the archive. By applying a theoretical framework termed “concern for the archive”, the author aims to elucidate complex relationships between the archive as a medium and the situated practices of contemporary art. The paper examines contemporary art as a form of temporary memory storage, particularly through the analysis of Tomáš Rafa’s documentary films. It addresses two key questions: What specific aspects of concern for the archive can be identified in political or activist contemporary art? How does concern for the archive differ from archival care, and why is this distinction important? In the first section, the author discusses the “zones of contact” in political activist art, highlighting the formation of dialogical structures and distinguishing them from scientific research and purely documentary creation. The second section traces the layers of artistic training in Grzegorz Kowalski's renowned studio at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw, where the author gained experience in organizing and documenting collective workshops. This part reveals the specifics of documentary video creation with its activist and archival overlaps. In the final sections, the author outlines a theoretical framework for interpreting documentary video pieces in relation to the concepts of archive, cultural trauma, and cultural therapy.

Traktoristky a Jedlíci ptáků

At the end of 1947, a small book was published, taking stock of the controversial reception of the exhibition of national artists of the Soviet Union, which in May of that year introduced Soviet socialist realism to Czechoslovakia for the first time. Zbyněk Sekal, a young student of the Academy of Arts and Crafts in Prague, also purchased the book. From a school trip to Paris in September 1947, he brought back Jean Dubuffet’s rare lithograph Mangeurs d’oiseaux [Bird Eaters] from 1944. The sheet was created as part of the album Matiere et Mémoire ou Les Lithographies a l’école [Matter and Memory or Lithographers at School] with text by Francis Ponge, and was published by Fernand Mourlot in January 1945. The album has been hailed as a turning point in Jean Dubuffet’s work, both because he was working on it to familiarize himself with the technique of lithography and because of the fundamentally new concept of the figure. Zbyněk Sekal then created a drawing and exceptional painting The Supper – loosely based on Dubuffet, cheerfully and confidently poking fun at Dubuffet’s Bird Eaters. My text will seek to answer the question, how does Sekal’s Czech paraphrase, a promising individual free artistic act, differ from Dubuffet’s program?

SOME GENRES AND FORMS OF EARLY MUSIC IN MODERN DOMESTIC PRACTICE

The presented scientific research analyzes the performance activities of contemporary artists specializing in harpsichord art at relevant festivals, among which the powerful annual Bach-fest (Sumy) and the Festival of Early Music in Lviv stand out. Throughout its history, the Bach-fest (Sumy) has brought together Ukrainian performers and leading artists from various countries in Europe, America, and Asia. This festival is practically a peer of the Ukrainian harpsichord school, with many musicians from Kyiv and Lviv honing their skills by performing on its stages and participating in its masterclasses. In turn, the Festival of Early Music in Lviv almost immediately became a creative platform for the establishment and development of historically informed performance in Ukraine. These musical meetings of like-minded individuals have become a point of intersection between the European and Ukrainian harpsichord schools, promoting active professional contacts among early music performers. It should be noted that the scholarly comprehension and artistic exploration of the genre panorama of Baroque keyboard music opens new creative perspectives for Ukrainian musicians.

THE ROLE OF KARAWITAN EXTRACURRICULAR IN CULTIVATING THE CHARACTER OF LOVE FOR CULTURE AMONG ELEMENTARY SCHOOL STUDENTS

Karawitan extracurricular activities can be a means for character education. The purpose of this study is to examine the implementation of character education through extracurricular karawitan activities in elementary schools. This study uses a descriptive qualitative approach that aims to identify how the character of love for culture and cooperation are formed through the involvement of students in extracurricular activity. Data sources are obtained through direct observation, unstructured interviews, and the collection of documents related to school profiles, karawatan activities at SD Negeri Sendangharjo. The results show that the application of cultural love character values has a significant positive impact on children's social relationships and behavior at school, as well as strengthening the relationship between students, parents, and schools. The character of cooperation formed through karavatan in elementary school provides an important meaning in shaping the personality of Pancasila and plays a role in preserving and disseminating local culture. The application of the principles of cooperation and mutual cooperation is beneficial for strengthening social relations at school and developing students' social and cultural skills and involving parents in supporting children in art activities.