Project title
Description of initiative
Colors & Minds was an experiential Artistic Program raising awareness in the Psychosocial Sector for Young People, and was jointly organized by the following entities: the National Museum of Contemporary Art Athens (ΕΜΣΤ), Association of Social Responsibility for Children and Youth (SKEP), Association for Regional Development and Mental Health (EPAPSY) and the voluntary artistic initiative Talks & Crafts.
The experiential Artistic Program had as a goal the deployment of visual arts to promote an understanding and acceptance of the world around us with the ultimate aim of creating a more friendly society for all. It involved young people from the general population (students from the Athens School of Fine Arts, the Art and Psychotherapy Centre and volunteers), as well as recipients of mental health services.
Inspired by Vlassis Caniaris’ work Hopscotch (1974), the participants were invited to use different artistic means (drawing, photography/video, sculpture, installation, performance) and text to experientially explore contemporary art through various conceptual aspects of the specific work.
Colors and Minds was held at ΕΜΣΤ from October 2023 to May 2024. A presentation of the artworks created by the participants was on view from May 21 until May 26, 2024.
Τhe program was closed and had predetermined participants in order to fulfill the educational and therapeutic goals of all meetings.
Further information on the initiative
Themes: Culture and...
Keywords
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Cultural field
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Results, benefits, impact and lessons learnt
Participants met nine times, once a month in the museum’s art room. They split into four groups, each group consisting of two mental health beneficiaries, one student from the Art and Psychotherapy Center and one student from the Athens School of Fine Arts. All nine workshops focused on the creation of a character. Adopting various artistic means, participants were able to express and capture thoughts and personal experiences around the term “immigrant”. The workshops allowed the participants to become experientially familiar with contemporary artistic means and approach social issues such as exclusion, identity, reality, personal history and collective experience. By shaping different heroes, presenting their emotions in three dimensions and animating them in a sculptural/artistic form, they finally embodied them, bringing each hero into being. Following the end of the workshops, a presentation of the artworks was realized in the Museum from May 21 until May 26, 2024, in an effort to raise awareness, promote social cohesion and respect for diversity.
Participation in this creative process had a significant impact on participants' confidence and self-worth, it extended their involvement in a social activity, stimulated their interest and confidence in the arts, provided them a forum to explore their creativity and thus also contributed to their enjoyment, promoted contact and cooperation and reduced the isolation that the mental health patients might have been feeling.