Madrid Salud

A graphic recording is an image used to represent and/or analyse phenomena or events. They are produced from the representation of subjectivities, meetings, and interactions of collective action, aiming to reflect on contextualised flows and synergies. Through the Madrid Salud (2021) project Art and Health, graphic recordings have been developed after three online meetings: 1) the “Broken Hugs” project, 2) the World Mental Health Day meeting, and 3) the “Building Compassionate Communities” meeting. Graphic recordings in this context can reinforce a sense of community and make bonds between participants visible, especially since the pandemic forced the transfer of most meetings from in-person to online mode.
This project aims to expand on the key concepts presented in previous studies on this subject, analysing how these visual strategies expand their potential for a post-COVID art mediation, and identifying broadened characteristics in our remotely created productions that expand the graphic recordings possibilities in an artistic mediation and community health context.

Within the “Madrid, a Healthy City” (Madrid Salud) strategy, the “ReiaManí Universe” is developed, an artistic mediation initiative that was born thanks to the Art and Health scholarship together with the Socio-educational and Pre-employment Support Program for Adolescents (ASPA). Artistic-educational workshops are carried out with young people at a social disadvantage, with difficulties managing their emotions and establishing relationships with equals. These creative workshops promote skills for cohesion and social support as protective factors against unwanted loneliness and psychological suffering. Their main objective is to build an emotionally safe environment through art-health relationships and their own imaginative and self-finding processes. These workshops have been based on the creation of playful and artistic materials for the participants, thus working on aspects of community health and well-being through comics, stickers, action figures, and board games. The methodology is proposed from an action-research perspective, with flexible planning to adapt to collective needs, concluding that the collective construction of the “ReiaManí Universe” has fostered group coexistence and the development of social, emotional, and creative skills.