When I first think about the idea of art as a practice of healing, I develop a connection with art therapy right away. The goal or outcome of art therapy is for healing, self-recognition, and personal growth as well as to explore other purposes. I also often find making art can also be a healing process without even realizing it. Drawing has been said to help sooth anxiety while ceramics can be a very meditative activity. While reading the article Strategic Art-Based Peacebuilding by Michael Shank, it enlightened me on a broader scale of community and cultural terms that art can be a practice of healing.
On a community level, large or small, art as a practice of healing can help people prevent, reduce, transform, and recover from a variety of different violent occasions. With the idea of peacebuilding, John Paul Lederach presents an analytical process known as “strategic what”, “strategic when”, and “strategic how” to describe when art is appropriate to be contributed into peacebuilding. This analytical process reminded me of a process I often use called “see, think, wonder” when presenting work to a new audience for the first time. This process is a valuable especially for the younger crowds because it makes them go through a deductive process where they analyze the work and could potential heal from the experience as well as I.
The visual arts also bring in the narrative element that can’t always be described through verbal communication. Art can explain emotion, ideas, or feelings that words alone cannot. “Art helps reclaim the body and is an important tool in liberating, transforming, and revolutionizing individuals, relationships, and societies.” Art can also bring in new perspectives towards a subject such as science. I personally am very interested in the sciences and as someone who is visual, I always connect the arts with the science. In Brendan’s case, he was very interested in why the trees in Wisconsin where the way that they are presented to us today. He did a lot of research as to why the forest is a young forest and found even more interesting cultural aspects. He incorporated the aspect of treaty rights for the indigenous cultures to show the traumatic effect that logging had as well as the healing of the forest. Ideas such as Brendan’s bring in a different, artistic perspective to a subject that is most often taught through science labs and field work often leaving out cultural influences and impacts.
Art as a practice of healing may be relevant when enacting societal change. Art can be used as a tool for deconstructive purposes such as “inspiring hatred and division” towards problems wisely, nonviolently, and strategically. Documentary Filmmaking is an effective way of raising public awareness of ethical, cultural, political, and environmental issues across all regions. PBS Independent Lens series are independent documentary films that bring rich, diverse stories all around the world to different audiences. These documentaries are a great way to stay in touch with real people and the world. They also present healing practices by liberating different issues that are faced in each individual film.
http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/videos/immigration-battle-preview/
http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/videos/immigration-battle/
artforsocietalchange 