Dr Iona Heath + MORTALITY 2013

For those of you who weren't able to make the symposium on Friday, I am thrilled to be able to share the opening speech by Dr Iona Heath which so eloquently framed Mortality: Death and the Imagination. The exhibition opens to the public on Monday and runs until the 16th August at the Holden Gallery. Iona's paper is in titled Memento Mori and is available here. I thank Iona for such a sparkling and stimulating start to the exhibition. I'd also like to extend my personal thanks to all of you that have worked behind the scenes to curate and install the exhibition. Seriously - a huge thank you.



On Monday afternoon Dr Sam Guglani from Medicine Unboxed will be giving a free public talk alongside Molly Carlile around themes that their work around oncology and palliative care and the exhibition bring up. This will all kick-off in the gallery just after 2:00 in the afternoon and will be followed by a performance of work created as a response to people who have experienced delirium following time in intensive care. Singer songwriter Victoria Hume will be performing this new work exclusively for us. The session will be finished before 6:00, but to take part, you'll have to be at the Gallery before 2:30 and its all absolutely free.

Finally, the exhibition catalogue contains an essay by curator of the Holden Gallery, Dr Steven Gartside and your blogger CP. This is a new piece of writing from me is called Present Tense and it expands on ideas around the numinous, starting with Dennis Potter and taking us on a ride on the ultimate Euthanasia Roller-coaster. I hope it develops some of our understanding, or at least begins a dialogue around the relevance of the arts and wellbeing in relation to how we live and how we die.

What a beautiful photograph. I respect Elham Asghari and if you click on the photograph, you will see why.

ADVANCED NOTICE

ART IN THE ASYLUM

CREATIVITY AND THE EVOLUTION OF PSYCHIATRY

Admission Free

Saturday 07 September - Sunday 03 November 10am - 5pm

Djanogly Art Gallery

Uncovering fascinating stories, this historical overview provides insight to the diagnostic and therapeutic use of patient artwork, its influence on the development of humane psychiatric practice, and its wider recognition by artists associated with Art Brut and so-called Outsider Art. Art in the Asylum presents the first examination of the evolution of artistic activity in British psychiatric institutions from the early 1800s to the 1970s. With over 100 loans from national and international archives, the exhibition traces the historical shift from invasive treatments of mental disorders to a more humane regime in which creativity played a significant role.

There will be a full range of events running parallel to the exhibition and more details can be found by clicking on the flyer above.

Time to Change Grants 

The Mental Health charity, Time to Change has announced that its grants programme will re-open for applications on the 17th July 2013.  Through the programme, grants of up to £100,000 are available to constituted not for profit organisations for projects that bring people with and without mental health problems together to challenge discrimination in their communities. 25% of the fund is for projects run by and for people from Black and Minority Ethnic communities and 20% is for projects that work with an audience of children and young people, in specific regions. Read more at http://www.time-to-change.org.uk/grants 

BIG - Local Paper Initiative

Big Lottery Fund is joining forces with eight local newspapers across England to award a huge £250,000 of Lottery good-cause cash to community projects in each area.  The Local Paper initiative is aimed at encouraging communities to think about how funding could benefit their area and bring real improvements to the lives of local people.  Readers of the local papers will vote to help decide which projects will get the cash. The Local Papers initiative will be delivered by UK Community Foundation working with its local offices across England.  The fund will provide grants of up to £30,000 per project and is open to community groups, not for profit groups, parish or town councils, health bodies and schools. The application dates will vary from area to area. Read more at: http://www.biglotteryfund.org.uk/global-content/programmes/england/local-papers 

British Academy Small Research Grants 

The British Academy for the Humanities and Sciences has announced that it is planning to issue a call for a further round of Small Research Grants in September 2013. Under the Small Research Grants programme grants of up to £10,000 over two years are available to UK research institutions to support primary research in the humanities and social sciences. Funds will be available to facilitate initial project planning and development; support the direct costs of research; enable the advancement of research through workshops; and visits by or to partner scholars. http://www.britac.ac.uk/funding/guide/srg.cfm

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