Wellcome Trust International Engagement Workshop
Mumbai, India
Tuesday 9 - Thursday 11 February 2016
Content
Summary
The Wellcome Trust has supported the arts community in the UK and pushed forward the use of creative methods in engaging communities for many years. In 2013, the Wellcome Trust major overseas programmes had the opportunity to engage in residency-based artist-led projects through the Art in Global Health programme. This initiative and others have sparked considerable interest in arts projects across the international community and there is now a body of Wellcome-funded work in low-and middle-income countries that is based on innovative partnerships between scientists and those in the arts and creative sectors. The success of this work has shown that collaborations between art and science generate powerful, personal art and inspire interdisciplinary research and practice that brings benefits to artists, scientists, and the wider community.
This workshop explored the use of creative and artistic methods in engaging communities with science and health research.
Over the three days of this residential workshop exciting projects were showcased, debates were held, and delegates were given the opportunity to creatively participate in this fascinating topic. Delegates examined the distinctive contribution of artistic practices to public and community engagement, discussed the challenges and benefits of collaboration, and reflected on relevant approaches to evaluation.
The workshop brought together around 55 delegates representing artists, scientific researchers, public/community engagement practitioners, and others from community and arts organisations to share expertise and good practice, with the hope of catalysing future quality work across Africa and Asia.
Background Reading
Online
Insight and Exchange: An evaluation of the Wellcome Trust’s Sciart programme. In 1996, the Wellcome Trust launched the Sciart funding programme in response to a growing field of artists embarking on interdisciplinary practice in conjunction with scientists. The original aim of the scheme was to fund visual arts projects that involved an artist and a scientist in collaboration to research, develop and produce work that explored contemporary biological and medical science. The full evaluation report of the Sciart programme is available here. The Sciart programme was replaced by the Arts Awards scheme in 2006. Credit: Paul Glinkowski and Anne Bamford (2009).
Benchmarks for quality of community dance projects. A summary of the findings of some research and consultation with the community dance sector in the UK conducted by the Foundation for Community Dance in 2011. Credit: Ken Bartlett (2011).
Art in Global Health: Insights and Considerations for Future Artist Residencies in Health Research Programmes. In 2013, Art in Global Health set up artist residencies in six Wellcome Trust-funded research centres as a way of teasing out some of the more personal, philosophical, cultural and political dimensions of health research. This exciting project was born out of Wellcome Collection's desire to engage the curious public globally with the health research that the Trust funds - in Kenya, Malawi, South Africa, Thailand, Vietnam and the UK. Credit: Sian Aggett (2013). The full project report can be downloaded here.
Caption: This film by Barry J Gibb, made to accompany the work of the artists involved in the Art in Global Health project, provides a whistle-stop tour of each artist, their early thoughts about their residency and a rare opportunity to see health research from a more connected, global perspective. This video is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
In Print
Playing for Time: Making art as if the world mattered. Lucy Neal (2015). Oberon Books Ltd. Lucy Neal (theatre maker and artist) explores the pivotal role that artists play in different social contexts, particularly in times of uncertainty and systemic change. This handbook, written with over 60 artists, identifies collaborative arts practices in a range of community contexts and provides a useful breakdown of principles and practice for adaptation. This video of Lucy Neal’s lecture at the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce in the UK outlines key themes in the book, including the development of a ‘transitional arts practice’ that is able to draw on people’s creativity and imagination to develop artistic practices in a range of everyday settings. She also highlights the importance of play for creativity and learning. A shorter version of the lecture is below.
A Mesh resource with more information on this book is also available.
Caption: A short 6 minute version of Lucy Neal’s lecture at the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce in the UK. This video gives a sense of the scope of the presentation, though inevitably without some of the detailed examples and the discussion afterwards. Credit: Lucy Neal (2015). This video is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Turning the world upside down: the search for global health in the 21st century. Nigel Crisp (2010). CRC Press.
The one and the many: Contemporary collaborative art in a global context. Grant H Kester (2011). Duke University Press.
Theatre, education and performance. Helen Nicholson (2011). Palgrave Macmillan. A rich discussion of the role of performance and science in global contexts.
Performance and Community: Commentary and Case Studies. Caoimhe McAvinchey (2013). London: Bloomsbury. A range of useful case studies and interviews (including a number of examples from beyond the UK) tackling issues such as ethical responsibilities as artists working with participatory methods.
Presentations and Resources
Keynote speech - The Heart of the Matter and other projects (Working with artists in health settings: successes and challenges)
Presentation: Anna Ledgard, Artsadmin
Caption: The Barometer of My Heart. Credit: Mark Storor (lead artist) and Anna Ledgard (producer). This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Reflections on art and engagement – three perspectives
Presentation: Abhilasha Karkey, University of Oxford
Presentation: Arundhati Raja, The ART Foundation
Exploring the purposes of engagement
Presentation: Robin Vincent - Reviewing the scope and diversity of engagement in Wellcome Trust major overseas programmes and projects
Learning from Art in Global Health
Presentation: Sian Aggett, University of Sussex - Key learning and insights
Mesh Resource: Art in Global Health: Insights and Considerations for Future Artist Residencies in Health Research Programmes (Sian Aggett)
Multiple knowledges – collaboration across stakeholders and worldviews
Presentation: Mike Powell, IKM Emergent - Multiple knowledges: implications for learning and expression
Presentation: Annabelle Audier, Oxford University Clinical Research Unit Vietnam - Case Study
Marketplace
Presentation: Alun Davies, KEMRI - expectations, experiences and impact of engagement between health researchers and schools in Kenya
Presentation: Pascale Allotey and the SEACO team - Citizen Science Reporter Training
Mesh Resource: Citizen Science Reporter Training (Pascale Allotey)
Caption: Shot and edited by Navin Kumar Perianen, Pravda Studio and produced by Maran Perianen, Citizen Journalists Malaysia (CJMy). The SEACO Citizen Science Reporter (CSR) is an initiative of the South East Asian Community Observatory (SEACO), Monash University (Malaysia and Australia). This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Tabiyat: Medicine and Healing in India
Caption: Presentation by Ratan Vaswani, Wellcome Collection. Image credits: Wellcome Collection, London. This presentation and the associated images are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
Evaluation methods for arts and engagement - experiences and case studies of evaluating arts and engagement initiatives
Presentation: Anna Ledgard, Artsadmin
Mesh Resource: Evaluating Arts Based Engagement - An Introduction (Anna Ledgard)
Presentation: David Osrin, University College London, and Nayreen Daruwalla, SNEHA (Society for Nutrition, Education & Health Action)
Presentation: Rashida Ferrand, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
Mesh Resource: Chiedza’s Song: Growing up with HIV in Zimbabwe (Rashida Ferrand)
Caption: "Breaking the Silence"- stories by HIV-infected adolescents. Credit: London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. This video is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Agenda
The links included in the agenda are all featured in the presentations and resources section but are duplicated here to give context to the materials.
Tuesday 9 February 2016 - Day 1
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08:30 |
Registration, tea & coffee |
|
09:00 |
Introductions and overview
|
|
09:35 |
Keynote Speech
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|
10:15 |
Reflections on art and engagement – three perspectives
|
|
11:00 |
Tea/coffee |
|
11:30 |
Exploring the purposes of engagement
|
|
13:00 |
Lunch |
|
14:00
|
Learning from Art in Global Health
|
|
15:30 |
Tea/coffee |
|
16:00 |
Varieties of art and varieties of engagement – the distinctive contribution of arts
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17:30 |
Free time at hotel |
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18:30
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Leave for external dinner at restaurant in Kala Ghoda After dinner – Free time to explore Kala Ghoda Arts Festival |
Wednesday 10 February 2016 - Day 2
|
09:00 |
Multiple knowledges – collaboration across stakeholders and worldviews
|
|
10:30 |
Tea/coffee |
|
11:00 |
Multiple knowledges – collaboration across stakeholders and worldviews
|
|
11:40 |
Marketplace/networking Open presentation slots, one-to-one meetings, project sharing and group discussions
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|
12:40 |
Tabiyat: Medicine and Healing in India
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|
13:00 |
Lunch |
|
13:45 |
Visit to museum to see Tabiyat: Medicine and Healing in India exhibition |
Thursday 11 February 2016 - Day 3
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09:00 |
Key issues and challenges for art in engagement with health research
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10:30 |
Tea/coffee |
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11:00 |
Feedback from Open Space |
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11:40 |
Evaluation methods for arts and engagement Experiences and case studies of evaluating arts and engagement initiatives: |
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13:00 |
Lunch |
|
14:00 |
Evaluation methods for arts and engagement
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|
15:15 |
Introducing Mesh: a collaborative web space for community engagement with health
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15:35 |
Closing remarks – Rachel Hillman, Head of Engaging Science, Wellcome Trust |
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15:45 |
Workshop evaluation |
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16:00 |
Close of workshop |
All content on this page is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.