Journal of Applied Arts & Health - Volume 13, Issue 2, 2022

This article describes a study of the impact of belly dancing on women’s experience of pregnancy, labour and birth. In order to identify the core movements of belly dancing suitable for pregnant women, an expert panel of belly dance teachers was convened. Next, based on the teachers’ consensus, a video demonstrating the core movements was produced. Finally, a second expert panel was convened, comprising midwives and childbirth educators, who were asked to comment on the video from their professional standpoints. The panel considered that the movements demonstrated were safe and would help with pregnancy ailments such as back-ache, pelvic discomfort, constipation, sleeplessness and anxiety and that belly dancing would assist pregnant women’s mental health, positive self-image and confidence in their bodies to give birth. The relational aspect of belly dancing in terms of building a sisterhood of women making the transition to motherhood was also noted.

‘The Big Picture’ was a participatory video (PV) project. The aim was to increase the involvement of young people in India in the active development of practice and policy regarding substance use disorder (SUD). Working with drug rehabilitation centres to innovate their programmes, the team used video production as a tool to help young people advocate for policy change by promoting public awareness of how they see this issue. Unlike many accounts of PV, which tend to focus solely on the processes of community engagement, this article also takes account of the art of the films produced. Drawing on theoretical approaches to subjectivity in autobiographical filmmaking that highlight the complex interactions between the individual and the collective in such work, the article examines, in particular, how the films created emphasize the importance of adopting a relational, community-led, approach to SUD if rehabilitation programmes are to be effective.

Metaphoric language is common in cancer discourse. However, prevailing military and journey metaphors may not capture variation in cancer experiences. In this article, the authors describe an art-based community research programme for women who had experienced cancer. Taking a phenomenological approach, the article examines how artmaking processes and materials were used by the study participants to shape their own metaphoric thought and, thereby, to articulate a more intimate understanding of their cancer experiences. The authors discuss four themes arising from their findings: (1) experiencing metaphor at its source, (2) artworks as insight cultivators, (3) art as process and metaphor for understanding cancer and (4) alternative metaphors for the cancer experience. Artmaking may be a means to enhance phenomenological data collection in the context of cancer experiences. By capturing variation in women’s cancer experiences, it may also lead to improvements in cancer survivorship care.

This article presents an art-based personal inquiry into the author’s experience of the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020. Drawing was used as a way to document, process and regulate feelings during the lockdown. The author revisited these drawings over the course of the following year, engaging with them through imaginative dialogues and creative writing, and looking for patterns to make meaning of them. This inquiry highlighted themes of existential issues around death and life, longing for connectedness to nature and other humans, and the toll of home confinement on the lived body. The author reflects on how artistic inquiry helped her approach an anxiety-provoking situation with curiosity, become aware of existential issues that the pandemic had brought up and treat them with intentionality and authenticity.

The ways gay men navigate socially constructed body tensions are explored through a post-structural lens. Nine self-identifying gay men in Canada used photovoice to create images that expressed their beliefs, values and practices about their bodies. Participants took part in semi-structured interviews to discuss the meanings of their images. Three discursive considerations were created from the analysis of both interviews and the photographs. Participants attempted to create bodies aligned with the dominant body ideals for gay men but, in doing so, often suffered from emotional harm that negatively shaped their health and well-being. Some participants, however, through the process of creating their bodies were able to find new connections and new understanding of their bodies. They were able to find new ways of being outside the rigid body ideals set before them. Through the post-structural lens of the research, participants’ bodies can be conceptualized as bodies becoming art.

This article details an art-based sculpting method designed to assist professionals in exploring reactivity and difficulties within therapeutic relationships. The authors describe the Four-Phase Sculpting Method (FPSM), research specific to the method and how it was adapted for use in clinical practice, education, training and professional development. The FPSM addresses challenging relationships through the creation of a three-dimensional sculpture in four distinct phases: a creation phase, breakdown phase, mending phase and renegotiation phase. During these phases, emotions are given a form and explored through a continual process of dialoguing and witnessing. Research outcomes indicate that the method promotes transformation of thoughts and feelings, resulting in a greater understanding of the self and others. The authors discuss the FPSM and how they incorporated it into a variety of academic and professional settings over the past several years. Furthermore, the authors provide an overview of interdisciplinary applications of the FPSM.