ART FOR MENTAL HEALTH
Are you passionate about the arts and mental health? Are you interested in empowering people living with mental illness?
In Senegal, I have collaborated since 2019 with an association, RESCAP'ART, to offer group art therapy through workshops and exhibitions of paintings created by patients
at the psychiatric clinic in Dakar.
Our most recent exhibition was at the 15th Biennale of African Contemporary Art in 2024. During this event we also launched our film 'Xool Ma' ('See me'), an experimental artistic stop-motion film, to explore the experiences of people living with
mental illness in Senegal.
Learn more from modern research about the power of the arts for health and wellbeing. Read more about this work on my blog.
"When I paint it gives me a lot of courage. It helps to release a lot of feelings inside of me, allowing more space for positivity to come through. We're very grateful for the support of the Luxembourg Embassy. It was the first time we received this type of support and this
type of media coverage. It was amazing to see
my paintings exhibited..."
Artist | member of RESCAP'ART
"Participating in the film gave me an opportunity to reflect the true reality of my life. Sharing my experiences of living with mental illness had a very powerful impact on me. Then, afterwards actually seeing myself in the film was incredible. Seeing parts of myself unfold before my eyes helped me to detach from my own anxiety and obsessive thoughts. Every year in November and December, I fall ill, but not this year...."
Artist | member of RESCAP'ART