An inquiry into the relationship between the visual arts and psychotherapy in post revolutionary Cuba

This thesis focuses on the relationship between the visual arts and psychotherapy in post Revolutionary Cuba. The material on which it is based was collected over a fourteen month period and three visits to Cuba between April 1999 and August 2001. The study opens with the presentation of two brief histories, that of Cuban Art and Art Education and that of Cuban Mental Health Care. In this context the Revolution is taken as a useful reference point in terms of thinking about change and historical developments in both fields. Naturalistic Inquiry and Grounded Theory respectively were used to collect and analyse the data presented. These approaches allowed the researcher the degree of flexibility necessary to undertake research in a potentially delicate situation full of unknowns and to be able to modify and develop the course of inquiry as new evidence emerged. The main descriptive themes emerging from an analysis of the data pertain to the relationship between artists and mental health care professionals. These are (1) therapeutic work undertaken by artists, (2) artists working collaboratively with mental health professionals and (3) psychologists working with art as a therapy. The story which emerges pertains to a series of largely unrecorded histories spanning a forty year period. It begins with the work of Antonia Eiriz, who emerges as a key figure in the early development of art as a therapy and concludes with the work of the psychologist, Aurora García Morey, who takes centre stage in its continued development. This snapshot of Cuban art therapy is specific and unique and demonstrates the development of a very particular Cuban practice. However an analysis of the analytic themes which emerge from the data suggests that certain concepts such as responsiveness and pragmatism resound within a wider picture. These themes are discussed in chapters 7 and 8 with reference to the wider international context and specifically to the development of the profession in the United Kingdom. In my conclusions I suggest that these themes may be applicable to other areas of research and practice outwith and beyond Cuba and that while the concept of art therapy cannot be narrowly defined when it is applied to understanding practices in other, social, economic and cultural contexts, there are common factors which can be identified.sub_otatunpub75_ethesesunpu

Narrative, photographs and the experience of memory

Themes relating to time, space, absence and loss are explored through narrative and image with particular reference to D.W. Winnicott's concept of intermediate space and Roland Barthes' writings on photography.sch_occ3pub2978pub

Measuring Trust in Government: A Hong Kong Perspective

Trust and legitimacy occupy a central position in contemporary discourse surrounding the process of environmental reform in late-modern societies. This study examines dimensions of trust from stakeholders and uses a group process to enrich the data describing and explaining the reasons behind a possible ‘trust deficit’ in the context of environmental governance and policy making in Hong Kong. Results from focus groups indicate that trust in government with regard to environmental issues is generally very low. Factors include poor leadership, a rather out-dated mindset of the government, inflexible government structures, inconsistent governance, misplaced knowledge and expertise in the government and its reluctance to create dialogue or communication. Stakeholders suggested that to enhance public trust in the government, the government needed to develop stronger leadership, reform government structure, improve communication on environmental issues to the public, take input from the community more seriously and make better use of regulation and provide incentives for environmental protection

Una Trayectoria Tropical (1ª Parte): Vida y Obra de Antonia Eiriz

Basándose en material de archivo y entrevistas, la primera parte de este artículo describe los comienzos de la vida y obra de la artista cubana Antonia Eiriz Vásquez de 1951 a 1968. En esta parte se describen los antecedentes artísticos de Eiriz así como sus influencias y el impacto que el clima político después de la Revolución tuvo en su trabajo. Estos datos proporcionan el contexto de su participación en el arte comunitario como fundadora del arte popular, que se describe y desarrolla en la segunda parte. En la segunda parte se hace referencia a la historia más general del desarrollo del arte terapia en Cuba y se sitúa a Eiriz como ”˜precursora’ de un determinado tipo de actividad comunitario (Ben-David and Collins, 1966, p.450). Sin embargo, la primera parte se centra en Antonia Eiriz Vásquez, la artista, y a los acontecimientos que prepararon el terreno para lo que sucedería más adelante. De este modo espero demostrar que su participación en el arte popular, tal como se explica resumidamente en la segunda parte, no fue una digresión sino una extensión de su trabajo creativo, algo que ella siempre mantuvo.Palabras clave: Cuba, Modernismo, Revolución, Política Cultural, Pintura, Los Once, Arte Popular

Chair’s Introduction

I have the pleasure of introducing and chairing the first of three panels looking at the changing shape of art therapy.These three panels, beginning each conference day over the next three days, will look at how art therapy becomes shaped by different contexts, by different identities and by different theoretical underpinnings.So the focus of today’s panel is the way context shapes practice and here we are thinking of context being the country, socio-economic and cultural factors, the physical setting, the organizational setting and so forth.Our panelists Marcela, Blanca and Dominik have been chosen because they represent the diversity of contexts in which art therapists’ work

Narrative, Photographs and the Experience of Memory

Themes relating to time, space, absence and loss are explored through narrative and image with particular reference to D.W. Winnicott’s concept of intermediate space and Roland Barthes’ writings on photography. Keywords: narrative inquiry, space, absence, memory, punctu

Tropical Path (Part 1): The Life and Work of Antonia Eiriz

Drawing upon archival and interview material Part 1 of this extended paper describes the early life and work of the Cuban artist Antonia Eiríz Vásquez from 1951 to 1968. Eiríz’s artistic background, her influences and the political climate following the Revolution as it impacted upon her work are described. This material provides a background to her later involvement in community art as the founder of el arte popular (popular arts) which is described and developed in Part 2. In Part 2 reference to the broader history of the development of art therapy in Cuba is made and Eiríz positioned as a ”˜forerunner’ of a particular strand of community based practice (Ben-David and Collins, 1966, p. 450). However, in Part 1, the focus rests on Antonia Eiríz Vásquez, the artist, and the events that paved the way to what was to come. In this manner I hope to demonstrate that her involvement with el arte popular (popular arts), as outlined in Part 2, was not a digression but rather an extension of her creative work which is what she herself always maintained.Keywords: Cuba, Modernism, Revolution, Cultural Politics, Painting, Los Once, Arte Popular

Looking not for Truth, but Meaning: An introduction to ethnography with Professor Marion Demossier and Dr Margaret Hills de Zárate

Margaret Hills de Zarate - ORCID 0000-0003-1040-0959 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1040-0959Addressing scholars new to ethnography in an interdisciplinary perspective, Prof. Marion Demossier and Dr. Margaret Hills de Zárate offer some reflections on the broader opportunities and implications of ethnographic approaches as a search not for truth, or rules, but for meaning in context. The authors discuss the opportunities and challenges of ethnography as opposed to other forms of data collection, reflexivity, the relationship between ethnography and text, and provide a range of further references.https://doi.org/10.31273/eirj.v5i2.2545pubpub

Extreme loss of immunoreactive p-Akt and p-Erk1/2 during routine fixation of primary breast cancer

INTRODUCTION: Very few studies have investigated whether the time elapsed between surgical resection and tissue fixation or the difference between core-cut and excision biopsies impact on immunohistochemically measured biomarkers, including phosphorylated proteins in primary breast cancer. The aim of this study was to characterise the differences in immunoreactivity of common biomarkers that may occur (1) as a result of tissue handling at surgery and (2) between core-cuts and resected tumours. METHODS: Core-cuts taken from surgical breast cancer specimens immediately after resection (sample A) and after routine X-ray of the excised tumour (sample B) were formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded and compared with the routinely fixed resection specimen (sample C). The variation in immunohistochemical expression of Ki67, oestrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PgR), human epidermal growth factor 2 (HER2), p-Akt and p-Erk1/2 were investigated. RESULTS: Twenty-one tissue sets with adequate tumour were available. Median time between collection of core-cuts A and B was 30 minutes (range, 20 to 80 minutes). None of the markers showed significant differences between samples A and B. Similarly, Ki67, ER, PgR and HER2 did not differ significantly between core-cuts and main resection specimen, although there was a trend for lower resection values for ER (P = 0.06). However, p-Akt and p-Erk1/2 were markedly lower in resections than core-cuts (median, 27 versus 101 and 69 versus 193, respectively; both P < 0.0001 [two-sided]). This difference was significantly greater in mastectomy than in lumpectomy specimens for p-Erk1/2 (P = 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: The delay in fixation in core-cuts taken after postoperative X-ray of resection specimens has no significant impact on expression of Ki67, ER, PgR, HER2, p-Akt or p-Erk1/2. However, extreme loss of phospho-staining can occur during routine fixation of resection specimens. These differences are likely attributable to suboptimal fixation and may have major repercussions for clinical research involving these markers