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

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

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

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

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

Un Viaje que comenzó mucho antes de hacer las maletas : el sufrimiento y las diferencias culturales en el proceso terapéutico

A lo largo del trabajo se intenta contextualizar la situación actual de gran urgencia que vive nuestro planeta como es la gran oleada de refugiados e inmigrantes desplazados de sus países, y cómo trabajar con ellos desde las diferentes culturas de las que proceden frente a la cultura occidental del terapeuta, además de las circunstancias vividas en sus propios países, en los viajes a nuevos mundos y en las condiciones en las que viven en los países de acogida, intentando ofrecer herramientas para identificar problemas y generar soluciones. En este trabajo también se pretende demostrar la utilidad de la DMT en el trabajo con esta población, ya que la utilización de las diferentes herramientas de las que dispone esta profesión ayuda en el desarrollo de los traumas y situaciones complejas vividas y un mayor acercamiento a culturas desconocidas por el terapeuta. A través de esta revisión bibliográfica del trabajo de DMT con refugiados, inmigrantes y sobrevivientes de violencia en general, se pretende resaltar la importancia de del movimiento como terapia con esta población y mostrar la urgencia de buscar soluciones a la integración de esta población en las sociedades de acogid

Relación triangular en danza movimiento terapia : "cuando el instante no es efímero"

Esta tesina pretende investigar si el concepto de relación triangular existe y es apto para el campo de la Danza Movimiento Terapia. Para lograr esto nos basaremos en una correlación teórica con el campo de la arte terapia, donde la relación triangular se utiliza como herramienta de trabajo terapéutico. Nuestro fin es encontrar resultados teórico/prácticos, que permitan visualizar su existencia y nos muestren lo que sucede en la relación terapéutica, cuando dicho término se consolida. En este camino, la materialización de la danza/movimiento, como tercer elemento de la relación triangular, será un punto clave e interesante, que nos mostrará nuevos caminos psicoterapéuticos.This thesis aims to investigate if the triangular relationship concept exists and is suitable for the field of Dance Movement Therapy. It will be based on a theoretical correlation with the field of art therapy, in which the triangular relationship is used as a tool in therapeutic work. Our goal is to find theoretical and practical results, that will allow us to display their existence and show us what happens in the therapeutic relationship, when term is consolidated. In this process, dance / movement materialization, as a third element of triangular relationship, will be a key and interesting point, to show us new psychotherapeutic paths

Tropical Path (Part 2): The Life and Work of Antonia Eiríz

The second part of this extended paper traces the life and work of the Cuban artist Antonia\ud Eiríz Vásquez from 1968 (when she stopped painting) to 1993; when she left Cuba for\ud Miami where she died in 1995. Drawing upon archival materials and interviews, her\ud involvement with Arte popular and specifically one aspect of it, papier mâche, is described.\ud Her activity in this area is contextualized with reference to the political and economic\ud climate of the period and with reference to the support and recognition this work received from the Cuban establishment.\ud It is proposed that her involvement with Arte popular does not represent a complete break\ud with her previous artistic, social and political concerns but rather provided a different route\ud for their expression. As such, it is suggested that her innovative work in establishing Arte\ud popular constitutes an example of cultural democracy which in turn provided the backdrop\ud to the development of art therapy practices in Cuba and that this by implication positions\ud her as a ‘forerunner’ of Cuban art therapy. The term ‘forerunner’ is used here as it is\ud employed Ben-David and Collins (1966) and latterly by Waller, (1991) and Gilroy (2006) to\ud describe how a profession develops from the interests of a few people, the ‘forerunners’,\ud who pave the way for a ‘new idea’ to emerge. This ‘new idea’ or path is developed by\ud others who establish an ‘interest group’ and so ‘found’ a discipline; the ‘founders’ then\ud teach the ‘followers’