Arts & Wellbeing

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In this section, you can read more about my professional experience working in projects where the arts, in particular music, was used to promote psychological wellbeing.

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Harmony Choir project- Singing in a choir to fight mental health stigma
The Harmony Choir project (https://harmonychoir.com ) aims at fighting the stigma towards mental illness by participating in a choir made up of both people who report suffering from mental and people who reported they do not.
My role in this project was to facilitate the participation of the choristers, to conduct interviews about their experience of participating in the choir, and to produce the videos that were included in the final documentary (https://youtu.be/L_EoFpRthbU).
HC has performed for several years during the Fringe Festival and raised funding to support local associations involved in promoting psychological well-being and mental health.
After the success of HC, I had the opportunity to participate in the creation of a young choir, TakeNoteChoir, with the same purpose as HC, aimed at adolescents who took part in the choir rehearsals during the summer and then performed on stage at a concert during the Fringe Festival.

"Are ye dancin" project- The dancehall music and dance to promote understanding of Alzheimer's in children and facilitate the connection with the elderly affected by this disease.
This project aimed to assess the benefits of a series of dancehall music and dance teaching workshops organized by Alzheimer Scotland and Oak Note Theater (https://www.oaknote.co.uk).
The workshops aimed to engage a sample of seniors with Alzheimer's and primary school children to promote the connection and intergenerational transmission of the cultural and artistic heritage of dancehall music and dance as well as children's understanding of Alzheimer's disease.
Within this research group, I had the role of conducting interviews with the children, in order to investigate their experience of participating in workshops and of Alzheimer's disease. I also conducted interviews with the elderly affected by dementia to explore their role as dancehall music and dance teachers.

YouthArtView
The projectct wants to highlight how terrorism, as described in social media and in the media, is understood and influences the lives of adolescents.

Drawing was the main investigation tool within an art workshop. In this context, I had the role of coordinator and I facilitated and co-conducted the workshop in a school that joined the initiative and I interviewed young people on their understanding and interpretation of the meaning of their drawing. Participation in the art workshop was then extended to the public on the occasion of an event organized as part of the Festival of Social Science.