A day-long seminar-cum-workshop on “Art for Healing” was organized on 28th February at the reception hall of DANA, JodhpurPark, Kolkata, India. Dr. Debasis Bhattacharya was the key anchor who also spoke on the ongoing project on Art-Therapy at DANA. He was supported by Harit Basu(artist) and Subhra Banerjee Pal (psychologist) who have actually been handling the project. They cited specific cases of adult patients who are under psychiatric intervention and have attended 6 or more sessions of Art-Therapy. Amongst other speakers, Trina Lahiri shared her experience of working with juvenile cancer patients from rural Bengal who were exposed to cartoons and humour for fighting pain and low mood. Minakshi Chaudhuri from Centre for Care of Tortured Victims (CCTV) mentioned about a Treatment & Rehabilitation Programme at a Shelter Home for Girls in September 2010 organized by CORE / Human to Humane Transcultural Centre for Trauma & Torture, based atImphal, Manipur.
Arayee Day presented a short paper by Vrishali Purandare who narrated her experience of working with art at the de-addiction centre in Central India. Blaise Joseph spoke on a recent
6-day Art-Workshop organized for 25 inmates of Tihar Jail. He showed the various art work produced at the workshop with the help of newspaper cuttings. Rajsekhar Aich presented his recent study of mental health and motive between painters and non-painters.
The post lunch session focused on the interaction on the need for creating a platform for psychiatrists, psychologists, counsellors, visual artists and social workers who are interested to employ visual art for healing patients suffering from both physical and mental disorders.
Dr Amit Chakraborty
