Research projects and publications

This paper examines the reflection on artwork created by four educators, of two postgraduate art psychotherapy training programmes from two distinct cultural and geographic parts of the world, the UK and Singapore, during an overseas student trip. This trip was part of a partnership activity between institutions to develop an intercultural experience between staff and students of both places. A research frame was conceived to support the aims of the encounter to raise awareness of intercultural issues and themes to inform the teaching and learning -and- the theory and practice of art therapy in the contexts of Singapore and London. The purposeful image reflection led to dialogue relating to training practices and pedagogy, intercultural awareness and insight, and ways to enhance a sustaining collaborative relationship between the two programmes. The student trip was rich and holds great possibility for further investigation into culture and, indeed, into finding spaces and making places. Through images we will present some reflections and insights, including the directions for this exploratory research project.

Citation:
Lay, Ronald, et al. “Singapore – London, Intersubjective Discoveries: An Intercultural Experience Between Two Art Therapy Training Programmes Using An Art-Based Approach.” ATOL:  Art Therapy OnLine, vol. 8, no. 1, 2017, pp. 1–19, doi: 10.25602/gold.atol.v8i1.433.

This chapter analyses a theatre performance of The Kite Runner performed at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre in 2014. Borrowing Walter Benjamin’s concept of ‘aura’ interpreted as a way of ‘getting closer to things’, I propose that Matthew Spangler’s adaptation of Khaled Hosseini’s novel establishes a ‘genuineness’ to an Afghan culture. In Spangler’s attempt to avoid being culturally offensive, his stage adaptation remained ‘truthful’ to the novel, a form of fidelity to the source. I further suggest that fidelity is, perhaps, one American adaptor’s way for America, in the novel’s words, to be ‘good again’ to Afghanistan.

Citation:
Chow, Edmund. “Adapting for ‘The Kite Runner’: A fidelity project to reimagine an Afghan aura.” Contemporary Approaches to Adaptation in Theatre, edited by Kara Reilly, Palgrave Macmillan, 2017, pp. 161-74.

Over the past ten years, the profession of arts therapy has come a long way in South East Asia. As the first and truly only international professional association in the Asia-Pacific region, the Australian and New Zealand Arts Therapy Association (ANZATA) is now firmly positioned as a professional community which contributes effectively towards the development of the arts therapies. In all countries where arts therapy has evolved, there have been significant challenges inherent in establishing and developing a credible professional identity. Such identity and recognition applies not only to how we view ourselves but also, importantly, to how we are viewed by the public, by other professions and by governments. A healthily developing professional association is a vital component of any emerging profession, and grows in tandem with a dynamic and developing practice, with rigorous standards of training within solid theoretical frameworks, with an adherence to ethical guidelines, and with an evolving research culture. As arts therapy gains momentum across the globe, specifically within this geographical area, the profession is coming of age – providing exciting opportunities for interdisciplinary collaborations where differences and diversity are acknowledged, embraced and integrated. The link that connects us all is the healing power of the creative process and the recognition of its vital importance to our lives and wellbeing.

Citation: 
Joanne Kelly, Amanda Levey and Ronald Lay. “Forwarding arts therapy in South East Asia.” Creative Arts in Education and Therapy: Eastern & Western Perspectives, vol. 3, no. 1, 2017, pp. 14-25. 

A theory of Cybernetic-Existentialism is proposed and developed in relation to interactive performances that draw upon or encapsulate primary themes from the distinct but interrelated disciplines of cybernetics and Existentialist philosophy. Ideas from both fields are identified as converging in classic works across the history of interactive performance including by Kaprow, Beuys, Klüver, Abramović, and Galloway and Rabinowitz. Performance collectives Gob Squad and Blast Theory are discussed in detail and argued to exemplify the aesthetics of Cybernetic-Existentialism through their complex explorations of concepts proposed by cyberneticians including Wiener, Bateson, Maturana and Varela on communication and control, negative entropy and autopoiesis, and Existentialists such as Marcel, de Beauvoir and Sartre on ‘separation with communion’ [Marcel, Gabriel. 1995. The Philosophy of Existentialism, 39. Translated by Manya Harari. New York: Carol], freedom, authenticity, the ‘look’ of the stranger [Sartre, Jean- Paul. (1943) 2003. Being and Nothingness, 364–376. Translated by Hazel Barnes. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge Classics], and being-for-others [Sartre (1943) 2003, 245–452]. 

Citation:
Dixon, Steve. "Cybernetic-Existentialism in Interactive Performance: Strangers, Being-for- Others and Autopoiesis." International Journal of Performance Arts and Digital Media, vol. 13, no. 1, 2017, pp. 55-76, doi: 10.1080/14794713.2017.1301173.