Capturing the mental health experiences of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) communities in Warwickshire arts project
Warwickshire County Council is conducting a project which aims to explore engagement in mental health conversations and with services among communities who identify as Black, Asian, or Ethnic minority. The main objective of this project is to gather evidence related to mental health experiences and mental health challenges from BAME residents in Warwickshire and to help normalise the sharing of experiences, seeking help earlier and having the confidence to talk about experiences. Individuals’ stories will be turned into an arts product which will be used to promote and design services to increase engagement and ensure people seek support.
The project has engaged 3 artists to produce a digital artwork for the themes that emerge:
Bhulla Beghal (Bluebell Films LTD -https://bluebellfilms.co.uk/) is intending to make a documentary style film and is looking to hear from at least 10 adult participants from Asian/ Asian British communities, to record their mental health experiences and create a film to reflect them. The participants will need to be happy to be interviewed and filmed.
Trevor Woolery (Create Animate- https://www.createanimate.co.uk/) is intending to create an animation capturing the mental health experiences of 16-18-year olds from across BAME communities. He would also like to hear from at least 10 participants. The participants will need to be happy to be interviewed and have their voices recorded.
Akulah Agbami ( Sheba Soul Ensemble- www.shebasoulensemble.com) is hosting a series of workshops and meetings to capture the experiences of Black/ Black British adults. They will also need 10 participants or more to engage with. Akulah’s artwork is yet to be confirmed. The participants will not be filmed, but their experiences will be recorded in some form. E.G audio/written/dance.
We are therefore asking for people, who may be interested in being involved in this project to get in touch, and/or organisations and groups who could invite an artist along to meetings to explain their project and possibly engage some participants.
If you have any questions or would like to take part in this project – please contact Community Engagement WCC communityengagementwcc@warwickshire.gov.uk
*We use the acronym BAME throughout this advert. However, we recognise its limitations as a term that combines and, therefore, dilutes the experiences of Black, Asian and other minority ethnic groups.