Haathi in the Room’s Curate Me Art Therapy

Haathi in the Room in collaboration with Mindkshetra recently held the ‘Curate Me’ Art therapy project. The project was designed to encourage young South Asians to tune into their mental wellbeing through art therapy. Fifteen participants aged between 18 and 30 years attended four virtual workshops during October 2021.

The sessions were facilitated by experienced art therapist and the Founder of Mindkshetra, Rupa Parthasarathy. In each of the sessions, participants were encouraged to open and express their thoughts and feelings through painting self-portraits. Each participant painted one self-portrait and wrote a short explanation of their painting. The idea was to use art to improve mental and emotional well-being.

The workshops were a unique mental health promotion initiative, designed to raise awareness and combat stigma around the condition and address issues specific to young people. There is a growing need for mental health awareness advocacy amongst young people. It is estimated that one in seven young people aged between 15 and 25 years old experience a mental health condition in any given year. Suicide is also the leading cause of death amongst people aged below 30. The project shone a spotlight on the importance of mental wellbeing for young people.

The project concluded with a face-to-face Art Exhibition, held at Curry Lovers Epping on Saturday 5 March 2022. The Exhibition provided an opportunity for participants to meet for the first time in person, view each other’s art works and hear about the project all over afternoon tea. The event begun with an icebreaker activity where attendees all stood in a circle and participated in a motion memory exercise. This was followed by an exhibition session, where each of the participants presented their self portraits to the group. The event concluded with a networking session where all attendees chatted over an afternoon tea.

The Forum was well attended, and the Haathi in the Room team received exceedingly positive feedback from attendees.

Haathi in the Room team members are:

Vidhisha Khetwani, Nitasha Bhatia, Monica Das and Sue Advani.

For more information, please visit Haathi in the Room website, Facebook, and Instagram page at:

• Facebook – www.facebook.com/haathiinthe-

room • Instagram – www.instragram.com/haathiintheroom • Website – www.haathiintheroom.com.au

Rupa Parthasarathy is the founder of Mindkshetra. To find out more about Mindkshetra, please visit https://www.mindkshetra.com