ART FOR INDIVIDUAL & COLLECTIVE RESILIENCE

“VERSUS” ART EXHIBIT PALAIS DES NATIONS (GENEVA) - 7 TH TO 25 TH JUNE 2021

Dancing, playing music, singing, sculpting, painting, writing poetry... Art is a practice that favours the link with nature and essence of creation; it is the infinite capacity of a human being to give more meaning and soulfulness to his or her life

The initiative, ‘Art Impact for Health and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)’, promotes the networking of a collective intelligence that links and values both arts and sciences.

Whether scientists, leaders, or entrepreneurs of innovative solutions, all wish to contribute with their creativity to the reflection and development of solutions. It is a creative, organic way of federating with distributed leadership, based on co-creation - an international consortium within which to reflect upon the practical implementation of SDGs and their societal impact.

This approach allows for communicating, in a creative and universal way, the importance of SDGs, the solutions underway, as well as involving stakeholders in a multidisciplinary and multisectoral manner in their implementation.

In this respect, Art Impact for Health and Wellbeing SDG incubator makes it accessible to all and presents different perspectives of scientific knowledge by mixing humanism with innovation. This resonance integrates all collectives who work in favor of creativity and humanization of services for an effective social support.

People and multidisciplinary communities are set in motion. A place of exchange and sharing is offered to them whereby they can pool ideas and knowledge, as well as support and inspire one another for the benefit of a cause greater than oneself.

By putting collective intelligence into an organic network like a living ecosystem, there is greater potential for innovation than by simply combining intelligence, experience, and knowledge of each individual. This gives an absolute continuity in creativity, motivation and solidarity. It is co-constructing a coherent set of methods, experiences and know-how.

It is, additionally, the ability to share the advances of science in service of humanizing public services, and particularly health care for SDG-3 in an artistic form. It is to co-create collectively in a transversal way, and to capitalise on all existing sustainable and fair initiatives.

Within this framework, an international exhibition took place in June 2021 on the theme of resilience at the individual and collective level. VERSUS was presented at the Palais des Nations with the support of the UNOG cultural and artistic activities service.

Support was provided by a dozen partners, including WAAS, WHIS, UNGSII, SDG Cities, National Academy for Social Prescribing, Ashoka, and Smile Train. This allowed a gathering of more than 60 contributors and contributions from around the world.

The exhibition was able to identify and present a retrospective of a set of initiatives, both individual and collective at the global level, demonstrating through artistic representations and testimonies of resilience journeys how art can impact the meaning of life, the notion of well-being.

The aspect relating to social support for the most vulnerable and marginalised people in local communities has allowed to federate in practice an approach consisting in ‘leaving no one behind’.

The exhibition demonstrated how multidisciplinary artistic humanist approaches can be combined in the fields of health, education, and social entrepreneurship. Also, thanks to the intervention of twelve panelists at the opening, a process of co-creation and co-inspiration between various disciplines and expertise was accomplished.

It is a way to fight social isolation through the establishment and engagement of creative and local communities, and also to involve organisations in charge of art. The exhibition was interactive with multiple artistic presentations: music, videos, short films.

The visibility of artists involved in the process was greatly increased. It was a tribute to all the beneficiaries of the arts initiatives and their diversities, including the most vulnerable and marginalised children, women, and people with disabilities.

Art generates meaning-making through stories, images, sounds, performances, and other methods that allow people to communicate their experience and sense of being alive. The combination of the arts facilitates wellbeing and health and thus, on a collective level, social support for people, whatever their condition. The artistic act represents a deliberate response to a felt need.

Art is intentional. Creating requires all the focus, skill and experience the artist can master, as well as other qualities such as imagination, courage, sensitivity and integrity. It is a way to facilitate people’s resilience and awareness of the importance of their health. Therefore, it seems that participating in the arts, not just having access to them, remains a cause that should not be overlooked by anyone, including at the political level.