Editorial

Clive Holmwood, Ronald P.M.H. Lay, Michal Lev and Vivien Marcow Speiser

We are both privileged and excited to write this first editorial for this new issue of Creative Arts in Education and Therapy (CAET). We are thankful to both Shaun McNiff and Debra Kalmanowitz for their significant work and service in getting the journal to this point, where it is internationally recognized and successful. We are also grateful for the continued support of our executive editor Tony Zhou. The journal is now spreading its wings and flying toward a truly global focus, and we invite you to join us in this journey.

Globally, we have all had to face huge challenges over the last two years, with the COVID-19 virus, and even as we write, we are uncertain as to which direction it might go. However, what we can be certain of is that this set of articles in CAET continues to show us that we can rely on the arts and all the differing contexts in which they are used to educate and heal and to help us cope with the uncertainties of an uncertain world.

We begin with Liz Cameron’s unique and exciting article that considers what we can learn from Indigenous Australian sensory knowledge. This article explores the nexus between Indigenous knowledge and creative practice as an embodied theoretical framework based on the human senses that may assist artists in deconstructing their current conventical thinking and broaden their interaction by deeply connecting with the self and the environment. Cameron does this from within a framework of Indigenous Australian people.

“Outsider art” is considered in the article with Liuting in conversation with Guo Haiping, Aimee T. Liu, and Katerine Tang. Artists who do not have formal artistic training and have histories of mental ill health appear to have great interest in the arts and the universe. We consider these ideas from a transpersonal psychology perspective.

Next, Mimma Della Cagnoletta and colleagues in Bologna, Italy, consider the symbolic embodied power of the tree, an ancient symbol of strength and rootedness. They considered in a webinar this ancient of symbols using both movement and art with creative arts therapists.

We then shift focus to Sri Lanka, where Sudesh Mantillake begins a debate around the formation of dance/movement therapy (DMT) as a new profession in Sri Lanka. Sudesh considers the challenges that DMT poses from a post-colonial perspective. This is followed by Kim Dunphy and colleagues from across the globe who write a significant overview on the state of dance therapy as a profession globally. They consider in detail international perspectives, examples of practice, and the challenges the profession faces globally. They also consider issues around DMT training and barriers to global progress. In the next article, Stefania Mylona, from Greece, continues the dance theme from a specific focus, that of total theatre, or Wagner’s “Gesamtkunstwerk,” or total artwork. Movement is conceptualized as a “total dance” incorporating movement and sound and the intersectional notion of moving images and moving sounds.

Next, Daphna Arbell Kehila, who graduated from Lesley University in the United States, considers art making with older people and their carers in Singapore Care Homes. This important work aimed to introduce interdisciplinary tools of art-making and mindfulness that could be used to improve communication and alleviate stress between staff and residents. This original piece of research shows the importance of dyadic care as part of a holistic approach to caregiving.

From Singapore, we move to the London School of Puppetry, where Caroline Astell-Burt considers the use of the ancient form of Japanese puppetry known as otome bunraku or “maiden’s doll theatre.” The work focuses on the puppeteer’s presence revealed in the otome bunraku, a unified mind and body manifested in the manipulation of these puppets. A person reaches a physical and social realization of what well-being means through an experience of “being other” and therefore by creating other worlds in the process of puppetry.

In our final article, we return to Sri Lanka, where we consider the Rata Yakuma ritual, which is a ritual performed for women experiencing pregnancy or infertility. In this article, Ashley Fargnoli and Dhanushka Seneviratne considered the relevance of this as community and personal well-being as well as potential intersections with DMT. Their work considered themes of finding strength, stability, and sense of home, connecting with nature, increased connection to certain body parts, and shifting emotions, which all resulted from the collaborative process. The work culminates in a film that can be viewed at https://vimeo.com/581258415/5d941344d3.

Our final offering in this issue of the journal is a book review by Rainbow Tin Hung Ho 何天虹 from the University of Hong Kong on the new book by Michael Franklin, Art as Contemplative Practice: Expressive Pathways to the Self. Rainbow Ho suggests that this book not only describes the processes and experiences of art as a contemplative practice, but also considered that its insights and inspiration, if contemplated, can be extended and expanded to many aspects, regardless of discipline and culture.

This edition then offers a range of international perspectives covering the arts in its many forms, including art, dance, movement, and puppetry. We hope these articles will allow us to believe that the arts continue to be both therapeutic and educational and act as a form of grounding for each of us in these uncertain times we live in. We hope that the enduring heartbeat of the arts offers both this sense of grounding as well as sustenance to everyone reading this issue, including the four of us as the new co-editorial team.

社论

克莱夫·霍姆伍德, 罗纳德·雷, 米哈尔·列夫 和 维维安·马考·斯潘塞

我们很荣幸也很激动为新一期的CAET期刊撰写第一篇社论。我们感谢肖恩·麦克尼夫 (Shaun McNiff) 和 黛布拉· 卡尔马诺维茨 (Debra Kalmanowitz) 为使本刊达到国际公认的成功水平所做的大量工作和服务。我们也感谢执行主编周宇博士的持续支持。本刊现在正展开翅膀, 飞向真正的全球焦点, 我们邀请您加入我们的旅程。

在全球范围内, 过去两年我们都不得不面对巨大的挑战, 新冠病毒, 即使在我们撰写本文时, 我们也不确定它可能会朝哪个方向发展去。但是, 我们可以肯定的是, CAET的这期文章还在继续向我们表明:我们可以依赖艺术以及它们所处的所有不同背景用于教育和治疗, 并帮助我们应对不确定性世界的不确定性。

我们从 莉兹·卡梅伦 (Liz Cameron) 的独特而令人兴奋的文章开始, 该文章认为我们可以学习澳洲土著的感官知识。本文探讨了土著知识和创造性实践之间的联系, 作为一种具身化 (embodied) 的理论基于人类感官的框架, 可以帮助艺术家解构他们的当前的传统思维, 并通过深度的自我与环境联结, 拓展他们的互动。卡梅伦是在澳大利亚原住民的框架内完成这一工作的。

刘婷与郭海平和卡特琳·唐 (Katerine Tang) 对话的文章考量了“原生艺术”。没有受过正规艺术训练, 并有精神疾病史的艺术家对艺术和宇宙表现出极大的兴趣。我们从超个人心理学的角度考虑这些想法。

接下来, 米玛·德拉卡·尼奥莱特 (Mimma Della Cagnoletta) 及其意大利博洛尼亚的同事讨论了一个力量和根基的古老象征——树的象征具身化力量。他们在网络研讨会上讨论了创造性艺术治疗师的工作中使用动作和艺术这个古老的符号。

然后我们将焦点移到斯里兰卡, 苏德什·曼提拉克 (Sudesh Mantillake) 围绕舞蹈/动作治疗 (DMT) 在斯里兰卡成为新职业开启了讨论。苏德什从后殖民的角度考察了 DMT 带来的挑战。紧随其后的是金·邓菲 (Kim Dunphy) 和其来自世界各地的同事撰写的一篇重要的关于舞蹈治疗行业的全球现状概览。他们详细讨论了国际视野、实践案例以及该职业在全球所面临的挑战。他们还讨论到有关 DMT 的培训的问题和全球性进展的阻碍。

下一篇文章中, 来自希腊的斯特凡尼亚·米洛娜 (Stefania Mylona) 从一个特定的焦点——整个剧院的焦点, 或瓦格纳 (Wagner) 的“Gesamtkunstwerk”, 或称“整体艺术” (total artwork), 来继续舞蹈主题。动作被概念化为一种“整体舞蹈”, 结合了运动和声音以及运动图像和运动声音的交叉概念。

接下来, 毕业于美国莱斯利大学的 达芙娜·阿贝尔·凯希尔 (Daphna Arbell Kehila), 研究了新加坡护理之家中老年人及其护理人员进行艺术的创作。这项重要的工作旨在引入艺术创作的跨学科工具和正念可以用于改善沟通和缓解工作人员和居民之间的张力。这项原创性研究表明, 作为整体护理方法的一部分, 双向护理的重要性。

我们从新加坡转到伦敦木偶学校, 在那里卡罗琳·阿斯特尔-伯特 (Caroline Astell-Burt) 使用被称为“乙女文乐 (otome bunraku)”或“少女的娃娃剧院”的日本木偶的古老形式。作品侧重于木偶师的在乙女文乐的表演中揭示, 统一的身心在操纵这些木偶。人通过“成为他者”的体验, 即, 在木偶戏的过程中通过创造其他世界, 在身体与社会层面上实现对幸福的认知。

在我们的最后一篇文章中, 我们将回到斯里兰卡, 在那里我们考虑 拉塔亚库姆 (Rata Yakuma) 仪式, 这是为经历怀孕或不孕症的妇女举行的仪式。在本文中, 阿什利·法格诺里 (Ashley Fargnoli) 和达努什卡·塞纳维拉特内 (Dhanushka Seneviratne) 考虑了社区和个人福祉的关系, 以及与DMT的潜在交叉点。他们的作品以寻找力量、稳定和家的感觉为主题, 与自然联系, 增加与某些身体部位的联系, 以及转移情绪, 所有这些都是协作过程的结果。这项工作制作成的影片, 可以在以下网站观看 https://vimeo.com/581258415/5d941344d3。

我们在本期期刊中的最后一篇文章是香港大学何天虹 (Rainbow Tin Hung)对迈克尔·富兰克林 (Michael Franklin) 新书的书评, 《作为冥想练习实践的艺术：通往自我的表达途径》。何天虹提出, 这本书不仅描述了艺术作为一种冥想练习的过程和经验, 而且认为其见解和灵感, 如果仔细考虑, 可以扩展和延伸到许多方面, 不受学科和文化的限制。

本期刊物提供了一系列国际视角, 涵盖多种形式的艺术, 包括(视觉)艺术、舞蹈、动作和木偶戏。我们希望这些文章将使我们相信, 艺术持续具有治疗性和教育性, 同时能为每一个生活在不确定的时代人提供一种踏实落地的方式。我们希望艺术的持久心跳能为每一个阅读这期杂志的人提供这种踏实感, 也能为他们提供寄托, 包括我们四个新组成的联合编辑团队。