Museums for Health and Wellbeing conference

January 25, 2016January 25, 2016 / ctimmermann / Leave a comment

The National Alliance for Museums, Health & Wellbeing will be holding its first conference at the Whitworth Art Gallery on 2 March 2016. The programme will feature speakers from the health, social care and museum sectors who will explore the contribution museums can make to health & wellbeing from a range of different perspectives.

MuseumsHealthWellbeingConf

The day will offer opportunities for networking and sharing information about museum & wellbeing activities. A ‘market place’ area will showcase museums’ work in this field – download the open call for pop-up stands and/or posters by clicking on the link below if you are interested in participating.

Delegates can also take part in a range of practical, hands-on activities in the afternoon, including behind the scenes tours of the Whitworth; mindfulness sessions in the galleries; object handling for wellbeing workshops and walking tours of the gardens. The event will end with a performance and wine reception.

This one-day event is aimed at museum professionals looking to develop their health & wellbeing offer as well as those interested in working in partnership with museums including health and social care workers, artists and art-therapy practitioners.

Click this link for further information or contact National Alliance Coordinator Krisztina Lackoi, k.lackoi@ucl.ac.uk

Download the Open Call for Marketplace Participation (pdf)

NationalAllianceLogo

Bedrock: exhibition of new artwork by Nicola Dale

January 12, 2016January 19, 2016 / ctimmermann / Leave a comment

Do you remember the workshop From Coal Mining to Data Mining we held in November? We are now inviting you to attend the opening of the exhibition associated with this project, of Nicola Dale‘s artwork inspired by historical arthritis research with coal miners as research subjects and by conversations with former miners.

21 January, 6-8pm (exhibition continues till 24 January)
ArtWork Atelier, 95 Greengate, Salford M3 7NG (entrance on Queen Street, about 5-10 minutes walk from Manchester Cathedra)

Here is a map

And here is an invitation on Nicola’s own blog site, with some interesting links.

Bedrock Poster

Download the poster (pdf)

Events at the Whitworth

January 12, 2016 / ctimmermann / Leave a comment

Happy New Year to you all from the Medical Humanities Lab. Lab member Wendy Gallagher asked us to let you know about the following events held at the Whitworth Art Gallery.

Coffee, Cake and Culture

Making culture accessible to people living with dementia and their carers

Fully supported museum visits for people with dementia and their family members or care partners, on Thursdays the 28 January, 25 February, 31 March, 28 April and 26 May, from 2 to 4pm. Attendance free.

Coffee_cake_andCulture A4 online Dec2015[3]

Aesthetics of Anatomy

Life drawing classes in the study of anatomy. Last Thursday of every month, £5 per session – all materials provided. Book your sessions here.

Aesthetics Classes Online Dec2015

For more information, please contact wendy.gallagher@manchester.ac.uk

Not so grim up north: how can museums contribute to health and wellbeing?

December 7, 2015December 7, 2015 / ctimmermann / Leave a comment

The Whitworth Art Gallery and Manchester Museum are part of a new Arts Council funded research project looking at the impact of engaging in museum activities for individuals’ health and wellbeing. Not So Grim Up North (2015-2018) is a collaboration with Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums (TWAM), working with researchers at University College London (UCL).

The Whitworth and TWAM have been leading creative work in the field of health, culture and wellbeing for many years, with specifically developed arts and heritage programmes in partnership with local healthcare and social care services. Inspired by the collections of art and local history, the programmes offer behind-the-scenes tours and object handling; arts activities; sound recording; creative writing; and photography.

The Whitworth’s contemporary textiles handling resource

The research will explore how taking part in a museum or art gallery activity can have demonstrable health and wellbeing outcomes, through a longitudinal study using a mix-methods approach – that is, we will be using validated (quantitative) clinical scales alongside qualitative interviews to measure the impact of these activities over 18 months. The project will work with a range of audiences across the two regions, including adults with mental health issues, adults in addiction recovery, stroke rehabilitation patients, and older adults living with dementia; and will also bring together the perspectives of healthcare professionals and cultural professionals to explore the work of partnership. The project will contribute to better understanding the value of museum encounters on health and wellbeing.

Dr Nuala Morse is the Research Associate for the project, based at the Whitworth Art Gallery, University of Manchester. Nuala’s background crosses human geography, museum studies, participatory theory and the medical humanities, and her work is interested in the distinctive nature of the ‘social work’ of museums professionals; the role of the museum as a space of social care; and the role of culture in (mental health and addictions) recovery work. Nuala’s recent papers can be found here.

You can find out more about the research project here (please note some of these pages are under construction).

If you would like any further information please contact Nuala: Nuala.morse@manchester.ac.uk

Find out more about the museums’ programmes:

Pop-up Exhibition: The Medicine Cabinet

December 1, 2015 / ctimmermann / Leave a comment

The Medicine Cabinet – Unlocking Manchester’s Medical History
Saturday 12 December 2015 11am – 4pm
Chetham’s Library
Long Millgate
Manchester M3 1SB

MedicineCabinet

MA Art Gallery and Museum Studies students from the University of Manchester present a pop-up exhibition in collaboration with the Museum of Medicine and Health.

Discover the wonders of Manchester’s medical history in the beautiful surrounds of Chetham’s Library – open for one day only!
https://www.facebook.com/events/1656314064625973/

Medicine in Arts Society Launch Event

November 20, 2015November 20, 2015 / ctimmermann / Leave a comment

The new Medicine in Arts students Society, MIAS, are inviting us to attend their launch night on Thursday, 26 November at the Whitworth Art Gallery: an evening of live art, music, performance and presentations.

MIA Flyer-01

MIAS is a brand new student society at the University of Manchester that aims to bridge the gap between the arts and medicine by exploring medical themes in literature, film, art and music.

By providing a platform to share knowledge and skills between the faculties of humanities and medicine MIAS aims to enhance students’ understanding of the patientsʼ narratives and the humane aspects of healthcare.

Through their socially responsible arts projects they intend to develop empathy, reflective practices and observation skills as well as promote well-being through creativity.

Public Workshop: From Coal Mining to Data Mining

November 18, 2015November 18, 2015 / ctimmermann / 1 Comment

Join us for a collaborative experiment in Science/Art/History

Friday, 27 November 2015, 10:00-12:30
Room 2.823, Stopford Building, The University of Manchester
(Building 79 on the campus map)

From Coal Mining to Data Mining - FLYER

The Arthritis Research UK Centre for Epidemiology was established at the University of Manchester in 1954. It has remained an internationally leading centre for the study of musculoskeletal disease throughout the last 60 years, during which time its methodology has evolved from field surveys to analyzing electronic health data from thousands of patients. Artist Nicola Dale is currently undertaking a residency within the Centre. Her focus is on the Centre’s x-ray archive, a visually stunning resource that has unique local historical interest.

Between 1950-1952, John Lawrence (the first Director of the Centre) studied the effects of physical labour on the incidence and severity of arthritis. He collected x-rays from miners at the Bedford Colliery (Wood End Pit) in Leigh, Lancashire, and compared these to x-rays of Salford dockers and road workers. Demonstrating that miners had more degenerative spinal disease, the study links the history of medicine and the experience of pain to an important chapter in the regional history of Lancashire and other coalmining areas in the UK. Funded by a Wellcome Trust ISSF Public Engagement Grant, our project brings together epidemiology, medical history and illness experiences with Nicola Dale’s sculptures, in a creative experiment around stories of work and illness, and the visual heritage of medical research. Join us on Friday, 27 November to find out more!

Speakers:

Dr Will Dixon, Director, Arthritis Research Centre for Epidemiology
Dr Carsten Timmermann, Senior Lecturer, Centre for the History of Science, Technology & Medicine
Nicola Dale, Artist in Residence, Arthritis Research UK Centre for Epidemiology

RSVP: email Andrew.D.Smith@manchester.ac.uk

All welcome!

Project News: Stroke – Stories of Self through Art and Science

November 4, 2015November 4, 2015 / ctimmermann / Leave a comment

Medical Humanities Lab member and CHSTM research fellow Dr Stephanie Snow, working in collaboration with the Stroke Association and visual artist Elisa Artesero, has been curating a pop-up exhibition at Manchester Museum to commemorate World Stroke Day on 29 October 2015. The exhibition featured creative work produced by a group of stroke survivors, based on their experiences of adapting to life after stroke and inspired by Manchester Museum’s extensive mask collection.

The exhibition, titled Stroke: Stories of the self through art and science, is running as part of the Manchester Science Festival. It is the first output of a larger project that brings together stroke survivors, patient groups, artists, clinicians, scientists, researchers and students from across the University and beyond in order to explore the life-changing aspects of stroke.

Photograph of Nancy Rothwell with stroke survivors at the exhibition

University of Manchester President and Vice Chancellor Professor Dame Nancy Rothwell visiting the exhibition

Stephanie’s collaboration with the Stroke Association and stroke survivors is ongoing and will result in a major exhibition of creative work and engagement events at the 2016 Manchester European City of Science festival.

Here is a short YouTube film about the workshops:

Further information about the event

Project News: Children and War

November 4, 2015November 4, 2015 / ctimmermann / Leave a comment

We’re happy to pass along some news coverage, including a short film, of a project involving Medical Humanities Lab member Professor Rachel Calam (Psychology).

Sky News have covered the project, showing how children who have come to Manchester talk about their experience of war in Syria and the psychological changes that come as a result of experiencing conflict.

A child’s drawing dealing with the experience of war in Syria

About the project and its findings

Parental support and family cohesion is protective against mental health problems in children in situations of armed conflict and following displacement by war. Aala El-Khani, Rachel Calam, Kim Cartwright and the Parenting and Families Research Group at The University of Manchester are working to understand the challenges parents and caregivers face and the best ways of providing information and psychological support through displacement and resettlement.

The latest media coverage exemplifies the experiences that children carry with them from conflict zone to resettlement in a place of safety.

Find out more about the Parenting and Families Research Group and its work

Launch Event

November 3, 2015 / ctimmermann / Leave a comment

Invitation to the Medical Humanities Laboratory Launch Event
Thursday 19 November, 5:30 pm, Whitworth Art Gallery

Are you a humanities scholar whose research or teaching considers the meaning and experience of health, health care and biomedicine?

Are you a biomedical researcher interested in how the arts and humanities can add dimension and impact to your work?

Are you an arts practitioner or member of a community group whose work engages with biomedicine and healthcare?

Are you a healthcare practitioner looking for new perspectives on the clinical encounter?

Do you teach healthcare professions students, and would you like to use art, literature and the humanities to enrich their learning?

Would you like to have new conversations, meet potential collaborators, and access more funding?

If so, come join us in the Medical Humanities Laboratory, where innovative collaborations are created!

This new University of Manchester network encourages collaboration and exchange amongst those whose work, practice, and interests involve the artistic, humanistic, and human dimensions of medicine and health.

Please join us at our launch, where we’ll kick off this year’s activities with interactive discussions and exchange of ideas.

Thursday 19 November at the Whitworth Art Gallery, Oxford Rd, Manchester

With drinks and nibbles from 5:30 pm, and ‘speed networking’ and discussion from 6 pm

‘Speed networking’ provides an opportunity to meet colleagues and potential collaborators in an informal but productive – and fun — environment. Please come prepared to tell others about your work, and hear about theirs!

Register here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/medical-humanities-laboratory-launch-event-with-speed-networking-session-tickets-19370360269

medhumlab

Manchester

Author: ctimmermann