UCL Changemaker X ARTSMH
UCL ChangeMaker & Arts for Mental Health
We aim to understand the effectiveness of the ARTSMH program in helping students maintain good mental wellbeing—specifically, whether regular practice of art and self-reflection in non-therapeutic settings can help maintain and improve mental health. Beyond measuring the program's effectiveness, we also seek to help UCL students better understand and experience the power of arts in creating and sustaining mental wellbeing. Participants were encouraged to reflect, explore, and express themselves in these sessions.
GROUP LEADERS & ASSISTANTS' FEEDBACKS
Here are some adjectives that our group leaders & assistants used to describe the project refreshing:
fun, exciting, relaxing, inspiring, happy, fulfilling, enjoying, sentimental
“It was a very rewarding journey and thank you for involving us, it's a great project”
“[...] we would just like talk about whatever came to mind so that part was really nice because we actually could focus on conversation.”
“It just feels like a sense of fulfillment when we saw the participants waving very happily at the end our session.”
“It was very nice to see the final collaborative artwork come together. Participants are putting their ideas and sort of like putting their personality into it, and that was very exciting.”
“ I learned a lot from others as they open your mind to new horizons. We all came from different backgrounds, we learnt a lot about new things and music and that was very, very nice. It is an interesting way to learn about someone without having them saying about their personality and what they do, like you can learn a lot from what they listen to and what they enjoy.”
“[...] we would just like talk about whatever came to mind so that part was really nice because we actually could focus on conversation.”
"Very good to connect to people and meet new people, especially as a fellow at the end of the year when you know everyone’s located at everywhere. It's nice to be able to have that link with people from university and make this type of friendships [...] ”
“Sometimes it's just hard to say how you feel so sometimes like dancing it out it's just easier to express yourself, so I do think this can help yeah”
ARTWORK (MUSIC)
Cassette Tape", is a reflection of our feelings and emotions during the COVID-19 pandemic. The main theme is nostalgia, remembering and reflecting on life pre-COVID. The piano theme and harmonies constitute the base of this piece with intermittent cassette tape sounds and background backing. Two musical forms of vocal delivery are represented here: singing and rapping, as diverse music mediums to reflect and express ourselves.
Angus Chung: piano harmonies
Henry Haocheng Wang: rap vocal
Wai Lam Leung: main vocal, choir, backing
Rania Imãn Virjee: piano theme and drums
ARTWORK (DANCE)
The song used for this piece was “False Confidence” by Noah Kahan. It’s about confidence and we interpreted it as being open with our expressions. The choreography centred around that, and the dance focused on gesturing. We mainly used our hands instead of the entire body.
We hope you’re able to see and feel how we aimed to be more expressive through our dance. Hope you enjoy it!
Special thanks to the performers (Sofia, Chelsea, Geethana and Jenny), as well as our leader Narissa for choreographing!
ARTWORK (PAINTING/DRAWING)
