Art Initiatives
Prikkel
Prikkel (Stimulus) is an interdisciplinary study conducted by experts by experience, therapists, teachers, and artists. Together they investigate sensory integration, the process by which we absorb stimuli from the world and process them. The exchange between the groups of experts will then lead to concrete ideas for transmedia presentation forms and other programs, which will be further developed in a follow-up phase.
Art Participation Project
When it comes to the relationship between art, care, science, and society, The New Utrecht School not only collaborates structurally with the HKU (University of the Arts Utrecht), but also with the Art Affairs Department of the UMC Utrecht. Most recently this took shape in the Art Participation Project of the K.F Heinfonds.
The K.F. Heinfonds annually initiates an art participation project, in which a recently graduated student from the HKU is selected to carry out a project in a social institution in the province of Utrecht. This year the fund sought collaboration with the UMC Utrecht and it was jointly decided to select artist Sarah Mclacken for this. This project will lead to a work of art that can be given a place within the Hijmans van den Bergh building, the education building of the UMC Utrecht.
Betweter Festival
Two students from the Utrecht School of the Arts have created musical renditions of patient stories from the Psychiatry Story Bank for the Betweter Festival and The New Utrecht School. The final product could recently be heard at the festival, where scientists, artists and visitors come together.
Musical transformations
Transforming patient stories into a piece of music. That is not without struggle. Artist Noah chose a story and wrote down all of her associations while reading. Then she gave it more body by creating a metre and rhyme. Because of the complete artistic freedom the students were given, she could give her creativity free rein. According to artist Madelief, this was an essential part of the process: ''It is important to say yes to ideas. You'll figure out later if they're actually good or useful."
The final result was musically showcased during the Betweter Festival. Passers-by could listen to the songs with headphones and directly tell the makers what the music evoked in them. The assignment has given Noah a lot of inspiration for the future: "For example, I think it would be interesting to set up something for people with dementia. There you can see that music, unlike text, can really linger and have an effect on someone."
Performing Working
The artistic research project Performing Working examines on the one hand the hidden performativity of work situations such as a hospital - the emotional, affective performance expected of healthcare staff to fulfill the many different roles that the work requires - and equally of the non-staff: the work that involved in fulfilling the role of patient. On the other hand, Performing Working looks at the many facets of the work that comes with (performance) art, and tries to describe the - often invisible - work of (performance) artists and art workers, and the many roles that they too have to assume in order to work in the complex field, to find out what it takes to do this work, and what can make this work more sustainable.