Reimagining an emergency space: practice innovation within a frontline art therapy project on the France-UK border at Calais

ABSTRACT

This paper explores the large map as an innovative visual art tool in a frontline art therapy project with refugees. In a volatile and hostile setting on the France-UK border at Calais, inhospitable spaces, for a time, become human places, and the capacity to imagine both other (people) and somewhere other (place) become possible. Within this emergency setting, a safe space is temporarily activated. In the complicated times in which we live, art therapists are uniquely positioned to offer crisis support to people in diverse contexts with ethical and imaginative practice, using both their psychological skills and the art itself in equal weight. Critical examination of art therapy interventions is a necessary aspect of ethical practice and can lead to adaptations. This can feed into contemporary debates about how to deliver crisis intervention work, social action, social justice, as well as issues of definition. Dialogue, collaboration and co-production can open debate, challenge injustices and lead to social change. Social media as an extension of practice can serve as a further innovation and offer an alternative potential space, particularly in crisis contexts and where face-to-face work is not possible.

Plain-language summary

This paper looks at the role of the large map in an ongoing frontline art therapy project with refugees in Calais, northern France. The authors write about the border context in which the work takes place. They then present some thinking about the use of maps within this setting. This is followed by an example of the work in practice in the form of one Facebook post written in February 2019. The authors discuss the themes and ideas about space and materials emerging out of this extract.

The authors propose that the innovative choice and application of materials, which helps to create a safe space in this border setting, can be translated into other physically and psychologically challenging contexts. The core tenets of art therapy practice and the skills brought by art therapists are needed now as much as ever. The paper also invites art therapists to think critically and imaginatively about the materials and media they choose in relation to their own wider work contexts with people.

The authors suggest that an important part of the art therapy intervention in a difficult place needs to be about reflecting and adapting to context, which includes crisis support. This in turn supports a dialogue that can challenge injustices and lead to social change. The collaborative reflections about the work, written into blog posts during the return journeys from France back to the UK, form a second practice innovation. The posts are shared with an online audience and sometimes read, commented upon and further shared by those who use the service in Calais. The posts attempt to present creative, impactful narratives about the human aspect of the refugee experience. This is in contrast to the dominant media narratives in which refugees are often depicted with negative stereotypes.

KEYWORDS:

• Map
• refugees
• materials
• imagination
• space
• art therapy
• crisis intervention

Acknowledgements

We would like to give a special acknowledgement to Naomi Press, HCPC registered art therapist, who has been a key team member in developing the work with maps in Calais and co-presented the original innovation paper at the International Practice Research Conference in 2019. We also acknowledge the vital role of all the artists and art therapists within our team, alongside our partners. Above all, we acknowledge all those we have worked with on the France-UK border who have helped us understand better what it means to be human.

Disclosure statement

The authors report no potential conflict of interest in the writing of this paper. While the views expressed are those of the authors, the work and ideas explored in this paper take place in an ongoing dialogue with the Art Refuge team, trustees and partners, and the case material is already in the public domain through its original posting online.

Notes on contributors

Bobby Lloyd is a visual artist, UK HCPC registered art therapist, supervisor and educator. Since the early 1990s her work has taken place in the NHS and community settings, as well as internationally in contexts of conflict and social upheaval. Her specialist focus is on the role of the visual arts and art therapy in relation to displacement and crisis support, and she is increasingly interested in the relationship of this work to social justice. As CEO of the charity Art Refuge, she has led its project in northern France since 2015.

Miriam Usiskin is a UK HCPC registered Art Therapist, supervisor and educator. She is a senior lecturer on the MA Art Therapy at the University of Hertfordshire. Having worked for many years in acute settings within the NHS, she now specialises in working with imagination, resilience, displacement and crisis support, both in the UK and internationally. She is a core member of the Art Refuge team working on the France-UK border since 2016 and is currently undergoing an Educational Doctorate focused on Art Refuge interventions.