CULTURAL HEALING ARTISTRY
Process Options in Using Theatre
Arts for
Cultural and Intercultural Healing
Adapted
from recorded and video conversations and engaging with Ernie Cloma (retired) of
Philippines Educational Theatre Association (PETA) in Manila, and Tagaytay, Philippines
during 2004, 2005& 2016.
In
this monograph, the term ’healing’ means ‘to make whole’.
Ernie Cloma engaged in his
own Healing work outside of PETA in Counties throughout the East Asia
Australasia Region.
This
monograph is a work in progress embracing the action research of Ernie Cloma
and others throughout the East Asia Oceania Australasia Region. This continues
to evolve.
What
follows is some process options adapted from Ernie Cloma’s artistry ways when he
visited people in the following places:
o Thai-Burma
border areas
o Mindanao
in Southern Philippines
o Cambodia
o Vietnam
o Australia
(Australian Indigenous people)
o Japan
The
terms ‘Cultural Healing Artistry’ and ‘Cultural Healing Action’ refer to the
same processes.
Intercultural
and Cultural Healing Artistry may be used for:
o Providing
healing support for people affected by torture and trauma or affected by
man-made or natural disasters
o Supporting
and enriching:
o Constituting
or reconstituting harmonious society following conflict:
§ Psycho-emotional
transforming accompanying Social Transforming
§ Moves
towards sustainable peace and reconciling
§ Inter-cultural
relational mediating contributing to forming and sustain good relations between
previously conflicted parties
§ Being
well in the world with those previously in Conflict
§ Fostering
contexts where evidence based trust may emerge along with the letting go of
distrust, grievances, anger, hatred, fear & loathing
§ Evolving
inter-culturally fitting healing share community healing gatherings with healing ceremonies, rituals,
performances embracing the artistry of the whole
o Supporting
all forms of wellbeing including:
o Cultural
and intercultural wellbeing
o Faith
and interfaith wellbeing
o Community
and inter-community wellbeing
o Family,
interfamily, and intra-family wellbeing
o Habitat
wellbeing
o Inter-generational
wellbeing
o Psycho-emotional
wellbeing
o Psychosocial
wellbeing
o Environmental
wellbeing
o Bodymind
wellbeing
o Economic
wellbeing
o Governance
wellbeing
Every
artistic aspect of a culture (a way of life) may be used for nurturing wellbeing,
examples:
o Play
o Games
o Music
o Play,
percussion, and body percussion
o Dance
o Drama
and spontaneous drama
o Chanting
o Clowning
o Aromas
o Circus
o Singing,
chanting, toning, humming and vocalizing
o Adventure
challenges
o Spontaneous
choir
o Theatre
and theatre artistry – costumes, scenery, stage and the like
o Visual
art, sculpturing, carving and molding
o Using
commonly found objects as symbols and metaphors
o Literature
o Writing
and poetry writing
o Song
writing
o Collectively
creating community murals
o Painting
o Group
dynamics
o Storytelling
o Multiple
people spontaneously creating and immediately telling stories
Cultural
Healing Artistry in general terms involves actively fostering and sustaining
cultural and inter-cultural wellbeing. It fosters people extending their own
culture as a balance to other cultures that may be, or perceived to be
dominant, elitist and oppressive.
As
well, Cultural Healing Artistry is a movement for:
o Increasing
capacity to stay present and hear and understand others points of view
o Intercultural
reconciling
o Enriching
intercultural understanding of respective cultural meanings
o Embracing
a wider understand of understanding
It
may foster the evolving and enriching of quick response healing teams to act on
short notice to support resolving of local community, or wider conflict.
It
may provide scope for people to actively engender and promote:
o Values
o Language
o Cultural
and inter-cultural reconciling symbols
o Practices
o Modes
of action
o Arts
o Reconciling
ceremonies
o And
other aspects of a way of life (culture)
These
in turn may facilitate:
o social
emancipating action
o intercultural
healing
o Cultural
justice, as well as
o Social
and environmental wellbeing
Cultural
Healing Action may run for less than an houror continue for several hours,
days, or even weeks.
People
of all ages may become involved in actives guided by contextranging from very
gentle to very energetic.
People
may begin exploring new ways of being in the world together.
Modes of Being in Engaging with Locals:
o Being
Kind
o Respecting
o Attending
o Nurturing
o Being
Sensitive
o Sustaining
an attuning and engaging mood and energy
o Respectfully
Playful
o Fitting
Expressivity
o Being
Joyful
o Engendering
Fun & Playful Mood & Behaviors
o Being
Infectious
Process Options
Gaining
and Sustaining Rapport & Trust
Brief
Life Story Exchange to Frame the Context
Framing
– Meaning Reframe &Context Reframe
Playfulness
& Games
Telling
their Stories
Gently
shifting between themes according to context of the moment- examples:
Some
things that have been important for you
Good
Memories that make you happy and glad –
o when
you were young
o when
you were a little older
o when
you were even older
Some
things about how you are living now
Some
stories people told you that were very interesting to you
Perhaps
some drawings, sculpture, and dances that show your stories
Using
commonly found materials as play resources
Can
a few of you pretend together to bring your story to life – perhaps by moving –
and after a time having feelings in showing your story.
After
time – perhaps use some words in showing your story
Perhaps
have a drum or stick on wood playing in different ways accompanying your story
(slow, soft, steady beat, erratic, urgent, one loud surprise noise, very fast –
like heart beating fast etc. –to convey feeling accompanying your stories
After
a time perhaps engaging in spontaneously evolving play with locals supporting
resolving of local presenting issue, examples:
Place:
In Central Australia
People:
Adults
leaving young Aboriginal children six years old and younger with mucous running
from nose, with mucous covered in flies, with children wiping nose with dust
covered hands so nose, lips and face become covered in mud and mucous and flies.
Children using very dirty plates for their food.
Resource
Available:
Hose
and running water
Play
Process
o Creating
games and water-play with the children - example: Hose in air and pretending
it’s raining – having water fall on your face and rubbing water on your face
(thereby cleaning face). Creating context where it is fun for children to wash
and bathe themselves regularly
o After
first game – squirting water at children holding dinner plates to stop water
hitting their face – so they end up with clean plates to eat food from.
.
.