What art can mean for the terminally ill

On 11 January, this remarkable exhibition opened at the Amsterdam Medical Centre. The exhibition is the final result of unexpected collaborations between patient, artist and spiritual care counsellor: together, they sought a way to imagine and express the patient’s life story. Among those attending the opening were patients and bereaved family members. For the AMC, the exhibition provides a way to open up conversations with current oncology patients about their new life narrative.

Co-creation

The artists – ranging from writers and visual artists to theatre-makers and musicians – undertook an intensive training programme to prepare them for working with seriously ill people, their families and healthcare professionals. “We provide them with the tools to work transdisciplinarily,” says Nirav Christophe, professor at HKU. The AMC’s spiritual care counsellors also take part in the training, ensuring that experts from different domains can connect with one another.

“The artist must create something together with the patient through a process of co-creation, without allowing the creative process to be driven by the fact that someone is seen as ‘pitiful’. They must learn to engage with all emotions, and allow them all to exist within the work. It also happens that people die during the making process, and that is something to take into account. Even so, the artist’s creative process usually does not stop there – which is both beautiful and unsettling.”

In Search of Stories

How did the artists allow themselves to be influenced by the patient during the co-creation process? Which strategies did they use, and what impact did the care environment have on their working methods? For example, what effect does healthcare’s perception of time have on an artist? In many of the trajectories, prior agreements regarding duration and frequency proved insufficient for both artist and patient. As a result, each process became bespoke. All the lessons from this project are collected in the book: In Search of Stories.

The Art of Care and Wellbeing

HKU sees an important role for its researchers and students in addressing the challenges within care and wellbeing. Artists and designers are uniquely equipped to question systems, set stalled processes back in motion, and imagine alternative futures. They can approach issues from an entirely different angle, unburdened by ingrained assumptions, and work across disciplines to generate new ideas or offer meaningful experiences that help people feel better. HKU gives shape to this vision through its focal theme: The Art of Healthcare and Wellbeing.