Happiness Clinic in Croatia
In reaction to the devastating impacts of COVID-19 on mental health, Gray Box creates and curates “Happiness Clinic”, an ephemeral clinic, which offers “artistic treatments”, cures, cares and therapies, in form of public participatory performances to celebrate joy, happiness, and spread positivity in today's uncertain world. During one whole day, from 10 am to 10 pm, the “Happiness Clinic” will open its fictional doors in Zagreb (or another city in Croatia), and allow the public to participate in nine different totally free of charge performances, led by nine Zagreb-based artists, in outdoor spaces (parc, street, square, seaside, fountain…) throughout the whole city. Movement-based proposals - including ceremony, ritual, promenade, multi-sensorial experience, collective actions, gathering, public intervention, celebration, party - are curated alongside three axes (“Care”, “Creation”, “Connection”), all of them coping with a variety of mental health and psychological problems, such as stress, anxiety, depressive symptoms, insomnia, denial, stigma, anger and fear caused by the pandemic.
The intersection of COVID-19 and mental health
Mental health is an important part of overall health and wellbeing. It affects how we think, feel, act, and also how we handle stress, relate to others, and make choices during an emergency. On October 6, 2020, WHO published the results of a survey of the impact of COVID-19 on mental, neurological, and substance use services in 130 WHO Member States. This report comes on the back of mounting evidence that the COVID-19 pandemic is having monumental effects on the mental health and wellbeing of populations worldwide. Public health actions, such as social distancing, can make people feel isolated and lonely and can increase stress and anxiety. Misuse of substances, particularly alcohol, is rising. And as with many other features of this pandemic, not all people have been affected equally. Frontline workers are experiencing increased workload and trauma, making them susceptible to stress, burnout, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Yet, the world is woefully unprepared to deal with the mental health impact of this pandemic, and we believe that art has a significant role to play.
It is important to let people know that it is completely normal to not feel all right all the time – it’s understandable to feel sad, distressed, worried, confused, anxious or angry during this crisis. Everyone reacts differently to difficult events, and some may find this time more challenging than others. During this particular time, people may be looking for new or additional ways to help them feel mentally better and get through. The main purpose of “Happiness Clinic” is to react to this context by improving peoples’ mental health and wellbeing through a wide range of participatory artistic actions.
It is important to let people know that it is completely normal to not feel all right all the time – it’s understandable to feel sad, distressed, worried, confused, anxious or angry during this crisis. Everyone reacts differently to difficult events, and some may find this time more challenging than others. During this particular time, people may be looking for new or additional ways to help them feel mentally better and get through. The main purpose of “Happiness Clinic” is to react to this context by improving peoples’ mental health and wellbeing through a wide range of participatory artistic actions.
Supporting others' mental wellbeing
There is a lot art can do to help people during this time. An other report from the WHO, published in 2019, has concluded that engaging in art-based activities can significantly benefit health, both mentally and physically. Engaging people in activities such as dancing, singing and creating provides an added dimension to how people can improve their physical and mental health.
In “Happiness Clinic”, a series of interactive artistic actions, including among others performances, live acts, rituals, ceremonies, cares, are imagined along three complementary and transversal axes to cope with the impact of COVID-19 on mental health:
In “Happiness Clinic”, a series of interactive artistic actions, including among others performances, live acts, rituals, ceremonies, cares, are imagined along three complementary and transversal axes to cope with the impact of COVID-19 on mental health:
- Care of the body
- Creation and co-creation
- Connection with others, community-building
Supporting local artists
The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic particularly threatens the future of artists, creators and cultural operators, who are severely impacted by the enforcement of social distancing measures and the consequent postponements, cancellations or closures of events. As the OECD demonstrates in a recent report, the risks are high for creators, artists and those working in the entertainment sector – a group of workers who are already vulnerable. As a response to this situation, in the “Happiness Clinic” Gray Box wants to cooperate with nine Zagreb-based artists, so as to redistribute the earned grant locally, ethically and equally. Every participating artist, selected through a transparent open call, will receive a decent fee.
Transparent open call
Gray Box with the local partner institution will commonly issue and jury a thematic open call six months before the opening of the “Happiness Clinic”, and encourage Zagreb-based artists, collectives to apply.
Through a completely transparent selection process, a jury composed of Zagreb-based curators, artists and cultural workers will choose nine proposals (3 / axe) belonging to all kinds of aesthetics including non-representative, non-canonical, marginal, experimental and oppositional forms. So as to avoid “seeing the same names everywhere”, we will also pay attention to select artists with none or very few experiences. We are also dedicated to build a broadly diverse and inclusive staff representing all races, ethnicities, ages, genders and backgrounds. |
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Applicants’ proposal must be, in terms of form:
In terms of concept, applications must develop one of the three axes:
- Performative in the wide sense of the term (ceremony, ritual, care, public space interventions, promenade, multisensorial experience, lecture, talk, workshop, collective actions, gathering, party...)
- Collective, participatory, and engage actively the public while respecting social distancing directions of local authorities
- Last maximum 3 hours and can be repeated several times in row during the day
- Be realizable to outdoor with no or very easy technical requirements
- Preferably rely on a technique, such as naturopathy – aromatherapy, energy technology, relaxation techniques – sophrology, manual techniques – osteopathy, kinesiology, podology, sport or on an approach like dietetics, food coaching, phytotherapy, traditional massage, reflexology, reiki, magnetism, feng shui, meditation, relaxation, hair care, body care, ayurvedic care, stretching, hiking, qi gong, pilates, tai chi chuan, art therapy, music therapy, dance therapy…
In terms of concept, applications must develop one of the three axes:
- Axe 1 – Care of the body, development of self-confidence and encouragement of self-care and self-love through the use of sport, dance and movement exercises as political tool to:
- challenge the mainstream fashionable “ideal” body;
- defy the traditional canon (in terms of proportion, size, scale, shape and aesthetic) together with the dominant representation of the healthy and unhealthy body;
- free ourselves from the concept of “standard of beauty”.
- Axe 2 – Creation and co-creation through alternative, experimental and horizontal learning and unlearning processes using those marginal forms (ballroom dance, nightclub dance, street dance…) and aesthetics which are currently rejected by the conformist mainstream canonical dance history and the market (eg. vulgar, kitsch, narrative...), as oppositional tools to:
- challenge the traditional hierarchy of genres and techniques in western academic art;
- question current hegemonic aesthetic trends and defy dominant cultural values and ideologies.
- Axe 3 – Connection with others and community-building activities are seen as a “call for gathering” for friendship, reciprocal support, collective study on a particular subject/issue, and tooling. These are simply human experiences which go beyond relational aesthetics by introducing the production of knowledge and the sharing of skills and tools in addition to the creation of friendly and safe spaces.
Timing
- 4 months before the opening of the “Happiness Clinic”: Open Call for proposals from 9 local artists
- 3 month before the opening:
- Composition, curating, event-choreography
- Administration (contract agreements with the selected artists)
- Reservation of public spaces
- Communication strategy, Press
- 1 month before the opening:
- Composition, curating, event-choreography
- One-on-one meetings, feedbacks, rehearsals
- Organization, schedule, time- and space-management
- Operational digital communication
- Operational PR and Press
- Organization of the documentation (photo, video)
- 10 days before the opening
- Project presentation with the artists: workshops, group and one-on-one meetings, inter-professional gathering, presentation of the projects, critical feedback
(- Optionally: Workshop for university students)
- Rehearsals
- Operational digital communication
- Opening of the “Happiness Clinic”: one full day of free participatory performances providing positivity, happiness, joy, wellbeing, self-care and self-love against the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health.
Ethics and values
“Happiness Clinic” is an artistic project which aims to be responsible, ethically engaged and socially impactful through its concept and form by:
- Giving financial support for local artists
- Promoting less-known, less-visible artists
- Focusing on local instead of global
- Building micro-communities, human connections after a period of social distancing and isolation
- Putting the emphasis on emotions, joy, happiness and human relations instead of current “conceptual trends”
- Showing unrepresented, oppositional, “out of the box” aesthetics to challenge official high-culture and traditional canons
- Performing outdoor (parc, street, square, monument…) to open the project to a wider public
- Promote contemporary dance and performance through generous and simple actions, understandable and appreciable by everyone
Curating as artistic practice
Through a curatorial form, Gray Box wishes to create an alternative system of thinking and behaving, based on cooperation, participation and engagement.
“Happiness Clinic” frees itself from the obsession with the new, the career, the exposure and the haste to overproduce, that this overall race for novelty and overconsumption generate. “Happiness Clinic” is an anti-fast art, an apology for slowness, a dazzling, passionate and generous platform for small actions.
“Happiness Clinic” frees itself from the obsession with the new, the career, the exposure and the haste to overproduce, that this overall race for novelty and overconsumption generate. “Happiness Clinic” is an anti-fast art, an apology for slowness, a dazzling, passionate and generous platform for small actions.
Regional cooperation
“Happiness Clinic” is a regional cooperation between the company “Gray Box” and Zagreb-based, Prague-based, Budapest-based and Bratislava-based artists, cultural workers, collectives, structures and universities.
“Happiness Clinic” is also a contractual collaboration with local artists from Zagreb, Prague, Budapest and Bratislava, and therefore a way to financially support the local art community.
“Happiness Clinic” is also a contractual collaboration with local artists from Zagreb, Prague, Budapest and Bratislava, and therefore a way to financially support the local art community.
The partner institution from Croatia
Will receive a budget to cover the administration expenses, including:
And optionally, depending on their willingness, will receive a budget to cover the project management expenses, including:
- Helping with reserving the 9 public spaces and ensuring that the local legislation regarding public spaces performances are respected
- Playing the role of the local partner in administration and billing
And optionally, depending on their willingness, will receive a budget to cover the project management expenses, including:
- Participating in the jury of the open call, select the jury members
- Participating in the selection of the local artists
- Participating in the identification of 9 outdoor spaces where the 9 public space performances will happen together with the selected artist
- Participating in the realization of a press kit
- Participating in contacting the local press
- Participating in the organization of the event documentation (photo, video)
Credits
Concept, curator: Anna Ádám / Gray Box
Local Project managers: 1 from each partner-city (Zagreb, Prague, Budapest and Bratislava)
Jury: Anna Ádám + 1 representer of the partner institution + 1 local curator or cultural worker
Artists: 9 local artists / participating city, selected through an open call
Performance venues: outdoor (parc, street, square…)
Workshop venues for the 9 selected artists (in total 6 workshops of 3h): an indoor venue based in the partner-city
Partner University and workshop venue for university students:
Financial support: Regional / Visegrad
Local Project managers: 1 from each partner-city (Zagreb, Prague, Budapest and Bratislava)
Jury: Anna Ádám + 1 representer of the partner institution + 1 local curator or cultural worker
Artists: 9 local artists / participating city, selected through an open call
Performance venues: outdoor (parc, street, square…)
Workshop venues for the 9 selected artists (in total 6 workshops of 3h): an indoor venue based in the partner-city
Partner University and workshop venue for university students:
Financial support: Regional / Visegrad
Our former public space projects
Celebration, 2019 © Gray Box
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Recycling costume creation, 2019 © Gray Box
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Public space interventions, 2018 © Gray Box
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Freak show carnival, 2018 © Gray Box
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Collective storytelling, 2016 © Gray Box
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Outdoor performance, 2016 © Gray Box
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Ritual, 2017 © Gray Box
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Multi-sensorial experience, 2017 © Gray Box
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