The art of healing

Hong Kong Art Week illustrates how the idea of art as therapy is steadily gaining ground in the city. At art fairs, galleries, museums and beyond, it's time to affirm the efficacy of art's remedial value. Faye Bradley reports.

An Art Basel Hong Kong (ABHK) panel will examine the role of art in therapy tomorrow - the closing day of the city's annual flagship art fair at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (HKCEC). Speakers include Cynthia Tongson, the custodian of the artistic legacy of her late brother, Hong Kong's Wesley Tongson; as well as artists Yuki Iiyama, Indu Antony and Christine Wong Yap. Melissa Karmen Lee, CEO of the Chinese Canadian Museum in Vancouver, serves as moderator.

The conversation will explore how art can create conditions for healing when it comes to mental health. Lee believes this is possible when "we can access that special connection" artists are capable of making while trying to "understand the human brain, body and environment" through their art. She is hoping to delve into the background and practice of each artist on the panel, and highlight "how this might apply to care and mental healing".

"The goal of the event is to eradicate the taboo around talking about mental health," says Antony, who was raised in a conventional family in the Indian state of Kerala and hence has reason to appreciate how growing "gender accessibility" has proved a game-changer in the field of mental health.

"Art acts as a medium for people to express themselves and provides a space for people to be themselves," she adds. "I believe in starting conversations around topics that affect me personally."

Stephanie Bailey curated ABHK's Conversations and Salon program. She acknowledges Wellcome Trust's role in supporting the panel. "Their Mindscapes project partners with artists and institutions across the world to create exhibitions that open up empathetic and generative spaces to reflect on and talk about mental health, while exploring how art can create pathways for open communication, understanding and healing," she adds.