Creatives mental health attracts Intervention
The local creatives are pregnant with hope to benefit from the Heartstrings and Heartbeats project, aimed at tending at the mental health wellbeing of the creatives industry.
Heartstrings and Heartbeats is a project that seeks to explore mental health problems among creatives, while also applying scientific methods to come up with solutions for these issues. This is a project between Botswana and Denmark with a plan to place a creative better in the field. Assistant Facilitator of the project, Leroy Nyoni tells BG Style that the creative aspect of the project includes the release of creative work such as film, choreography and songs to address these issues. He is of the view that Art, is not taken seriously locally, yet they have so much impact on the general wellbeing of people.
‘’ Artists who can advocate for arts are used on a daily life routine through their music, paintings and films to keep people sane, but no one looks out for them, hence we want to make a difference through this project,” he says. He also emphasizes that Heartstrings & Heartbeats campaign, which is a two- year- old multi- stakeholder public engagement project aims at exploring the science behind mental health issues among creatives while they place communities and those impacted as drivers of their own solutions.
Nyoni adds that the project allows creatives to discuss in real time, through issues affecting them. After this, analysis will be presented back to the community, in order for them to come up with their solution to their mental health problems. He tells BG Style in an exclusive interview that they have already picked that Anxiety and Depression are mental health cases, dominant among artists.
He also clarifies that these mental problems are not only noticed now due to the advent of the Covid pandemic but rather, the pandemic exposed them.
The first phase of the Heartstrings & Heartbeats campaign is about fostering cultural relations between Danish and local artists that will culminate in a campaign to raise awareness among the public and inform research, according to Nyoni.
He reiterates that, expressions of the arts reflect what is happening in the society, and thereby fixing some issues through the message carried in various media or genre.
“Arts show reality and also mirror the society; reflect on how to lead a better life or build what has been broken,” he says adding that creatives convey a message or a piece looking at what is happening within their surroundings.
So far, they have already started with a song called ‘ Troubled’ which was produced by Solly Sebotso, featuring Mpho Sebina and J- Spliff. The song is meant to trigger dialogue on mental health issues in the community. Nyoni emphasises that Scientists will take this dialogue and extrapolate the data, which he says they are confident it would help the local creatives. Project Manager, Abraham Mamela says this is one exciting project focused on creating solutions and talking about mental health in the community. He also concurs that presently the creatives industry is shuttered with most creatives suffering from anxiety and depression as they have got nowhere to present their work in the midst of Covid protocols in place.
He explains that Botswana is working hand in hand with Demark, Europe and the UK through this project in addressing the mental health issues amongst creatives and seeking a way forward to keep them sane. “Most of the creatives locally, have got no source of income, and some haven’t even received any form of counselling during these trying times,” he said. Mamela adds that mental health is important, and their aim is to also secure partnerships for the local creatives. “This has to be fun while at the same time, addressing the main issue of mental health,” he says.