Mental Health Response Received
IN September of 2020 Jonathan Waters and Elliot Phillips put together Mental Health Call And Response.
This was a multifaceted art show, focusing on storytelling and the raising of awareness in mens’ mental health, and mental health struggles in the Otepoti community.
The call was put out to the community and was responded to with overwhelming community support. There were over 65 physical artworks on display, and several speakers, poets, and dancers expressing their stories on the issue at hand at the collective’s opening night, which drew 300 people to the Community Gallery on Princess St. This speaks to the importance of drawing attention to these often unspoken struggles in our community.
This year they are doing it again, under the banner ‘Response Received’. This looks to further the growth of support and awareness of mental health struggles across our community, as well as providing a safe and accepting space for creative minds to express whatever it is they have to say.
The event is community funded, and you can head to www.boosted.org.nz/ projects/responsereceived if you wish to donate to the collective. The event is poised to take place between September 28 and October 3, 2021. However with COVID some changes may be made.
If you wish to submit a piece of work to Mental Health Response Received, please email mentalhealthotepoti@gmail.com with an expression of interest, or head to their Instagram @mentalhealth.otepoti.
The annual provisional suicide statistics showed that between July 2019 and June 2020, New Zealand lost 654 people to suicide. Each one of those people was a member of an Aotearoa Community.
It is through community events like this that we can bring everyone together to heal and continue the important dialogue needed to break down the stigma surrounding mental health struggles.