‘Mental Health in Women: New Commissions’ is a developmental 4-month project that intends to use visual arts as a means of providing an opportunity for 5 female visual artists to commission new works of art that focuses on mental health as a central topic. This is a call to powerful women gifted in artistry to become part of new creations of art that are intentional, focused and address both the negatives and positives of mental health.

Mental health in women is often overlooked. This could be the strength that we often display and express as a natural trait/characteristic of ours with which we cannot detach from. Mental health is important to live a balanced life and often issues that negatively contribute are things such as violence, inequality, poor basic health care, unemployment etc which often culminate into different forms of societal ailments such as depression, eating disorders, suicidal mentality, stress and anxiety. Because poor mental health is intangible, many people don’t know how to communicate their issues with others in fear of judgement or blame. There is a lot of miseducation around mental health, especially in traditional homes and communities that have not yet opened up the window of mental expression through varied methods (intimate conversations, meditation, sound healing, therapeutic art etc) that assist in healthy mental states.

Project Highlights;

• The production of 2 artworks per artist will result in a virtual exhibition showcasing 10 artworks of the 5 featured female artists.
• Informative and demonstrative 3-5 minute videos that highlight different aspects and also provide insight in maintaining mental health and these topics include; the use of sound healing & meditation, the importance of mental health in the arts, physical exercises, mental health in conjunction with the feminine energy (spirituality), and healthy eating. All these are proudly offered by women who are passionate about their field of work and their unconventional methodologies.
• Weekly 1-hour zoom meetings with the project team and female artists, mainly for reflections and progress reporting during their time of production and the entire duration of the project.
• Artist’s profiling (Biographies, artist’s statements, catalogues and professional portfolios)

Mental health in Women: new commissions is a project designed by Healer of the world which is a programme that provides capacity building & development and skills transfer to females through new commissions, group exhibitions, open call competitions and further initiates community outreach projects, therapy-based creative workshops and green art projects that utilize recycled materials for environmentally-friendly and money-savvy methods.

Healer of the World’s vision is in using art as a healing and therapeutic tool, provided by women for women and communities whilst creating an active economy out of the arts.

This application is open to all female visual artists across Africa.
The visual art forms/genres include; drawing, painting, mixed media, printmaking, collage and sculpture.