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People often seem to forget is that having a mental illness is not a choice someone makes, nor is it always a result of their circumstances. Nobody chooses to have Clinical Depression, Anorexia Nervosa or Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, and yet, it is made to seem that people might have a certain control over these matters.
As per a recent survey, 60 million Indians suffer from mental illness. Considering that’s a larger number than some countries’ entire population, why then is the mere mention of mental illnesses in our country met with stony silence even in 2017? While surveys show numbers skew higher for urban populations, few things cut across barriers of caste, class and gender as our disdain for those suffering from mental health issues. Why has it becomes a topic riddled with stigma and shame?
More and more people, projects and groups are stepping up to openly talk about the importance of good mental health in an effort to bring some kind of normalcy to the subject in discussions. One such initiative is Living Stories, a project founded by Sanchana Krishnan that aims to break the silencing of topics of mental illness and create awareness through knowledge dissemination about mental health through storytelling and art.
Living Stories is a non-profit organisation for “all things mental health” as Krishnan shares, and their latest project takes a creative path towards establishing a platform for discussion. #SplatterSpeak is a body art campaign that encourages storytelling and sharing of experiences between people. The project is a celebration of World Mental Health Week 2017 across three cities. On October 8, artists and participants come together and the latter is encouraged to share their mental health stories and journeys which will then be interpreted and turned into body art. Krishnan states that through #SplatterSpeak they want to empower people, to accept themselves, their journeys and struggles, and to ‘come out’ about their mental illness; the message is of showcasing strength in moments of vulnerability and to shed light on the reality of such kinds of silent suffering.
The purpose is to start a conversation and to “show you what a masterpiece your life is and has been – pitfalls, tragi-comedies and all!” Participants need to register beforehand and the resulting body art creations will be photographed as part of a culminating photo-series, and of course, a print of your visualised story will be given to you.
Click here to register to get your story painted by a professional artist.
When: October 8, 11 AM to 7 PM.
Where: Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore.
Delhi - Banana House, Chattarpur.
Bangalore - Courtyard Cafe, Shanti Nagar.
Mumbai - Bonobo Bar, Bandra.
Cost: #SplatterSpeak follows a pay as you wish model for those getting painted on (minimum INR 100).
Photographed by Vinay Kumar for Living Stories
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