The Grief Gallery
Date: |
03 September 2020 |
Time: |
10:00 AM - 11:30 AM |
Venue: |
Online |
Contact: |
For more information, please contact the Graduate Research School. |
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Mothers of drug users (MDUs) may suffer from complex grief without health facilities understanding their experiences to offer them satisfactory services. The purpose of this study is to expose this gap, explore MDUs experiences through artmaking, and open cultural conversations about associated stigmas and unrealistic maternal expectations that may block recovery processes. Acknowledging that trauma is inexpressible, this study will enquire into whether creative endeavours, dreams and free association can reveal unconscious trauma to provide MDUs with feedback about their own intra-psychic organisation and provoke new ways to orientate to their situation. Through the artmaking and free association practice, the aim is to symbolise grief, relieve bodily suffering, and then find retroactive meaning through self-reflexive practices that allow for new possibilities and creative renewal.