Dear All,
We want to share about art4good - a year long campaign to create mental
health related images.
Suicide Prevention India Foundation (SPIF) a Section-8 not-for-profit, has
partnered with the Wikimedia Foundation to launch art4good, an initiative
that invites professional artists, photographers, students, and amateurs to
create the world’s largest repository of mental health-related imagery. The
year-long initiative, which commences in December 2021, aims to leverage
the power of visual imagery to reframe the narrative around mental health
in an effort to increase awareness, reduce stigma, bust myths, and
encourage help-seeking.
Under this collaboration, art4good is inviting participants to curate
artwork that helps create awareness, break stigma, and promote dialogue
around mental health. SPIF will release the art4good posters under the CC-BY-SA
4.0 license and make them freely accessible on Wikimedia Commons for
volunteers to use on Mental Health/Suicide Prevention-related articles on
Wikipedia and other Wikimedia projects.
False representations of mental health can have damaging effects.
There are numerous
studies that highlight how entertainment and news media’s
<https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16478286/> representation of mental
illness and those with mental illnesses are exaggerated, dramatic and even
distorted. Worryingly, those with mental illness are presented as
dangerous, potentially criminal and socially inept. A paper by researcher
Heather Stuart noted that the media focuses on negative reactions to the
mentally ill, including fear, rejection, derision and ridicule. This
negative portrayal impairs self-esteem, reduces help-seeking behaviours,
meddles with medication adherence and overall recovery.
Individuals from across the Wikimedia movement developed the Wikimedia 2030
Movement Strategy Recommendations
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Strategy/Wikimedia_movement/2018-20/Recommendations>
to enable the movement to grow sustainably and inclusively. Recommendation
#8 highlights “Identifying Topics for Impact” as a priority for the
movement. Improving Wikipedia’s coverage of suicide to better align with
the recommendations of public health experts is just one way that the
movement can focus on the impact of our projects on the public’s
understanding of suicide and suicide prevention.[1]
<https://diff.wikimedia.org/2021/09/09/world-suicide-prevention-day-and-the-opportunity-to-increase-access-to-mental-health-information-on-wikimedia-projects/>
Wikipedia's health material is the most accessed resource for health
information on the internet [2
<https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0228786>].
As a result, Wikimedia communities have an opportunity to increase access
to knowledge on suicide prevention as a key impact subject.
art4good is a year-long campaign starting this month (December 2021). These
free-to-download and distribute images will seek to leverage the popularity
of memes, cartoons, illustrations, infographics, and also the enduring
power of photos to support text-based narratives. The winners will stand a
chance to win exclusive merchandise and a participation certificate.
What themes is the campaign targeting?:
The campaign will focus on 10 main themes, which have been curated to
provide direction and structure, but should not be limiting, participants
can choose their own themes.
1. I, me, myself (Self-care)
2. You are not alone (Care-giving)
3. Ssh-out - stop the silence (Reduce stigma around mental health)
4. Color your emotions (Speak up, don’t bottle your emotions)
5. Digitally connected, socially isolated (downsides of dopamine rush
from digital)
6. Work-life balance (Yin-Yang, time to seek balance)
7. Your life matters (Choose life)
8. Help-seeking is cool (We all need a little help)
9. Protective factors (Who or what are my safety nets?)
10. Neurodivergent (We maybe different but same)
How can I participate?
Pick your theme or make your own theme, spend time making something that
will change hearts and mindsets, and then log onto
https://paintyourblues.com/submission/ and hit submit. The images will be
reviewed and then uploaded to Wikimedia Commons after the end of every
month by SPIF.
We would like to invite everyone to amplify this initiative and participate
in bringing awareness to this cause through the art4good campaign.
Best,
Praveen Das
--
*Praveen Das (he/him/his)*
Senior Partnerships Manager - South Asia
M: +91 - 8951323603
Wikimedia Foundation <https://wikimediafoundation.org/>
*Imagine a world in which every single human being can freely share in the
sum of all knowledge. That's our commitment and you can help continue to
make it a reality: *
https://donate.wikimedia.org