James Leadbitter – aka the vacuum cleaner – and Hana Madness are both brilliant artists selected for the UK/ID festival whose work draws on their lived experience of mental health disability.
Over the past two months they have been travelling and working together in the UK and Indonesia, listening to the voices of those with mental health disabilities, creating a brand new artistic response and a new film in partnership with VICE Media.
In this blog, Hana gives us an update on what they've been up to in the lead up to releasing their new film which will be screened at The Festival Bebas Batas at National Gallery of Indonesia on 12 - 29 October 2018.
June in the UK
Last Night Art Saved My Life
During my visit to the UK, I spoke at Last Night Art Saved My Life an event created by James at Live Art Development Agency in London. I spoke along with other UK artists and activists such as Selina Thompson, Lucy Hutson, Bobby Baker, Daniel Oliver, and as well James The Vacuum Cleaner. I presented on my practices as an artist as well as mental health activist background and talked about what I’m currently doing in Indonesia. I’m so happy because the event connected me with so many artists, activists, curators, and other art practitioners who all have strong characters and are doing great work.
A trip to Bethlehem Gallery
Two days later James and I visited Bethlem Gallery, an art gallery which was established in 1997 to support and exhibit artists who are current or former patients. Here we led a painting workshop with the patients and visitors. We created a postcards, paintings, and texts to be given to mental health survivors that we had met in Cianjur, Indonesia. We did this because people always send a ‘get well soon postcard’ to someone who are struggle physically, but never mentally.
