Prelims

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Series Page

Arts for Health

Series Editor: Paul Crawford, Professor of Health Humanities, University of Nottingham, UK

The Arts for Health series offers a ground-breaking set of books that guide the general public, carers and healthcare providers on how different arts can help people to stay healthy or improve their health and well-being.

Bringing together new information and resources underpinning the health humanities (that link health and social care disciplines with the arts and humanities), the books demonstrate the ways in which the arts offer people worldwide a kind of shadow health service – a non-clinical way to maintain or improve our health and well-being. The books are aimed at general readers along with interested arts practitioners seeking to explore the health benefits of their work, health and social care providers and clinicians wishing to learn about the application of the arts for health, educators in arts, health and social care and organizations, carers and individuals engaged in public health or generating healthier environments. These easy-to-read, engaging short books help readers to understand the evidence about the value of arts for health and offer guidelines, case studies and resources to make use of these non-clinical routes to a better life.

Other titles in the series:

Forthcoming titles:

Title Page

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JOHN QUIN

United Kingdom – North America – Japan – India – Malaysia – China

Copyright Page

Emerald Publishing Limited

Howard House, Wagon Lane, Bingley BD16 1WA, UK

First edition 2023

Copyright © 2023 John Quin.

Published under exclusive licence by Emerald Publishing Limited.

Reprints and permissions service

Contact: www.copyright.com

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without either the prior written permission of the publisher or a licence permitting restricted copying issued in the UK by The Copyright Licensing Agency and in the USA by The Copyright Clearance Center. No responsibility is accepted for the accuracy of information contained in the text, illustrations or advertisements. The opinions expressed in these chapters are not necessarily those of the Author or the publisher.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN: 978-1-83753-759-4 (Print)

ISBN: 978-1-83753-756-3 (Online)

ISBN: 978-1-83753-758-7 (Epub)

Dedication Page

To Maureen

Contents

About the Author

John Quin is a retired Consultant Physician specializing in general medicine, diabetes and endocrinology. His first book, Dr. Quin, Medicine Man, received a four-star review in The Times. He has been writing on art, literature and music for more than 20 years for publications including ArtReview, frieze, The Quietus, Tagesspiegel, The Wire, The National, The Irish Times, The Guardian, The BMJ and The Lancet.

Foreword: Creative Public Health

The Arts for Health series aims to provide key information on how different arts and humanities practices can support, or even transform, health and well-being. Each book introduces a particular creative activity or resource and outlines its place and value in society, the evidence for its use in advancing health and well-being, and cases of how this works. In addition, each book provides useful links and suggestions to readers for following-up on these quick reads. We can think of this series as a kind of shadow health service – encouraging the use of the arts and humanities alongside all the other resources on offer to keep us fit and well.

Creative practices in the arts and humanities offer a fantastic, non-medical, but medically relevant way to improve the health and well-being of individuals, families and communities. Intuitively, we know just how important creative activities are in maintaining or recovering our best possible lives. For example, imagine that we woke up tomorrow to find that all music, books or films had to be destroyed, learn that singing, dancing or theatre had been outlawed or that galleries, museums and theatres had to close permanently; or, indeed, that every street had posters warning citizens of severe punishment for taking photographs, drawing or writing. How would we feel? What would happen to our bodies and minds? How would we survive? Unfortunately, we have seen this kind of removal of creative activities from human society before and today many people remain terribly restricted in artistic expression and consumption.

I hope that this series adds a practical resource to the public. I hope people buy these little books as gifts for family and friends, or for hard-pressed healthcare professionals, to encourage them to revisit or to consider a creative path to living well. I hope that creative public health makes for a brighter future.

Professor Paul Crawford

Acknowledgements

I’d like to thank the following people who have encouraged/mentored/edited my writing over many years: Chris Paling, Martin Herbert, Robert Barry, Luke Turner, John Doran, David Terrien and Mark Rappolt. More recent help has come from Pavithra Muthu and S. Rajachitra of Emerald Publishing Ltd., Laura Webster at The National and Martin Doyle of The Irish Times. My agent Kevin Pocklington from The North continues to bat for me with great persistence at the crease.

I also want to thank the artists who have talked to me for this book: Douglas Gordon, Jacqueline Donachie and Christine Borland. Also to Anri Sala, Oliver Basciano, Nicola Jeffs and Paul Morrish for making suggestions after reading the text.

Extra special thanks to DotMD, the amazing team in Galway: Ronan Kavanagh, Alan Coss and Muiris Houston. Also to Steven Schlozman whose earlier volume in the series – Film – proved such a great inspiration.

And to Maureen: yellow blue vase.

Epigrams

The fact that ‘normal’ people can get around, can see, can hear, doesn’t mean that they are seeing or hearing. They can be blind to the things that spoil their happiness, very deaf to the pleas of others for kindness; when I think of them I do not feel any more crippled or disabled than they. Perhaps in some small way I can be the means of opening their eyes to the beauties around us; things like a warm handclasp, a voice that is anxious to cheer, a spring breeze, music to listen to, a friendly nod. These people are important to me, and I like to feel that I can help them.

A patient with multiple sclerosis quoted in ‘Stigma’ by Erving Goffman.

I would sit right down, waiting for the gift of sound and vision.

David Bowie