tools of social and cultural integration of IDPs
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Tool III. Art therapy, participation in the cultural life of the community: “People are looking for self-realization and soft integration in a new space”
Art therapy is carried out both by volunteer specialists and by public organizations within individual projects. It contributes to the improvement of the psychological state, allows to realize the need for creativity, to find new points of socialization, to work through injuries.
– How public organizations help IDPs to integrate into the cultural space
Within the project Culture helps thanks to which NGOs cooperate in the direction of cultural integration, IDPs for 2023 implemented a number of projects in various regions hosting internally displaced persons from the beginning of the full-scale invasion until now.
Yes GO “Institute of Urban Culture” implemented the project “Ternopil temporary theater” on the basis of the Na poshti creative cluster. People who temporarily moved to Ternopil take part in acting workshops, share their past, fears and dreams. Their stories formed the basis of the play “Untitled”.
“Participants had a safe communication environment, were heard, were able to express themselves, adapted to a new community, had access to modern forms of culture and the latest theater in Ternopil and outside the city. Documentary theater was a new phenomenon for Ternopil residents, but it managed to attract and retain their interest.” , – comment in the project.
Organization “Source of Support” in Dnipro held a series of events to integrate people into the local community: excursions, movie screenings, concerts, quests and art therapy for children. All centers of long-term residence in the city of Dnipro closely interacted with each other. People living in shelters are the most vulnerable stratum among IDPs, so they were maximally involved in the activities.
All events within the project had a great response among audiences. The team supported this interest and implemented a number of additional events.
Yulia Alenina
Yulia Alenina, operational manager of Other Education, comments from the Culture helps project, which works with internally displaced persons.
Yulia emphasizes that involvement in art projects improves communication between people who were forced to move and the local community.
“It is already clear that some of the participants of our project will not return to their native homes – and it is important for us to support them in a new place, and on the other hand – it is important to support the local community, which has accepted a large number of new people. We want to help them establish relations “communication and exchange of experiences, so that everyone finds themselves in new conditions as soon as possible,” says Yulia Alenina.
Emphasizes that participation in art events for internally displaced persons can be useful for personal fulfillment in a new place.
“And as for those people who still plan to return to their regions as soon as it becomes safe, it is important to support them in their desire to be useful and active in the communities where they live now, so that a person does not feel alone, abandoned and alien. But in this case, it is important to adjust this process of interaction so that when the person returns home, the host community can get out of these relationships as stress-free as possible. This is important and must be done here and now, so that in the future we will have fewer crisis situations.” says Yulia Alenina.
– How public organizations cooperate with the workers of the cultural sphere on the ground, which already have results
Supporting the mental health of internally displaced persons is the task of regional cultural institutions (libraries, cultural centers, museums) to which displaced persons arrive. Often, the employees of institutions have to expand their toolkit and slightly change their work profile for better support of IDPs who need self-realization and soft adaptation in a new place. Non-governmental organizations work with the heads and employees of cultural institutions that host immigrants.
A representative of the Public Organization “AKS” tells about the program implemented in Sumy Oblast Lyudmila Gural. During 3 days, art therapists told leaders and employees of cultural institutions about the nuances of work, in particular with IDPs, and effective approaches to improve the psychological state of displaced persons.
Lyudmila Gural
“In Sumy Oblast, we tentatively divide internally displaced persons into two groups: those who came to us from Donetsk, Luhansk, and Kharkiv regions, and residents of the border areas that are currently in the war zone – they literally came from a neighboring village – but still lost their home. Since we have a large border with Russia, people leave, often looking for housing nearby, hoping that they will soon be able to return home. On the one hand, after moving, they feel at home, but at the same time there is a noticeable lack of self-realization, they want to find some ways for soft adaptation,” says Lyudmila Gural.
He notes that individual approaches to the cultural adaptation of IDPs are being sought in various cultural institutions of the Sumy Oblast. In particular, involving newcomers to active participation in the work of institutions.
“In one of the club institutions, the employees took an unusual path – those people who came to the community were invited to give master classes for locals, involved them as carriers of new experience. The girls cook according to new recipes that are not characteristic of that area – they introduce elements of food therapy, do something with their own hands – fabric therapy, learn to knit scarves. Self-realization greatly contributes to the normalization of the psychological state and helps social adaptation, when a person comes and says that he will be able to teach those who are willing. This is the so-called soft adaptation – a person acquires, – firstly, the support of the organizers themselves, secondly, new interests, new friends – communicating, exchanging experiences,” Lyudmila Gural explains.
It is shared that the project already has its results, because in the cultural institutions with which the “AKS” team cooperates, active work is conducted with internally displaced persons, in some places they even use new forms of work.
“In one of Putivlia’s libraries, an employee who was studying with us created her own art cluster. The community allocated funds and literally in a few days they repaired the library premises, painted the walls – public activists came and wanted to help. First, they bought some elementary equipment, tables for master classes on sand animation are now being purchased. Thus, in the ordinary library, the tools of iso-, puppet-, color therapy, as well as dance-motor therapy for children have been actively used. The work is carried out with children who have moved from other regions, and local people who wanted to join in. Now there is a queue of willing people to get to the classes,” says the specialist.
He also cites the case of the Glukhiv Museum of Local History, which holds exhibitions of the works of internally displaced persons, as a successful example of work with IDPs.
“People who moved from other regions have already started to communicate with each other. That is, they have found an alternative place to meet, to discuss their problems, to simply relax psychologically, to find new contacts in a new community at the museum. This helps to support the feeling of their own identity after displacement and create a personal successful story of healing,” says Lyudmila Gural.
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