Presentation of the catalogue of the “Scene di vita” workshop and of the collaborative activity funded by Komen Italia and carried out since 2016 at the Integrated Therapies Service of the Breast Cancer Centre of the Agostino Gemelli Polyclinic
Institutional greetings:
Cecilia Casorati, Director of the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome
Speakers:
Nicoletta Agostini, Maria Jacomini, Stefano Magno, Elena Polinori
the students of the Art for Therapy Course and the participants in the workshops
The Art for Therapy Course presents the collaborative activity between the Komen Italia Centre for Integrated Therapies in Oncology of the Fondazione Policlinico Agostino Gemelli IRCCS and the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome.
On this occasion, the “Scene di vita” catalogue will be presented, which documents the third workshop carried out, the result of a therapeutic programme dedicated to women who have undergone surgery for breast cancer at the Gemelli Polyclinic.
Next Wednesday 17 May, in theGreat Hall of the Academy of Fine Arts in Via di Ripetta, from 10:30 am, the catalogue “Scene di vita” which documents the third workshop held, the result of a therapeutic programme dedicated to women who have undergone surgery for breast cancer at the Gemelli Polyclinic Foundation.
The commitment undertaken by the Academy and Komen highlights the importance of an integrated treatment that puts the person at the centre, according to a holistic approach, which combines treatment with care. The Art for Therapy workshops are an important resource that promotes the reworking of experiences, provides support and contributes to the activation of those creative resources that enable people to plan their lives again after the traumatic experience of the disease.
Collaboration with Gemelli and Komen Italia
The collaboration between the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome and the Policlinico Agostino Gemelli began in the 2016-2017 academic year.
The “Rigenera” workshop project won Komen Italia funding for the creation of a workshop for women with breast cancer being treated at the Integrated Therapies Service of the Breast Cancer Centre of the Agostino Gemelli Polyclinic.
About 30 women were involved and 12 students were selected. The workshop, which was carried out in two cycles of meetings (one for each group of participants), was then documented in a catalogue containing texts and images. Subsequently, in the same way, the second workshop, “Creando Trasformo“, was held in the 2017-18 academic year, and the third, “Scene di Vita“, in 2018-19, which was concluded in February 2020 shortly before the lockdown due to the pandemic. Subsequently, the social distancing that became necessary, the difficult situation of the hospitals mobilised for the emergency and the suspension of all projects to be carried out in person by Komen Italia forced a pause. With the return to normality, we hope to be able to resume soon with a new proposal.
All three workshops, accompanied by catalogues documenting the process, focused on the concept of transformation, which is central to the delicate moment in life that these women have gone through. The artistic techniques selected on the basis of ease of use and suitability for the process were adopted as the preferred tools for a process of creative transformation.
The workshops were always preceded by a design phase agreed with the Integrated Therapies Centre and preceded by a presentation meeting with the Centre’s clinical staff. Introductory lectures were also held at the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome for students on the Art for Therapy Course, with the collaboration of Dr Stefano Magno who illustrated the approach adopted by the Policlinico according to holistic principles and the integration of medical, surgical and pharmacological care and psycho-oncology with complementary therapies: homeopathy, foot reflexology, Qi gong, music therapy, creative writing, and others. Two other lectures introduced students to certain elements of psycho-oncology and health psychology.
The spirit that guided the three workshops, which all took place at the Agostino Gemelli Polyclinic, was to promote a better quality of life for the women being treated at the Integrated Therapies Service of the Breast Cancer Centre. As far as the Art for Therapy Course is concerned, the spirit with which the work was carried out was to involve the students in active participation: through the workshops, they were able to experiment with the design, implementation and documentation of the intervention in a group setting. A real team was created, made up of teachers and students with defined roles for each, and a process of group development and growth was established for the women who took part in the workshop. The role of the students was to manage the different phases and activities of the workshop and to play a supporting and facilitating role in the discussion and expression of the participating women.
All three workshops were coordinated and designed by Nicoletta Agostini and Maria Jacomini with the valuable and ongoing collaboration of Workshop Technician Elena Polinori. Prof. Laura Salvi and her workshop on handmade paper using the hanji technique made a valuable contribution to “Rigenera” and “Creando Trasformo”.
Communications Office of the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome
Coordination: Prof. Guglielmo Gigliotti g.gigliotti@abaroma.it
Collaboration: Chiara Picco, Martina Macchia, Marianna Pontillo comunicazione@abaroma.it