Art Therapy in Asia

To the Bone or Wrapped in Silk

Debra L. Kalmanowitz, Siu Mei Chan, Jordan S. Potash

• Publisher: Jessica Kingsley Publishers
• Year: 2012
• ISBN:
  9780857004499
• Topic: Psychology
• Subtopic: Psychotherapy
• Index: Psychology

As art therapy rapidly makes its mark across Asia, this book documents how the field of art therapy is taking shape as both a profession and a discipline in this region. It looks at how art therapists in Asia are assimilating Western models and adapting them to create unique home-grown practices.

Building on theory, research and practice that has been developed in the West, practitioners throughout Asia are creating innovative art therapy programs that reflect cultural diversity and draw on ideas from Chinese medicine and Eastern philosophy, spirituality and art traditions. With chapters from leading art therapists and community artists in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, Cambodia, Thailand, China, India, The Philippines and Singapore, this book pulls together thought-provoking perspectives and effective approaches from which East and West can both learn.

The first of its kind, this book will be an informative and inspiring addition to the bookshelves of all art therapy professionals and students, as well as anyone with an interest in Eastern cultures and cross-cultural working.

Chapter 1

Introduction to Art Therapy in Asia

Debra Kalmanowitz, Jordan S. Potash and Siu Mei Chan

A book on the relationship between art, art therapy, creativity and healing in Asia must go beyond mere historical fact in order to explore the heart, spirit and essence of culture and tradition. Our goal in bringing together this book is to document and record the diverse ways that art therapy is practised throughout Asia, as well as to try to understand what the influences are that are motivating the thinking and practice. In so doing, we have looked for indications of regional trends, examples of specific cultures, and examples of individual practice.

This book is a first attempt to present art therapy in Asia. It is undoubtedly complex to portray art therapy in Asia in one single volume, and given the enormity of this task, we acknowledge that this book can only serve to introduce and invite the reader to seek further to understand more about Asia. In addition to rousing the interest for further exploration, we hope that readers in all parts of the world will read this book and be inspired to learn and re-examine their own art therapy practices in light of these examples.

In this chapter we attempt to make implicit values explicit; we also attempt to understand the culture-bound values that influence art therapy in Asia. Although many academics recognize that there is great variety within any culture, there are also certain trends and patterns that run across the diversity of cultures that exist within Asia. Often these larger patterns address such areas as the role of the individual within family and society, holistic conceptions of health, the place of creativity and art, religion and spirituality, all of which play a linking role. Other links come about from migrating populations, political relationships, and shared conditions, culture and art.

Defining Asia

We hear references to Asia in relation to current events, art traditions, religious practices and political governance, which gives the impression that there is a single Asian system. Given the diversity in geography and cultures, one has to wonder if there really is an Asian way. Asia is a vast region that incorporates all of the countries bordered by Japan in the east to India in the west and from Indonesia in the south to China in the north. This demarcation is sometimes referred to as ‘Pacific Asia’ (Borthwick, 2007) or ‘Monsoon Asia’ (Murphey, 2008). This area covers diverse climates and landscapes, as well as cultures, languages, religions and politics. Due to proximity, sometimes Australia and parts of the Middle East are considered Asia, although culturally they are quite different, even in the face of cultural diversity within Asia itself. If there is a distinct Asian culture, then it has its roots in Hinduism and Buddhism from India, Confucianism and Taoism from China, and many folk beliefs and ancestral traditions from individual countries and regions (Scupin, 2006).

The countries we are covering are each unique and it is not our intention to dull these differences. Despite the diversity and the different ways in which each country is modernizing and growing, there are many roots in common and enough patterns to follow. They represent a group which is becoming more and more interdependent, particularly since the Asian financial crisis of 1997, when many of these countries strengthened their regional alliances and developed some institutions specifically for Asia (Palmer Kaup, 2007). Indeed each country deserves a book on its own, and yet if we fail to look at the region as a whole, the picture we get will be decidedly narrow. It is our hope that, by pulling these together, a bigger picture will form, which in turn will inform each one specifically. Throughout this book, we will typically refer to individual countries and cultures, so as to avoid giving the impression of a pan-Asian value system. At the same time, just as individuals refer to Europe despite differences among the individual countries, we will at times refer to Asia when it makes sense to do so.

Why document art therapy in Asia?

Before going far into this book, we should pause and ask why it is important to document art therapy in Asia as separate from the growing body of global art therapy theory and practice. Many art and arts therapists have stressed the importance of understanding the dominant values and the unexamined influence of Western cultural norms on art therapy practice (Campbell et al., 1999; Hiscox and Calisch, 1998; Hocoy, 2002; Lewis, 1997; McNiff, 1984; Moon, 2006; Talwar, Iyer and Doby-Copeland, 2004). Within the West, this dialogue has taken place primarily among those who work with socially and culturally diverse populations to assure that art therapy practice is relevant to all. To meet this goal, Talwar (2010) stated:

I assert that art therapists need to situate research and scholarship related to identity and difference within larger historical and social contexts – beyond, in other words, the monolithic or unitary narrative of art therapy. (p.12)

She demonstrates how a false belief in a single way of theorizing and practising art therapy limits an embrace of the wide spectrum within art therapy, its accessibility to clients of all backgrounds and the future development of the field. In this regard, Hocoy (2002) specifically mentioned the areas of engagement, treatment goal setting, structure, ambiguity and interpretation as to how art therapy may be accepted or misunderstood by clients from different social and cultural backgrounds. As one strategy in ensuring cultural relevance, Talwar (2010) offered that art therapists should begin by taking an ‘intersectional perspective’, which she defines as ‘locating individual differences within the specific social and cultural experiences of individuals, rather than within a linear, unifying theory’ (p.16). By embracing this approach, we can learn what constitutes art therapy in Asia on its own, not limited to Western ideas and assumptions.

Even while documenting unique aspects of art therapy, we are also cognizant of similarities and cross-fertilization between cultures. The world is increasingly unified as a result of globalization. It is not only the world’s economic order, but the world’s technological, sociocultural and political factors, in part due to the cross-border circulation of ideas, language and popular culture. In such a world, where there is communication and exchange between most parts of the world, there is an increasing movement towards each other, learning from each other and an integration of ideas, philosophies and practice. There is no doubt that Asian ideas have become part of Western psychological practice; with a contemporary example being the explosion of interest in mindfulness, and the creation of Western psychological techniques incorporating this concept (Kabat-Zinn, 1994). Asia, too, is integrating lessons from the West; an example of this is the embracing of Western medicine for particular illnesses and conditions. Exchange is inevitable and is happening, and therefore understanding each other and ourselves becomes increasingly pertinent.

This book attempts to understand art therapy practices in Asia. Our search in this regard is to understand the theories and practices within the contexts in which they arise. We do not and cannot assume that what constitutes art therapy in Asia is the same as what constitutes art therapy in the West, but at the same time we do not want to assign an assumed difference based only on cultural and geographic difference. Through documenting and examining art therapy throughout Asia, we can come to see where culture influences, informs, interferes or explains. As the number of art therapists increases throughout Asia, as a result of growing opportunities for training and interest in gaining international experiences, there is a growing need to understand the values and practices that shape art therapy in Asia.

Review of art therapy in Asia

Part of our reason for writing this book relates to the relative lack of literature on art therapy throughout the region. There are documented accounts of Western art therapists who visited different countries in Asia and reported back on their observations of art therapy (Arrington, 2005; Case, 1990; Stoll, 2005). There are also some reports of art therapists based in Asia who provide descriptions of art therapy in their own countries (Kim, 2009; Park and Hong, 2010).

Besides history, development and present conditions that provide a context for art therapy in different countries in Asia, there are some descriptions of practice by both local and visiting art therapists. Several art therapists in Korea (e.g. Kim et al., 2006) wrote on the use of computers to assist and improve upon interpretation of art-based assessments. Wegman and Lusebrink (2000) documented the limits of using Western scoring techniques for kinetic family drawings by children in Taiwan. Silver (2003, 2009) documented the use of the Silver Drawing Test as an assessment in Thailand, but did not indicate if the scales required adjustment to account for culture differences. Although not necessarily art therapy, Got and Cheng (2008) demonstrated how sustained art-making workshops in Hong Kong with Chinese adults with developmental disabilities showed improvements in social relationships and language comprehension. Golub (2005) described her work in a psychiatric centre in China with implications for how cultural and political differences may inform art therapy. Chilcote (2007) described her humanitarian work in Sri Lanka in response to the devastating tsunami.

There are also examples of art therapy practices that point to implications of art therapy in Asia, even if they occurred in other parts of the world. Davis’ (2010) study of 19 international students studying in Australia included 17 students from Asia. She found that art therapy helped them to express themselves by translating experiences into images that they had difficulty expressing in words due to either language or low acceptance of Western-style psychotherapy and counselling practices. As an example of a Japanese practice, Warner (2001) described her coordination of a Japanese lantern floating ritual in the US to coincide with the Japanese bon festival to demonstrate solidarity in commemoration of the bombing of Hiroshima.

We know that this review is limited in large part due to access and language, as there are many locally published accounts of art therapy in individual art therapy association newsletters. While these reports constitute an important body of country literature, they are not accessible beyond members of their association. The examples listed here represent documentations of experience, but lack a critical analysis of underlying values and assumptions. It is this point, in particular, that we hope to address in this book.

Brief overview of the development of art therapy in Asia

Like other parts of the world, the uses of arts in healing and ritual are very much a part of the diverse cultures throughout Asia. From the intricately created Kalachakra mandala of Tibetan Buddhists to the detailed carvings of deities at Angkor Wat, images have been used to educate and inspire, while also serving as foci for storytelling and meditation. Although other art forms may be more prominent, such as dancing or singing, the visual arts are evident in folklore, costumes and decoration. As in the Western world when the rise of science and the industrialized age diminished ‘superstitious’ belief systems, in Asia, colonialization caused a degree of devaluing of traditional health practices in place of the more Western ones. With new belief systems coming into being, the ancient use of the arts in healing may have been altered or marginalized, but they were not lost.

More recently pioneer artists, nurses, mental health workers and teachers developed models of working within their specific work frames. They thoughtfully created art-based models in their settings through their practice inspiration and sensitivity. These individuals developed their methods of working mostly unaware of the existence of an art therapy discipline.

In addition to the indigenous pioneering use of the arts in healing, there has been much contact between Asia and the West over time. The primary contact that Asia had with the West was a result of curious and entrepreneurial explorers, and the economic benefits often mixed with political objectives and business encounters. Individuals on both sides have learned from each other. The interactions have promoted a rich communication and exchange of the way in which different ways of thinking can inform art therapy theory and practice.

The development of art therapy in Asia is as diverse as the countries themselves. Attempting to fully document it is well beyond the scope of this book. What is clear is that across the vast region, and even within individual countries, there are a mix of indigenous practitioners, locals inspired by foreigners and those who sought education abroad. Whether as a result of age-old practice or accidentally discovering the healing benefits of art for particular populations, individuals in every country found how offering art can help. Sometimes art is used as a recreational activity, sometimes for its soothing capabilities, and sometimes for its expressive potential. This history, although on the other side of the world, mirrors the development of art therapy in the West.

‘To the Bone or Wrapped in Silk’

During early stages in the development of this book and in particular conversations about what types of chapters to include, our colleague Ivy Fung posed the question, ‘Is the art therapy practice Chinese to the bone or is it just wrapped in silk?’ Widening her concern beyond Chinese applications of art therapy, we can ask if Asian art therapy practices are fundamentally different from Western approaches or do they simply use different metaphors and symbols? What we discovered was that this distinction is not always clear given the many factors involved in art therapy including health approaches, types of materials, metaphors, and understanding of processes. Furthermore, sometimes the use of culturally relevant symbols or metaphors, e...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Praise
• Of Related Interest
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• Acknowledgements
• Foreword – Shaun McNiff
• Foreword – William Fan
• Chapter 1 Introduction to Art Therapy in Asia
• Chapter 2 Critical Themes of Art Therapy in Asia
• Part 1: Views on Health
• Part 2: Influence of Collectivism
• Part 3: Integration of Spirituality
• Part 4: Role of Art Traditions
• Part 5: Models of Art Therapy
• Part 6: Looking at Contemporary Asia
• Contributors
• Subject Index
• Author Index