I have been fortunate enough to spend a few days recently visiting colleagues in the Netherlands to catch up on their work to creatively engage people with living with mental health problems and with older people. Here is a flavour of what I found out.
Arts and Health is a growing sector there as shown by a new network.
A strong facet of work in the Netherlands (and in Germany) is provided by large social service organisations which include specialist professional arts provision. One example is Cordaan in Amsterdam with its ‘Outsider Arts’ studios. Another such studio is the Galerie Atelier Herenplaats in Rotterdam.
By contrast, an independent arts organisation called De Opstap in Amsterdam offers visual arts for people with mental health problems. The Fifth Season has an interesting programme of arts and writing residencies in a psychiatric unit in Den Dolder.
I went back to Beautiful Distress in North Amsterdam, which has its own exhibition space. Times are financially challenging for the arts in the Netherlands, as they are in the UK, but Beautiful Distress has survived with new management and a fantastic group of seven artists with mental health problems and many events and workshops. (And my tourism tip – go and see Amsterdam’s newest museum nearby, the amazing Straat Museum of graffiti and street art – breathtaking.)
Lastly, I visited the famous Van Gogh Museum (apparently the most visited gallery in the world by size and so popular it has to limit visitors). In the last couple of years, and after a lot of discussion, it has started a specific mental health strand of work with its own dedicated worker. This has a number of elements, including making the mental health aspect of Van Gogh’s life more visible in curation as well as a lot of work around mindfulness using the collection, in the museum, online, and in schools. Lastly, it is starting more targeted work with people with mental health problems in collaboration with people with that lived experience. The Van Gogh Museum also collaborates with the Museum of the Mind in Haarlem which currently has an exhibition about ageing and arts, New Old! The Art of Growing Older.
And that is my segue into creative ageing. I have fond memories of the work we did with Dutch Colleagues, some of which is recorded in a report we did here and in the joint European project, Long Live Arts.
I have long admired the work happening in the Netherlands in care homes and I at last went to see one of their very best in Eindhoven – one of 22 care homes run by Vitalis. It is a large and beautiful late 20th century building amid park with a lovely garden. The Vitalis group has a specialist arts team and has been working in this field for over 25 years. I was told that the key to success was the access the team has to management, with frequent meetings in all care homes. They use a continually evolving menu of work which uses all art forms and takes place regularly in care homes and in outreach to cultural venues such as the theatre. I was interested to see that they have had a project to prioritise work with men, a gap we have noticed in the UK. In my view it is outstanding, and the good news is that Vitalis is writing up a model with some other care home providers to spread good practice.
I then went to see a care home that in some ways is very different and indeed unique in the world. The Rosa Spier Huis is in Laren outside Amsterdam (and itself known as an artists’ colony). The original house was started in 1969 by Rosa Spier, the most famous Dutch harpist of her time, who wanted to carry on working as she grew older and persuaded a friend to finance a house for older working artists and scientists. As they grew older, however, they needed to provide healthcare and so in 2019, a very beautiful new build complex was opened with wonderful gardens. The facility combines 100 flats for independent living, 50 units for those with greater care needs, and lots of places for residents to continue to make work, including a professional theatre and concert auditorium.
Ending on a musical note, I am very proud that I have recently become a trustee of Manchester Camerata which is the Centre for Excellence for Music and Dementia. So I felt I had to go to hear about the Singing Circles which the world famous Concertgebouw in Amsterdam is hosting every month for people living with dementia and their carers (and other conditions such as Parkinson’s). This social enterprise is now developing sessions outside the capital.
Thank you very much to all the Dutch colleagues who were so generous with their time and so welcoming (and for their flawless English).
