BIOGRAPHIES OF YOUR TERRITORY. Art therapy with a women’s group at the Hispanic-Moroccan Centre (Centro Hispano-Marroquí), Community of Madrid. Contextualization This workshop took place in the last week of February and the first of March, 2012. It was held on a daily basis, starting at 10 a.m. and finishing at 2 p.m. In the Centre, the space was used for multiple activities. The two weeks that we occupied it – a period between two quarters –, it was empty in the mornings, so we profited to schedule an intensive workshop. The place was clear, well lit, although a bit chilly in the ear‐ ly hours of winter. The space was arranged depending on the women’s creative needs, but always bearing in mind the mission of fostering communication and preserving the privacy of the participant who would require it.
Establishment of the creative process The process of creation was quickly established. The long sessions soon seemed very short and there was even a shortage of time to finish some works. The length of the session brought about a slow pace, working carefully, delicately and with commitment. Thanks to the extended duration of the workshop, we were able to take our time and the works acquired a considerable aesthetic force. Time – essential in the crea‐ tive process – changed the space and the individuals, who, initially unknown to each other, became a group where concerns and fears merged, but also an enthusiasm for life and the wish to grow and develop.
Objectives The specific objectives, beyond the general ones that we had set in the beginning, were adjusted to the demands of the women themselves. These objectives were: • Generating a space for encounter, where new networks could be created. • Fostering autonomy, decision-making and self-knowledge. • Bringing about empowerment: feeling able and present, taking part, as well as boosting self-esteem. Seeing themselves as creators. • Working on uncertainty in the not-knowing characteristic of art; transferring it to the not-knowing of life. • Working on disappointment, the so-called ‘end of the honeymoon’ of the migratory pro‐ cess and of the encounter with the other. • Focussing on the constitution and the reflection on one’s identity.
Framing At the beginning of the workshops, an agreement was made between participants and workshop coordinators, where issues such as confidentiality, punctuality and mutual re‐ spect were set. These were the keystones of a space for personal development, where facilitators and users committed to the path that we were to tread together, in a place of trust, freedom, listening and containment.
93