There’s going to be a two-day event next month, here in Montreal, which looks very intriguing. Its title is Play the Pain, and it’s billed as a “participatory free for all event to discuss ideas.”(1) The organizers seem to have opted for a drop-in type of approach, so you can stop by for any of the sessions which interest you. There will be lectures, roundtables, and workshops – all touching on chronic pain and the arts:
We come together to sketch a few ideas about how to use art as an instrument for communicating and documenting the diversity of personal experiences of pain and resilience.”(2)
A few words jumped out at me, in that description of Play the Pain; art, diversity, and resilience. The first, because I use many of the photos I take as vehicles for disease advocacy and awareness-raising. With my photos as the backdrop, I create images for disease awareness days and special events.
Although I’m not able to use a real camera anymore, because my right and arm are affected by Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS), I’ve adapted my photography to using a smartphone – as best as I can!
Next is diversity, because clinical and medical research have traditionally been conducted on white males – while chronic pain conditions affects predominantly women. It’s important to include not only women, but also people from a variety of cultures and genetic backgrounds in research, to ensure that any results are truly representative of Canada’s multi-cultural population.
Last, but definitely not least? Resilience. The reason for which – I’m convinced – I don’t suffer from either anxiety or depression; two conditions that tend to afflict people living with long-term or severe chronic pain. Resilience is also the title of one of my own ‘art works’, a smartphone photo that was selected as part of a juried art exposition. I even used the text description of that photograph to raise awareness of CRPS!
The organizers of Play the Pain are “are scientists, artists, therapists. We work to advance medicine through communication, community, and creativity.”(2) They see this event as:
a discussion forum for us to share ideas about the many ways that pain is experienced and expressed; and the alternative coping strategies that involve psychosocial, or individual creative activities”(2)
I’m planning to attend as much of the event as I can, but with a 10:00 to 18:00 schedule, I may have to leave early if my own chronic pain condition kicks in! CRPS is both an autoimmune and a neuro-inflammatory disease, which means I can experience the same type of full-body fatigue that is common among autoimmune conditions.
Let me know if you might drop in during Play the Pain, so that we can plan to be there at the same time! ‘-) Attendance is free, by the way, including coffee but not lunches; the flyer says it’s a brown-bag (i.e. bring your own lunch) event, so I’m assuming that they’re running the event on a very limited budget.
For more information, visit the event website: http://media-health.ca/events/play-the-pain-4thspace/.
References:
(1) Events; OCT 01, 2019 – OCT 02, 2019: Can we study pain under the
light of play? Technoculture, Art and Games (TAG) Lab, Concordia University.
2019. Online. Accessed 01 Sep 2019.
https://tag.hexagram.ca/events/can-we-study-pain-under-the-light-of-play/
(2) Play the Pain. Media Health; Concordia University [Media Health Lab is a collaborative initiative supported by Concordia University PERFORM Centre and The Milieux for Arts, Culture and Technology]. 2019. Online. Accessed 01 Sep 2019.
http://media-health.ca/events/play-the-pain-4thspace/