8 December 2023. December’s Food with Friends delivered something different and special at Portsmouth’s leading contemporary art gallery. Our last Food with Friends edition of 2023 was a thank you to all our wonderful volunteers and interpreters and a reminder for all of us to look after our own wellbeing.
Our December’s theme for Food with Friends was art and well-being. The day started with a tour of the gallery, followed by a health workshop on ‘Art and Well-being’ and lunch at the beautiful community space of Aspex Portsmouth.
The event is part of our ‘Food with Friends’ series currently funded through The National Lottery Community Fund, to support food security and improve health outcomes within the migrant community.
Our December 2023 event also marks the one-year anniversary of us starting this project last year on a Community Inclusion Grant from the Portsmouth City Council.
Research by Arts Council England shows that minority ethnic groups experience less access to cultural engagement, the barriers to participation most commonly reported being: a lack of time, the cost of attending, and concerns about feeling uncomfortable or out of place.
Yet, engaging creatively is scientifically demonstrated to have major health benefits. In particular, art can improve one’s mental wellbeing by reducing stress levels, promoting trauma recovery and creating a space for social connection.
We are grateful to Ricardo Reverón Blanco, Curator & Programme Manager at Aspex for the insightful tour of the art gallery. It was amazing to see participants taking a keen interest in the displayed artwork and the interactive discussions around the exhibition.
Special thanks to Michelle Ezeuko, a local artist and educator, for delivering an inspiring talk on art and well-being and encouraging the group to participate in a painting activity. Our volunteers enjoyed painting their thoughts and then discussing their artwork with each other.
“I drew a picture of the sea. The day was dark and the water was choppy, and I put in lights. And a participant showed me what he drew – apples, grapes and pomegranates and told me how his family garden used to grow these fruits in abundance. And rosemary too.” – Bonny Ling
Michelle stressed the importance of looking after our well-being and taking time out to shift our focus from the usual activities. Participants were encouraged to think of a simple activity like listening to music, painting or just going for a walk, anything that could help them to stop thinking about their busy schedule and problems of their daily lives.
[Hirina next to other participants at the painting workshop]
“It was an amazing event, it helped me to get away from my stress for a few hours and it was worth attending this event. About my painting – life gives you two paths, a happy one and a sad one, it depends on you what path you choose, happy or sad, positive or negative.” – Hirina Kaur
A beautiful quote by our youngest participant Hirina Kaur explaining life’s choices and its reflection on our lives.
Through our continued collaboration with Aspex Portsmouth, we are working towards making creativity and art-generated health benefits more accessible to members from an ethnic minority background, including asylum-seekers. The displacement experience is one fraught with many challenges, from the perils of reaching a safe country, to cultural displacement and political discrimination. 
Besides representing a universal experience which has the power to bridge cultural differences, art is often practised in the context of mental health treatment.
We witnessed how art can be an empowering tool at the ‘Canva Vision Board-ing’ workshop delivered in collaboration with Michelle in June 2023.
The gallery tour was part of WBI’s sponsorship of Aspex to provide free art activities to people with dementia and their carers. It is a part of our work to reduce health inequalities as a community interest company, piloting how non-profit businesses can initiate projects to reduce health inequalities in our local communities.
[Guests enjoying a deliciously catered lunch from Justasia, our original caterers from the first Food with Friends event in December 2022!]
