“One of the first things you learn when you travel is that nowhere is magical unless you can bring the right eyes to it.” ~ Pico Iyer
Despite my being ____, life doesn’t end in a period.
This week’s discovery is an art exhibit on mental health entitled, “Despite my being ____, life doesn’t end in a period.” The exhibit features works of members of the Boxless Society. It aims to raise awareness on mental health and help address the stigma mental health survivors experience as they continue to engage in a society that is yet to see mental health as “an illness, nothing more, nothing less.” As the exhibit’s poster explains, mental health survivors are able to cope in society provided that their illness–just like any other health concern–is properly addressed. It is an illness, not a mental disability.
Sining Kamalig
This longest-running gallery in the Philippines is about a fifteen-minute walk from where I’m staying. Sining Kamalig is conveniently located within a mall (Ali Mall) within the Cubao commercial district in Quezon City. And perhaps this is one thing I like about this gallery: it brings art closer to the public.
Art Works
Below are some photos of the art works. The Boxless Society was also selling some merchandise–bookmarks, photos, even a clock!
Empowering Statement for All
I believe the exhibit’s title can be an empowering statement not just to mental health survivors, but everyone who is going through a tough time. For instance, here’s one of my versions:
Despite my being (at the receiving end of abusive behavior), life doesn’t end in a period.
The words in the blank space can be replaced by anything, such as “an imperfect person, someone who has failed so many times, a survivor of abuse, a person with physical disability,” the list goes on and on.
What would yours be?
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