People who have experienced mental illness have shared their stories in words and pictures in a new exhibition at Fairview Artspace.
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“Recovery From the Bush” is the result of a collaboration between Partners in Recovery, the Benevolent Society and Western Sydney University.
As part of WSU research project, people from rural and regional NSW were invited to contribute photographs illustrating their experiences.
Professor Debbie Horsfall of Western Sydney University said the exhibition provided an insight into what is important to people experiencing mental illness.
“We wanted a way to enable people who live with mental illness to tell us what matters to them in the way they wanted to tell us,” she said.
“Quite often what we think they need is quite different to what we think they need.”
The resulting exhibition shows the things which helped the participants in their experiences, from pets and animals to gardens and the natural landscape, and the people who offer support and love.
Professor Horsfall the project revealed the participants’ passion to contribute and give to the community.
“I think we need to hear them,” she said. “They want to work, do volunteer work, they want their children back – we need to hear them.”
Professor Horsfall said the exhibition is a call for tolerance, compassion and acceptance of people with mental illness, whose voices are often unheard.
“Not listening to people is at best frustrating and at worst life threatening,” she said.
Professor Horsfall said the exhibition also revealed the value of community support programs such as those provided by Partners in Recovery, a group of mental health service providers working across Western NSW.
Deputy Mental Health Commissioner Bradley Foxlewin, who opened the exhibition on Thursday, thanked the participants for their amazing and touching stories.
He compared the experience of mental illness to a photograph entitled “Dancing in the Rain”.
“It’s a photograph that carries the image of recovery even in the depth of struggle,” he said. “It’s a dance – sometimes it’s raining and sometimes the sun comes out.”
“Recovery from the Bush” is on exhibition at Fairview Artspace until July 11.
Fairview is open from 10am to 5pm Monday to Thursday.
