£5.45 BILLION 2-year budget announced for Arts and Public Health*

A short and sweet blog this week. Things have been exceptioanlly busy - but all good and productive. Next week, I should be able to report on the Dementia and Imagination research project that I know so many of you want to hear about. I’ll be heading off on a break to cooler northern climbs this week, so sorry no email response.

We want to remind anyone who’s interested in the networking session here at MMU on the 28th of Feb between 6 and 8PM - that we’ll be exploring where this arts and health journey came from, where we’re at now and where we think we might be going. It’s not directly part of the manifesto sessions, but is connected in that I want us to be thinking about how we explore this visually. How we plot our lineage (so to speak) and how we might make sense of where we are in the here and now. So - it will be an interactive session.

I was hoping to work with a graphic designer ‘live’ on the evening, somehow capturing what we say and plotting this field, but she’s out of the country! If anyone is comfortable capturing conversation and the salient points, please let me know. Although remember, I won’t be answering email this week.

OK - final thought on this. “What’s he on about - visualising the field?” Well, we’ve had frameworks, flowcharts and all manner of pseudoscientific illustration and the occasional positive-peak-flow-gibberish - but what about the The Great Bear (Patterson) - what about Acid House and Brass Bands (Deller)? What about the film-makers and animators? There are a few images and films peppered through the blog today - treat them as a stimulus and remember you’ll need to register at artsforhealth@mmu.ac.uk 

International Culture, Health & Wellbeing Conference

Bristol, June 24 – 26th

I’ve got my ticket for this event and I very much look forward to meeting up with those of you I know, those of you I’ve emailed but never met - and complete strangers!

The Early Bird registration for the conference ends on February 28th. The fee is £350 for three days - June 24th, 25th and 26th. This includes the full programme with a choice of workshops, breakout sessions, performances and visits, lunch and refreshments every day. The conference will inform international perspectives on:

• Healthy and Creative Ageing
• Global Health Inequalities and Culture
• Culture and the Social Determinants of Wellbeing

Please click on the Thames Valley 616 (GJB254) Bristol LWL6B's for more details.

Community Libraries in the 21st Century

Arts Council England and LGA have published a report that looks into the different ways in which communities are involved in library service delivery. Research shows that in July 2012, 5% of public libraries had some element of community involvement, ranging from independent community libraries that own their own assets through to council-led and funded libraries whose paid professional staff are supported by volunteers. The findings indicate that this figure could rise to around 12% in the near future. From this national picture, guiding principles have been developed to assist local authorities who are considering reviewing the delivery of their library services to work with their communities. Follow this link for details. http://www.artscouncil.org.uk/what-we-do/supporting-libraries/community-libraries-research/ 

Funding To Support Poetry and Literature (UK)

So, with libraries in mind, the Clore Duffield Foundation has announced that round 5 of its Poetry and Literature Awards Fund is now open for applications. Through the Fund, schools, FE colleges, community groups, libraries and other arts/cultural organisations can apply for grants of between £1,000 and £10,000 to support participatory learning projects and programmes focused on literature, poetry and creative writing for under 19s.

The deadline for applications is the 1st May 2013. Read more by clicking on the splendid bonce of the poet-librarian below! 

Elephant Trust fund for visual arts projects

Deadline: 15 April 2013

The Elephant Trust offers grants to artists, and for new, innovative visual arts projects based in the UK. Its aim is to make it possible for artists and those presenting their work to undertake and complete projects when confronted by lack of funds. The Trust supports projects that develop and improve the knowledge, understanding and appreciation of the fine arts.

Priority is given to artists and small organisations and galleries who should submit well argued, imaginative proposals for making or producing new work or exhibitions. Arts Festivals are not supported. The Trust normally awards grants of up to £2,000, but larger grants may be considered. Read more by clicking on the happy elephant!

...and finally that £5.45 billion 2-year budget for local public health services...

*Whoops - did I say Arts and Public Health? Sorry, I meant Public Health. But wait, don't give up so soon. Read this. Digest it. Think about the new configuration of services. Who is your Public Health champion? How can you engage with strategic commissioning. Is the time right for re-imagining our relationships with Local Authority Arts Officers (where they've not been slashed) and Public Health?

A £5.45 billion two-year ring-fenced public health budget for local authorities has been announced by the Department of Health. From April 2013, public health budgets will be protected for the first time, with local authorities taking the lead for improving the health of their local communities. This aims to drive local efforts to improve health and wellbeing by tackling the wider determinants of poor health. It is claimed that funding is specifically targeted, for the first time, at those areas with the worst health outcomes. In 2013/14 the total budget for local public health services will be just under £2.7 billion. In 2014/15 the budget will be just under £2.8 billion. Every local authority will receive a real terms increase in funding.

For full details by clicking on the healthy food option.

Cut grass lies frail:
Brief is the breath
Mown stalks exhale.
Long, long the death...

An extract from the Philip Larkin poem, Cut Grass

Thank you for reading this blog - please share far and wide...C.P.

Health 101: Cellulite

By Stephanie of Infinite Life Fitness

One of the most asked questions I get from clients that are older females is…”How do I get rid of my cellulite!?!?”…

…The answer…. You Can’t…

Yes, that is right ladies; you are stuck with the curse of having lumps in your legs (and other possible areas). To be honest…EVERYONE has it! It may be just a little…or it may be a whole lot more. Some women express it way more than others….and some you cannot see it at all…but it is there!

Cellulite is fat that is trapped right under the skin surface. The fat clumps up in some areas and that causes the “dimples” you see in your thighs or hips. Some women (and yes men get it as well) are genetically prone to getting more than others.

With healthy eating and exercise, it will help you REDUCE the appearance of cellulite. It will not fully go away! But it will not look as bad or as visible with a consistent strength training and cardio routine. 

So yes, that means save your money on the dimple creams and laser surgeries. They have been proven to help reduce the sight of cellulite TEMPORARILY! But, guess what….yes it will come back! For the best results….and the long lasting results….start working out! And of course adopt a healthy diet! Once you start to lose that extra body fat, the muscle under the skin and fat will start to tighten and sculpt your body.

This is Stephanie from Infinite Life Fitness. Please feel free to stop by my blog for more health and fitness related topics!

Natural Remedy || Lemon Juice for Constipation and Diarrhea

NOTE:  This may NOT work for constipation or diarrhea caused by anything other than over-eating fast food and junk food.  Please consult your doctor in cases outside of these.

Once in a while, I will indulge in a greasy burger and fries or some junk food, and because my body is not used to these meals, constipation and (sometimes) diarrhea will be right around the corner.  (Sorry if this is TMI.) 

Many of you may already know about the following concoction, but I will share my experience with it anyway.  When it comes to constipation and diarrhea, drinking lemon juice mixed with warm water works like a charm for me!  Though I couldn't find any medical explanation on the internet, there are tons of people who also swear by this natural remedy.  If I had to take an educated guess, I would assume that the acidity of the lemon helps with digestion. I really don't know as I am not a doctor, but here is the simple recipe I use:

Ingredients:
1 part lemon juice (from a fresh lemon)
1 part warm water

Instructions:
Mix the ingredients and drink once to three times a day.  If your constipation does not go away (or decrease) in two days, then please consult your doctor.

This works for me.  Hopefully it will work for you! 

(Also, increase your water and fiber intake to help further combat constipation.)

Hair Diary || Final Thoughts on Wash-n-Go Experience

So a few weeks ago, I decided to experiment with Cynthiarf's method and wear my first wash-n-go in years!  Well, after having done it for about two weeks, I can finally share my thoughts on the experience:

How did it go?  I loved it and plan to incorporate it more regularly into my regimen this year.  The key to minimizing knots and tangles while wearing the wash-n-go is to finger comb and remove the shed hair daily and thoroughly.  I was able to go one to two days between wash-n-gos probably because I used a lot of gel for definition and hold.  Otherwise, I think I would've been asking for trouble by stretching the look.  

Did I notice increased knots and tangling?  To my surprise, not really except for "back there".  My back hair did tangle a little because, unlike the rest of my hair, it is very fine.  (Hence, if you have long, fine Type 4 strands, I personally would recommend that you be cautious when trying this method.)  Also, it is very important to use a conditioner to wash as opposed to a shampoo, which will contribute to tangling and matting of the loose hair.  However, since I believe in shampoos for cleansing, I did use one weekly followed by conditioner.  Lastly, over time my hair became easier to finger comb and softer.  I believe Cynthiarf alludes to why (as well as why this method works for our hair in general) in this comment to her youtube video.

For those who are interested in trying her method, here is the link to her video tutorial.  Also, feel free to ask me any questions in the comments section below!  Now for a few more wash-n-go photos. :o)

Wet.  No gel.  Day one.

Wet. Gel. Week two.

Dry.  Gel.  Week one.

The War of the End of the World: The health puzzle posed by its survivors

The War of Canudos took place in Brazil in 1896 and 1897. Canudos was a settlement of several thousand deeply religious Christians, led by a man known as Antonio Conselheiro. They opposed the recent establishment of the Republic of Brazil, particularly the institution of income taxes and civil marriage; the former was considered government-sponsored theft and the latter a sacrilege. The republic had been declared in 1889 following a military coup that deposed Dom Pedro II, an emperor beloved by the common people and under whose rule slavery had recently been abolished.

Canudos was located in the Brazilian sertão, an inhospitable semi-arid region in the northeastern part of the country. The inhabitants of Canudos were the sertanejos. The term jagunço was used to refer to the males, especially the outlaws. Many of the sertanejos lived in semi-starvation, in poor sanitary conditions, and with very limited (if any) access to healthcare. Infant mortality was very high at the time. Those who reached adulthood were typically of small stature, and very thin; not lean, thin – often described as “skin and bones”.

Below is what a typical young jagunço would look like at the time of the War of Canudos. (Some authors differentiate between jagunços and cangaceiros based on small differences in cultural and dress traditions; e.g., the hat in the photo is typical of cangaceiros.) The jagunços tended to be the best fed among the sertanejos. They were also known as cold-blooded killers. The photo is a cropped version of the original one; the grizzly original is at the top of a recent blog post by Juan Pablo Dabove (). The blog post discusses Vargas Llosa’s historical fiction book based on the War of Canudos, the masterpiece titled “The War of the End of the World” ().

Jorge Mario Pedro Vargas Llosa, a Peruvian-Spanish writer and politician, was the recipient of the 2010 Nobel Prize in Literature; “The War of the End of the World” is considered one of his greatest literary achievements. Euclides da Cunha wrote the most famous non-fictional account on the War of Canudos, another masterpiece that has been called “Brazil’s greatest book”, titled “Rebellion in the Backlands” (). The Portughese title is “Os Sertões”. Vargas Llosa’s book is based on da Cunha’s.

Sergio Rezende’s movie, “Guerra de Canudos” (), is a superb dramatization of the War of Canudos. I watched this movie after reading Vargas Llosa’s and da Cunha’s books, and was struck by two things: (a) the outstanding performances, especially by José Wilker, Cláudia Abreu, Marieta Severo, and Paulo Betti; and (b) the striking resemblance of the latter (Betti) to Royce Gracie (), a very nice man whom I interviewed () for my book on compensatory adaptation (), and who is no stranger to Ultimate Fighting Championship and mixed martial arts fans ().

In a nutshell, the War of Canudos went more or less like this. There were four military campaigns against the settlement. The third was a major one, led by one of Brazil’s most accomplished military leaders at the time, Colonel Antônio Moreira César. The jagunços, resorting to guerrilla warfare, fought off the government troops in the first three. The fourth, led by General Arthur Oscar de Andrade Guimarães, saw the jagunços defeated in a war of attrition primarily due to lack of access to food and water, after heavy losses among government troops. At the end, nearly all of the surviving jagunços were executed, by knife – to their absolute horror, and the perverse pleasure of the executioners bent on revenge, as the victims believed that they would not go to heaven if their lives were ended by knife, even against their will.

Ned, what is your point regarding health!?

After going through numerous sources, paper-based and online, academic and non-academic, I am convinced that a significant number of the survivors of the Canudos War lived to their 90s and beyond. This conclusion is based chiefly on comparisons of various dates, especially of interviews with survivors. No single source dedicated to this particular health-related aspect of the War of Canudos seems to exist. There is a video clip that shows some of the survivors (), speaking in Portuguese, with their ages shown in subtitles (“years”, in Portuguese, is “anos”). One of them, a man, is listed as being a supercentenarian.

In modern USA those who live to the age of 90 and beyond are outliers. Less than 2 percent of the population reach the age of 90 (). Most of them are women. My impression is that among the survivors of the War of Canudos, the 90+ percentage was at least 5 times higher; even with access to sanitation and healthcare in modern USA being much better at any age.

If my impression is correct, how can it be explained?

I think that some of the readers of this blog will be tempted to explain the high longevity based on calorie restriction. But the empirical evidence suggests that poor nutrition, in terms of micronutrients and macronutrients, is associated with increased mortality, not the other way around (, , ). Mortality due to poor nutrition is frequently from infectious diseases, in the young and the old. Degenerative diseases are widespread among the overnourished, not the well nourished, and kill mostly at later ages. It is not uncommon for infectious diseases to “mask” as degenerative diseases – e.g., viral diabetes ().

Often people point at hunter-gatherer populations and argue that they are healthy because of their low calorie intake. But mortality from infectious diseases among hunter-gatherers is very high, particularly in children. Others point to the absence of industrial foods engineered for overconsumption, which I think is definitely a factor in terms of degenerative diseases. Some say that a main factor is retention of lean body mass as one ages, referring mostly to muscle tissue, a hypothesis to which the case of the sertanejos poses a problem – what lean body mass!? And, on top of all of their problems, the sertanejos regularly faced long droughts, which may be why they typically had a “dry” look.

Yet others point to low stress. It is reasonable to think that stress is a mediating factor in the development of many modern diseases. Still, the sertanejos living in Canudos have had to endure quite a lot of stress, before and after the War of Canudos. In fact, the depictions of their lives at around the time of the War of Canudos suggest very stressful, miserable lives, prior to the conflict; which in part explains the early success of a religious settlement where life was marginally better.

By the way, the traditional Okinawans have also endured plenty of stress (), and they have had the highest longevity rates in recorded history. Food scarcity has frequently been combined with stress in their case, as with many other long-living groups. Causality is complex here, probably changing direction in different subsets of the data, but I have long suspected that the combination of stress and overnourishment is a particular unnatural one, to which humans are badly maladapted.

A main factor is almost always forgotten: the effective immune systems of those who have been subjected to starvation, poor sanitation, lack of healthcare, and other challenges – especially in childhood – and survived to adulthood. And here some counterintuitive things can happen. For example, someone may be very sickly early in life and barely survive childhood, and then become very resistant to infectious diseases later, thus appearing to be very healthy, to the surprise of relatives and friends who remember “that sickly child”. Immunocompetence is something that the body builds up in response to exposure.

As they say in northeastern Brazil, in characteristic drawl: “Ol’ sihtaneju ain’t die easy”.

新 年 快 樂

I wish a happy and peaceful year to anyone celebrating Chinese New Year and welcome in Year of the Snake.

What a week! Thank you to everyone who came and shared their ideas and stories at the first Arts, Health and Recovery networking event here at MMU on Thursday evening - what, you didn’t know this is a regular event? Well, following the passion and drive of those in this packed event, there’s clearly a space for it. So - lets do it, lets think of this as a space that we can get together - share ways forward and perhaps develop new projects that relate to recovery, wellbeing and the arts.

SO - a little about the event and the preceding days. Arts for Health is working with artists and people in recovery from substance misuse, in Pescara and Pistoia in Italy; Kütahya in Turkey and here in the UK in Manchester and Liverpool.

Partners from all the countries gathered here in Manchester to plan a series of events and the artists residences and exchanges. We’re recruiting a lead artist from the UK to oversee the project and the artists in Italy and Turkey who will develop work in substance recovery communities. Alongside the lead artist, all three will be involved in cultural exchange with recovery communities in each country, working with people affected by alcohol or drug addiction and around a theme of self-portraiture. Shortly we’ll have a dedicated blog page for this emerging work. 

So, the networking evening was a way of bringing people together from the recovery community alongside artists and health professionals and what a great event it was to be part of, with a high number of people in recovery in attendance and one or two very personal and inspiring stories shared. I was particularly thrilled to hear people saying that it was their first time in a university - and on my word - it won’t be the last. For the first time in my ‘professional’ career, I was inspired to share a little chaos from my own early family life.

We also shared the Finnish film that I posted on the blog last week, Fragile Childhood -Monsters. I was cautious showing it, but relieved I did, as it opened up some difficult, but cathartic and grounded conversations.

For those of us who compared notes on the night, the overriding feeling was that this work was about making substance addiction and recovery visible.

Thank you for all of you who came and shared your thoughts, stories and ideas.

With the annual pressure to send or receive commercial tokens of affection on Valentines day, its been with a wry smile that I notice many of the newspapers are citing the University of Oxford researchers, Savulescu & Sandberg and their Neuroenhancement of Love and Marriage: The Chemicals Between Us, which discusses the possibility of chemically enhancing flagging romance in long-term relationships! A pill not only to make you happy in your long years of monotony, but to synthesize that feeling of amor. Alongside our deluded belief in some over-the-counter prescribed answer to all of life's grief.

Leon Jakeman

Following on from last weeks fleeting comments on the 50th anniversary of Sylvia Plath and The Bell Jar, the writer Jeanette Winterson wrote a lovely succinct reflection of what Plath means to her. Here it is in full.

"The early 60s was a terrible time for women. Worse for clever ambitious women. Valium had been on the market for two years in 1963 and by this time was being advertised aggressively at healthy women who felt trapped and desperate and whose distress had to be medicated away. This is the world of The Bell Jar.

The Bell Jar was published at the same time as Henry Miller's Tropic of Cancer was reissued after its long ban in the USA. The misogynist masterpiss billets half the population to the whorehouse. All women are for sex. Rich women are for cash. Poor women are for housework. Why wouldn't a woman go mad in a world like this? Why wouldn't a woman as gifted as Plath become terminally depressed and end in suicide? Pills don't change the world. Feminism did.

The Bell Jar was a call to action because it is a diary of despair. Plath was gifted. She could have been great. Wrong generation. Wrong medication."

Arts and Health Research (part 1)

I want to give a very warm welcome to the newest member of the Arts for Health team, Rebecca Gordon-Nesbitt who will be joining us for 3 months to research arts and health archives both in the UK and internationally, making where possible strategic links and connections. This work is being undertaken with the generous support of the AHRC and in collaboration with LIME Arts. If you want to meet Rebecca and here more about her background, she’s giving one of the Tuesday Talks at The Whitworth Art Gallery this Tuesday. here are some details.

The Tuesday Talks series invites leading artists, thinkers and curators to explore the driving forces, influences and sources of inspiration within contemporary art. The series is programmed by Professor Pavel Büchler and is a collaboration with Manchester Metropolitan University.

12 February

11.00am – 12.30pm, free, no booking necessary 

Rebecca Gordon-Nesbitt 

Having worked as a curator of international contemporary art for more than a decade, Rebecca Gordon-Nesbitt receded from direct participation to embark upon an extensive interrogation of the European cultural field. Increasingly deploying an investigative methodology, she has exposed the endemic corruption in commercially derived approaches to culture, most recently as Researcher-in-Residence at the Centre for Contemporary Art, Derry, in relation to UK City of Culture 2013. Seeking alternatives to the prevailing model of cultural organisation, Rebecca spent five months in the libraries and archives of Havana, tracing the socially inflected approaches to culture that emerged in the wake of the 1959 Cuban Revolution. It is this research she will present at this talk, in the context of broader trends in cultural policy and their effect on the production of art.

Arts and Health Research (part 2)

Did you know that there is an emerging arts and health research network being developed? You can find details at http://artsandhealthresearch.ac.uk/artshealthandwellbeing/index.aspx

School Residencies: Call for Artists (Round 1), Blackburn and Darwen

10 x artist school residency fees worth up to £10,000 each

Blackburn and Darwen's Building Schools for the Future (BSF) continues with the latest phase of an extensive school building programme. Linked to this, Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council’s Arts Service are launching the first round of an ongoing Artist Call targeting artists from all creative disciplines with an interest in educational and community engagement, and further developing their collaborative practice.

At this initial stage, they are asking for artists to consider the brief on their website: www.artistcall.net and if interested to log your Expression of Interest by registering online and uploading some examples of your work to the private ‘intranet’ section. As well as your basic registration, they encourage you to also upload some practice information as well.

The deadline for your received registrations for this first round is 1st March 2013, but other Artist Calls will continue straight afterwards too.

Wellcome Trust Small Arts Awards (UK)

The Wellcome Trust has announced that the next application deadline under its Small Arts Awards is the 28th June 2013.  The Small Arts Awards provides grants of up to £30,000 to projects that engage the public with biomedical science through the arts. The aim of the awards is to support arts projects that reach new audiences which may not traditionally be interested in science. 

http://www.wellcome.ac.uk/Funding/Public-engagement/Funding-schemes/Arts-Awards/index.htm 

Funding for Creative Young People (UK)

IdeasTap, a non-for-profit initiative supports young creative people between 16 and 25 years of age, has announced that its Ideas Fund Innovators is open to applications. During this funding round the Ideas Fund Innovators aims to offer ten projects £1,000 each to help get them off the ground. In the past, Ideas Tap has funded everything from dance and film projects to music videos and photography collectives.  Applications from any creative field will be considered. Ideas Tap are looking for projects that are inspiring, original, innovative and that Ideas Tap think you can deliver. This brief closes on Thursday 4 April 2013 at 5pm and is open to IdeasTap members aged 16 to 25 on the closing date. Read more at: http://www.ideastap.com/Opportunities/Brief/b39a4a56-3379-4b89-9d0a-a13c0115ceac#Overview 

Nominet Trust: Digital Edge Programme (UK)

The Nominet Trust has announced that the 2nd call for applications under its £2 million Digital Edge Programme is now open for applications.  The programme aims to support projects that use new technology to engage young people in new, more meaningful and relevant ways and enable their participation in building a more resilient society. There is no upper or lower funding limit as the Trust like to encourage applicants to be realistic about what they need to achieve their project objectives.  The closing date for applications is the 1st May 2013. Read more at:

http://www.nominettrust.org.uk/how-to-apply/areas-investment/digital-edge

Europe for Citizens Programme: 

Citizens Projects (UK)

The European Commission has announced a new call for proposals under its Europe for Citizens Programme – Action 1 – Measure 2.1 Citizens' projects.  The measure “Citizen’s projects” aims at exploring innovative methodologies and approaches to encourage citizens’ active participation at European level and to stimulate the dialogue between European citizens and European institutions. Under this measure a variety of projects of a transnational and cross-sectoral dimension, directly involving citizens will be supported.  Priority is given to projects aimed at encouraging local level participation.  Eligible organisations that can apply include civil society organisations and local authorities.   A project must involve organisations/institutions from at least 5 participating countries of which at least one is an EU Member State.

The Grants available range from €100,000 - €250,000 and the closing date for applications is the 1st June 2013.Read more at:

http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/citizenship/funding/2013/call_action1_22_2013_en.php 

Thank you for stopping by...C.P.

Reader's Question: Weaves/Sew-ins to Stretch Relaxers

For questions, use the "Contact Me" tab OR leave a comment below!

Reader's Question:
In order to stretch relaxers, is it okay that I have weave with braids in it or a sew in 2-3 weeks after a relaxer?

My Answer:

I personally would not recommend getting a weave/sew-in within two weeks after a relaxer.  Three weeks would be a much safer amount of time to wait, in my opinion.  Four weeks or more would be even better.  I say this because the scalp needs to "recover" (for lack of a better word) after a fresh relaxer.  Weaves/sew-ins can apply tension to the scalp, and installing one within two weeks can lead to hair loss.

After three to four weeks, weaves/sew-ins that are installed and maintained properly can be a good way to stretch relaxers.  Other safer options are braid-outs, cornrow-outs, twist-outs (with perm-rodded ends), ponytail roller sets, and straw sets.  Check out this earlier post on styles that blend the new growth with your relaxed ends.

I hope this answers your question!