Victoria Christodoulides is an SWDTP scholarship PhD student in the Health Department at the University of Bath. Victoria is a researcher-survivor, and this research project grew from her recognition of the challenges survivors experience within recovery practices. Her research aims to re-imagine the misconceptions of recovery. Of particular interest, Victoria uses Participatory Inquiry recognising the importance of co-construction, especially with groups considered vulnerable.

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Victoria acknowledges and recognises the need for collaboration, engaging with practitioners, survivors, artists and many others to generate change together. Using creative practices within her work has encouraged evocative and meaningful impact while also enabling the body, often disregarded or pathologised, to be incorporated.

 

Her approach also helped conceptualise and deliver the Active Recovery project supporting alternative approaches to recovery in Bristol at The Southmead Project. Her work aims to explore how recovery from childhood trauma could be better understood and practised beyond traditional medical approaches. 

Mike has been a key and important supporter of the development and implementation of this project. From a background of childhood abuse and trauma, poverty, deprivation, and addiction, to the freedom recovery has given me has been some journey. On the way, I somehow made it to Buckingham Palace to receive an award from HM The Queen and proudly stood on the stage in the main hall at the University of Bristol to receive an honorary doctorate.

 

These honours were in recognition of setting up the Southmead Project, a community-based charity with a focus on tackling the impact of child abuse, trauma and correlated self-harming. Over the years, it has been my privilege to meet and work with some quite amazing, inspiring people, especially those residents who came to help set up the charity, freely giving their time, support, and skills. So many people to thank, but perhaps most of all, those who have made it through the doors of the charity seeking help with their plight. A privilege indeed.

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Alyson is a socially-engaged artist and lecturer in art and design. Originally trained in sculpture, Alyson recently completed her Ma in fine art at Bath Spa. 

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Her practice includes working in traditional materials as well as video, VR and performance, and her approach is often collaborative many years of experience facilitating community arts projects. Alyson's current art project explores 'making space for conversation' to open dialogue creatively around taboo subjects. Her work has been exhibited in the RWA Bristol, London and the South West.

 

Alyson's role within this project was to support the design and delivery of the sessions and support the curation of the exhibition.

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A graduate of Central St Martin’s (BA Fine Art, 2004), Jon's multi-disciplinary practice centres around the contemporary legacies of historic conflict and industry.

 

Notable projects include ‘Hour Hands’, commissioned by Contains Art, during the construction of Watchet’s new £7.5 million East Quay arts centre, and ‘The Fifty’ at the Zagan Palace, Poland, during official 70th-anniversary commemorations of the ‘Great Escape’. Jon has collaborated with WWII POW artist Edward Milligan and led to ‘Dual Perspectives’ touring the Institutes of Architecture in Moscow and St Petersburg while also being an artist in residence at the Fleet Air Arm Museum, Yeovilton and Museum of Somerset.

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Jon's role in this project was the beautiful photography of all of the artworks in a respectful and powerful way.

Nathaniel Topping is a musician, producer and sound engineer based in Bristol. Having previously spent time performing in bands as a guitarist and bassist, he has recently stepped into the world of solo composition and electronic music production.

 

Nathaniel created a beautiful piece of music for the exhibition. This piece, ‘Ground Hum’, takes inspiration from the likes of Ryuichi Sakamoto and Jon Hopkins to help create an environment in which people could feel grounded and safe. 

 

“The core idea of art as a form of therapy, whether you’re creating, listening or viewing it, is ingrained within a vast array of cultures. Certainly, from a personal standpoint, both writing and listening to music have helped me with struggles and turmoil throughout my life. This piece has been written to complement what others have created during their time of healing, with ambient ASMR and noise tones being used to soften the space in which it is played. The fleeting sounds of music and foley represent both how delicate our creativity can be when facing trauma and other mental health issues, but also how during times in which we do struggle -whilst it might not always feel like it- there is a path on the other side where we can be to feel like ourselves again.”