Can Art Save Us?
I’m raising the first national and international conversation to explore courage and curiosity and why it makes a big difference to our mental, societal and democratic health. Scroll down for all episodes. I’m grateful to share my reviews below. I talk to award-winning, diverse, national and international artists about the role of courage and curiosity in their lives. What do these qualities really mean and why do they matter to our mental, societal and democratic health? Can the Arts change the global epidemic of mental illness, loneliness, the polarization of our communities and global conflict? My dedicated website including interview transcriptions is www.canartsaveus.com All of my guests share personal stories, often life changing, their deep challenges and perseverance with success through their different responses to courage and curiosity. Be inspired, we talk, hip-hop poetry, Islamic architecture building peace , tap dance in protest, surrealism and WWII front line photography, life as a drag King, the Queen of the Qanun, war displacement and Syrian music, the Art School for the Homeless, the 1970s West Indian Front Room, inclusive dance, wheelchair acrobatics, British-Pakistani, Black-British, Jewish, and Irish spoken word artists, giant talking ceramics, an end of life film, the music industry and discrimination, graffiti art and Muslim faith, shamanic storytelling, a Cameroonian clay addict, a world leading sculptor and voices of Windrush in arts activism, comedy, photography and iconic sculpture.
Can Art Save Us?
I talk to diverse and award-winning artists about the role of curiosity and courage in their lives and work. I'm exploring the role of courage and curiosity in our mental, societal and democratic health, why these qualities matter and their wider meanings. I explore international and national perspectives. In the UK the Arts have been relentlessly cut and notably ripped out of education systems. This podcast series is in response to that political prejudice, the arts inequality that exists as a result and to assert the value and purpose of the Arts to our mental, societal and democratic health. This is a free to listen podcast for everyone.
The dedicated website with all episode visuals and transcripts are at: www.canartsaveus.com
Your Host and Reviews
Paula has interviewed throughout her career in music and film television, including Talkin' Jazz, Talkin' Blues and Music Legends for NBC Europe and A list actors and cast for BSkyB Movies. In recent years she has regularly interviewed artists and craft makers.
"Amazing Episode of Can Art Save Us? Such a well-informed and intelligent interview. I thought you did an amazing job. Really great podcast idea." Listener, Dr. Craig Jordan-Baker, author.
"I am in floods of tears. What an awesome, inspiring and generous conversation." Listener, Ali Beddoes.
"Thank you so very much, your questions trigger the narrative in a really intuitive and splendid way." Guest, Marice Cumber, Ceramicist and CEO of the Art School for the Homeless.
"I listened to Barry J. Gibb, so great and you're excellent at extracting info and making the conversation flow. Really loved it!!!" Listener, Jody Levitus.
"Wow, I really enjoyed that question!" Guest, Adam Kammerling, Poet and former Slam Poet Champion.
"Listened to your podcast and it's fantastic! Really authentic conversation, congratulations on such a great show!" Listener, John Offord, BBC Producer.
"Wow, that's such an interesting question. Wow. That really speaks to me." Guest, Otis Mensah, the UK's first hip-hop poet laureate.
"These are very interesting, very good questions. I thoroughly enjoyed the conversation." Marwa Al-Sabouni, Architect, Author, Top 50, Global Thinkers List.
"I love the way you are steering the interviews, I'm loving the Anthony Penrose interview. I have enjoyed my first two episodes immensely." Listener, Giles Pooley
"Great to have an interviewer who delves deep and is so well prepared! Thank you. A great pleasure." Guest, Cherry Smyth, Royal Society of Literature, Fellow.
"Excited to discover your podcast and can’t wait to listen to this." Listener, Carrie Stanley.
"Your podcast is creating important conversation Paula. Thank you for inviting me!" Guest, Qudsia Akhtar, Poet, Highly Commended, Forward Book of Poetry.
"Excited for this to be out in the world!" Guest, Bobby Brown, Music and Creative Producer.
"Absolutely brilliant to see this pop up in my podcast feed today. Can’t wait to listen! Inspiring stuff!" Listener & Guest, Barry J. Gibb, award winning filmmaker.
"I love the content you do because it is soo important!!!" Listener, Podcast Host of Crisis Talk, Pelumi.
"You're such a joy to talk to, right, because people don't ask, you're waiting for people to ask those questions." Guest, Tom Delahunt, Hobo Poet and author.
"What a stunning line up!" Listener, Bhumika Billa.
"I’m dead excited to be here." Guest, Lady Kitt, Drag King & Maker.
"I’m a fan ! … amazing episode, I think you’ve created an extraordinary body of work." Listener, James Russel.
"Loved coming on your podcast Paula. It was wonderful." Guest, Princess Arinola, spoken word artist, musician, songwriter, BBC Words First winner.
Episodes
Thursday Mar 14, 2024
The Art of Incarceration - Groundbreaking Prison Art and Documentary
Thursday Mar 14, 2024
Thursday Mar 14, 2024
What happens when the judicial system we're taught to trust is in fact part of a complex web of systemic failure and structural discrimination on vast scales? My guests today have raised one of the most important spotlights on systemic failure in Australia's prison system. Indigenous Australians are one of the most incarcerated people in the world. Alex Siddons is the director of the groundbreaking feature documentary, The Art of Incarceration, which is currently available on Netflix. He won unprecedented access to film at the Indigenous Unit of Victoria's Fulham Correctional Center. Christopher Austin is a lead participant in the documentary and he was incarcerated from the age of 11. And by the time he was 46, the longest time he had spent in society at any one time was nine months. There's nothing sketchy about this documentary and crime isn't excused. But the repeat cycle of crime and over representation of Indigenous Australians is explored in order to find solutions. Through the personal stories of in-mates the documentary explores the relevance and legacy of colonial history of Stolen Generations, displacement and disadvantage that feed into the prison system today. Alex spotlights how hope and positive change is literally painted through the Torch art program. The program connects indigenous inmates to their culture and strengthens cultural identity through the practice of art. It recognizes that people who are disenfranchised from their dominant culture become too disconnected to rehabilitate successfully. Christopher Austin and Alex Siddons take part in this episode. Christopher shares his personal experience of being displaced and incarcerated from the age of 11. He is a unique survivor of the prison system and today both an artist and pioneer for change. He is now The Torch’s, Indigenous Program Mentor, in itself a huge landmark for change in which he leads. Alex Siddons, is a dedicated filmmaker and his documentary not only raised a vital spotlight on this human rights issue but a brotherhood too. The consent and collaboration of prisoners is further testimony to the Torch Arts Programme, successfully cultivating connection, cultural respect, real change and a future outside of the traps both in and outside of prison.
Series Audio Editor - Joey Quan.
Series Music - Courtesy of Barry J. Gibb
Closed Captions are added to all interviews in this series. Read only, text versions of every interview, news, reviews and your host are here: www.canartsaveus.com
Discover The Art of Incarceration on Netflix and the Director Alex Siddons: www.alexsiddons.com
Support and Discover The Torch Art Programme: www.thetorch.org.au
Buy art by First Nations people, vouchers and gifts: www.thetorch.org.au/shop-2/
Thursday Mar 14, 2024
Acting, Awards, Arts, Activism, a loved Actress - Julie Hesmondhalgh
Thursday Mar 14, 2024
Thursday Mar 14, 2024
Julie Hesmondhalgh is one of Britain’s most loved actresses, she plays roles for stage and screen that tackle important issues and reach out to the hearts and minds of audiences everywhere. Her roles in drama have included sexual violence, the calamity of hate crimes, the representation of transgender people, exploring the right to die and more recently, exposing one of the most widespread miscarriages of justice in British history, The Post Office Scandal. This hit ITV series, Mr. Bates versus the Post Office, has had an unprecedented reaction forcing new political urgency to resolve this scandal. In theatre her work has responded to war, austerity, cancer, mental health, refugees and currently, her personal and emotionally courageous, one woman show, These We Love, a hymn to her working-class childhood. Julie’s work as an artist is part and parcel of her activism for positive change, a fairer society and equality, including access to the Arts. Whilst her famous and ground breaking television role as Hayley Cropper, a transgender woman in Coronation Street, often dominates her career, her work is bigger than this very famous soap opera. Julie is also full of fun and she understands the importance of daftness. She thinks deeply about hope and what it means in how we navigate our lives. We talk about finding her dad's diaries, the huge investment in Arts for the privately educated but devastating cuts in state education and what that means in a democracy. We discuss the Arts in relation to mental health, being able to connect, not feel alone and to combat fear with joy. Julie discusses why hope and optimism are essential in personal and political struggle and how the Arts encourages us all to thrive.
Photos courtesy of Julie Hesmondhalgh
Series Audio Editor - Joey Quan.
Series Music - Courtesy of Barry J. Gibb
Closed Captions are added to all interviews in this series. Read only, text versions of every interview, news, reviews and your host are here: www.canartsaveus.com
Discover:
Julie Hesmondhalgh www.loucoulson.co.uk/talent/julie-hesmondhalgh
Arts Emergency www.arts-emergency.org
Take Back Theatre www.takebacktheatre
Thursday Mar 14, 2024
The Inner Spirit of Story and Soul of Literature
Thursday Mar 14, 2024
Thursday Mar 14, 2024
Dennis Clausen, is a professor of American Literature and Screenwriting at the University of San Diego in the USA. He’s a highly respected, award-winning author of many works of fiction that reflect his lived experience and special interest in American small towns. He’s also written, Storytelling as Art and Craftsmanship, offering practical strategies for Screenwriters and Creative Writers. The emphasis on storytelling as art and craft is critical which is reflected in his regular contributions to Psychology Today. He discusses the threat of Artificial Intelligence and technology to our own thinking skills, neurological development, mental fitness, our imagination, having an authentic voice and questioning, who’s soul will be in literature? We talk about the relationship in his current trilogy between social injustice, economic inequality, homelessness and how Art is critical to finding truth, purpose and human existence. Dennis shares powerful personal stories including how his father, Lloyd Clausen, was adopted to be a farm labourer, not a son, who was extremely deprived. In the 1920s, the Great Depression and droughts also made for his crushing existence. Dennis unravelled his father's life story before he sadly died from cancer and he consequently published, "Prairie Son." All of his work is a great act of humanity and an important reminder why the humanities must have freedom to survive, to respond to authoritarianism and exercise the health of our own minds.
Series Audio Editor - Joey Quan.
Series Music - Courtesy of Barry J. Gibb
Closed Captions are added to all interviews in this series. Read only, text versions of every interview, news, reviews and your host are here: www.canartsaveus.com
Discover Professor Dennis Clausen: www.dennisclausen.com
Professor Dennis Clausen, contributor to Psychology Today magazine: www.psychologytoday.com/us/contributors/dennis-m-clausen-phd
Thursday Mar 14, 2024
A BBC Poet Chef! Survival, Life Affirmation and You.
Thursday Mar 14, 2024
Thursday Mar 14, 2024
David Attree is a ‘people’s poet,’ he’s also known as a ‘Poet-Chef,’ ‘Famous Dave,’ and more recently as the voice of the ‘Week in Words,’ aired on BBC Radio across three counties. His poetry is also currently on buses in the city of Brighton, known internationally as a centre of creativity. But fame isn’t what interests Dave, it’s connection; it’s you. Dave’s BBC, on-air introduction, was clear from the start: “I’m not writing for a crowd.” He’s interested in every individual that makes up a community. He finds “hope in disguise” and he takes “the time to measure what really counts.” Dave “links news and stories with poems and rhymes,” he creates a calm space where we can stop and think and even Time can rest a while. Dave is also an active poet in other ways; he walks and cycles for charitable causes, he speaks up, with us and for us. He’s also a funeral celebrant. He celebrates a person’s life as though he has always known them, with the skill and insight that poets possess. And what lies behind it all? Courage. Dave knows tragedy and fear, he’s had life-saving surgery that sadly, many don’t make and he’s also recovered from a stroke. Through all this he serves the value of life, for all of us and he champions his amazing, para-Olympian daughter too. This is a family that isn’t shy of beating the odds. Dave lets you know you are heard amongst all the noise, he invites you to pause and I’m sure, like me, you’ll feel, you’ve always known him too.
Series Audio Editor - Joey Quan.
Series Music - Courtesy of Barry J. Gibb
Closed Captions are added to all interviews in this series. Read only, text versions of every interview, news, reviews and your host are here: www.canartsaveus.com
Discover Dave Attree on BBC Sounds. The Week in Words and other clips with Dave are uploaded here as part of the Allison Ferns, Sunday Breakfast Show: www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p001d7v5/clips
Thursday Mar 14, 2024
The UK's First Professor of Dance Education
Thursday Mar 14, 2024
Thursday Mar 14, 2024
Do you like dancing? Do we dance enough? Or maybe the question is, why don’t we dance more? Dr. Angela Pickard is the UK’s first Professor of Dance Education. She has worked with talented dancers and choreographers across a multitude of theatres and sites in the UK and internationally. From toddlers to The Royal Ballet School, Angela has a wealth of knowledge and she is now the Director of the Sidney De Haan Research Centre for Arts and Health, here in the UK. She is interested in the relationship between dance and psychological, social and artistic outcomes and is particularly interested in responding to exclusion. Who is and isn’t included in dance, even in contemporary forms that we might assume are much more accessible? Who participates in dance is problematic, there’s a ring of elitism around it. Different generations may have memories of the traditional Friday night dance at the village hall, the school disco, the glamorous prom, the explosion of street-dance or maybe at weddings only. Have you ever been to a 'Daybreaker,' a morning dance rave to feel energized and well? Are you a fan of the hit TV series, Strictly Come Dancing? Whatever is happening, it seems our relationship with dance is fragmented, yet it has brought us joy, forms of protest and phenomenal social change. So, let’s get curious about dance and who better to ask than the UK’s first Professor of Dance Education?
Series Audio Editor - Joey Quan.
Series Music - Courtesy of Barry J. Gibb
Closed Captions are added to all interviews in this series. Read only, text versions of every interview, news, reviews and your host are here: www.canartsaveus.com
Discover Dr. Angela Pickard, Director of the Sydney de Haan Centre www.canterbury.ac.uk/research/research-centres/sidney-de-haan-research-centre-for-arts-and-health
Thursday Mar 14, 2024
Ballet Black. Be Free to be the Artist you Want to be.
Thursday Mar 14, 2024
Thursday Mar 14, 2024
Cassa Pancho, MBE, founded Ballet Black in 2001, Britain’s most diverse ballet company celebrating dancers of black and Asian descent. Today it’s one of the most prolific commissioners of new and critically acclaimed ballets here in the UK. The journey in between however, has been huge. Racist barriers in the industry were high and it was only six years ago that the world leading designer, Freed of London, in collaboration with Ballet Black, developed the UK’s first range of point shoes for dancers with darker skin tones. The exclusively pink or pale ballet shoe had long reigned as the symbol of a white-centric ballet world. It was trying to write her dissertation for a degree in The Art and Teaching of Classical Ballet, that Cassa realised she couldn’t interview black women in British ballet, because there weren’t any. As a young graduate, Cassa started Ballet Black, it was a brave under taking. Starting a new company is normally built around a star dancer and no-one was likely to take her seriously. But, Ballet Black offered a space where black and Asian dancers could come without feeling othered or marginalised and even a basic dance class was hugely popular. This is the work of a pioneer leading positive change. Black ballerinas being told they could only be cast in male roles or to break their feet because they didn’t fit a preferred, white, body type, are racist traumas to be left in the dust of this trailblazing work. Ballet Black is making a fundamental change in the diversity of classical ballet and to audiences in Britain. We talk about the freedom to be an artist, the stories that are told and who by, creative collaborations, the Ballet Black junior school and Ballet Black on Film.
Photo Credits:
Image of Cassa Pancho, solo, credited to Holly McGlynn
Images of the Ballet Black Company on stage and with Cassa in a Studio, are both credited to Photography by ASH
Series Audio Editor - Joey Quan.
Series Music - Courtesy of Barry J. Gibb
Closed Captions are added to all interviews in this series. Read only, text versions of every interview, news, reviews and your host are here: www.canartsaveus.com
Discover Ballet Black: www.balletblack.co.uk
Ballet Black on Film: www.bbonfilm.balletblack.co.uk
Performances and Dates: wwww.balletblack.co.uk/performances/
Reference also made to Justice 4 Windrush: www.justice4windrush.org
Tuesday Feb 27, 2024
Attitude in a Straight Jacket? LGBT+ History Month
Tuesday Feb 27, 2024
Tuesday Feb 27, 2024
Described as “an obscenely talented man.” Matthew Todd is a multi, award-winning writer, playwright, broadcaster and sometime performer. He was also the editor of the UK’s best-selling gay magazine, Attitude, for 8 years. During this time, Matthew interviewed countless celebrities, idols and icons, including Madonna, Elton John and Lady Gaga. For his very last issue in 2016, he made history. HRH Prince William was photographed for the front cover of Attitude, making his first appearance in the gay press and issuing the first Royal statement against homo, bi, and transphobic bullying. This was statement publishing. The Art of the Attitude front cover was glossy, distinct and stylish, it featured photographs of both gay and straight celebrities; everyone was welcome. But what lay behind those front covers was an even bigger and personal story, one that has informed what some would say, is life-saving work today. Matthew’s insights into gay culture and his own lived experience, was telling him a very different story; not everyone did in fact, feel welcome. He was witnessing a disproportionate number of gay people suffering from anxiety, depression, addiction, suicidal thoughts and behaviour. Despite big life statements, perfect bodies, out and proud gay attitudes, there was a dysfunction which Matthew identified as the ‘straight jacket of shame.’ In his book, Straight Jacket, How to be Gay and Happy, he examines the socio-political history that lies behind gay culture and how secrecy, being othered, criminalised, bullied and relentlessly judged, became defining characteristics of the straight jacket. No amount of striving for perfectionism can replace shame and Matthew’s book, Straight Jacket, is described as a ‘revolutionary call.’ It's reviewed by Sir Elton John as “an essential read for every gay person on the planet." This interview also marks LGBT+ History Month. References include:
Conservative, Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher's, homophobic legislation, Section 28 in 1988 and harmful attitudes of the tabloid press.
Progress from limited rights in 1967 to the Marriage Same Sex Couples Act in 2013
Making history with HRH Prince William's first appearance on the front cover of a gay magazine, Attitude, in 2016. The first royal statement against homo, bi and transphobic bullying was also issued.
The tragic murder of a transgender girl, Brianna Ghey, in 2023, motivated in part by hostility towards her trans identity and impact of the dark web.
Attitudes in the 70s and 80s, captured in the current, multi award-winning film, All of Us Strangers. Digital streaming is now available in 2024.
In LGBT+ month and every month, Matthew Todd's landmark book remains as relevant and as important today. This is a book for anyone interested in good mental health, healthy relationships, a kinder society, human rights and not hatred and discrimination.
You can also see Matthew's successful play, Blowing Whistles, 25 April - 25 May at The Turbine Theatre, London. Blowing Whistles is set on the night before Pride in the Park, a gay couple Nigel and Jamie, grapple with the complexities of modern gay relationships. @TurbineTheatre Book soon!
Series Audio Editor - Joey Quan.
Series Music - Courtesy of Barry J. Gibb
Closed Captions are added to all interviews in this series. Read only, text versions of every interview, news, reviews and your host are here: www.canartsaveus.com
Discover Matthew Todd: www.matthewtodd.net/
LGBT+ History Month: www.lgbtplushistorymonth.co.uk/
Monday Nov 20, 2023
Musa Motha, Dancer of Hope, Makes TV History
Monday Nov 20, 2023
Monday Nov 20, 2023
Musa Motha is an outstanding, world class dancer and a master of making the impossible, possible. Despite a leg amputation at the age of 11 due to cancer, Musa's dance techniques and innovations exceed all ideas of what we typically think able-bodied means. Musa Motha has won the hearts and minds of thousands around the world, he is celebrated as a national hero in his home country of South Africa and now based in London, England, he is equally loved. Musa made television history with his breakthrough, UK, performance on the hit TV series, Britain’s Got Talent. The first ever, group golden buzzer was struck after the hysterical insistence of the audience. A shower of love and gold saturated the stage in return for a dance performance that was one of awe and disbelief. His ballet posture could hold up a skyscraper, but the essence of his core strength is courage, firm self-belief and faith. We talk about transformation in his personal life and in South Africa itself. Musa was nearly one when Nelson Mandela was sworn in as president. We talk about losing a leg and becoming a dancer, his near death experiences, positive thinking, visualisation, his firm belief in manifestation and unwavering faith in God.
Photo Credits: @ViktorErikEman
Series Audio Editor - Joey Quan.
Series Music - Courtesy of Barry J. Gibb
Closed Captions are added to all interviews in this series. Read only, text versions of every interview, news, reviews and your host are here: https://www.canartsaveus.com
Discover Musa Motha: www.harboursidemgmt.com/artists/musa-motha-artist-page/
Monday Nov 20, 2023
Sculpting Resilience, Conflict and Connection
Monday Nov 20, 2023
Monday Nov 20, 2023
Do enough of us think about our resiliency, our capacity to manage or co-exist with stressful events, now and in the future? Do we even think about cultivating our resilience for life’s catastrophes? Sculptor, Kate Viner has foregrounded resilience in her recent exhibition, Resilience in Clay, representing seven people, seeking refuge in the UK, displaced by conflict, discrimination and persecution. Across much of her work including Children Caught in Crossfire and Female Crucifixion, sculptor, Kate Viner, responds to courage, conflict and the brave optimism held by those worst affected. The expressions she captures in her portrait sculptures tell you everything without words. There are those who have lost everything, even their ability to make eye contact, displaced from their lives and families. Kate however, makes that eye contact, she draws our eyes to those who are most vulnerable and whilst they may not be able to look, she ensures they are seen through her sculptural art. We talk about art and spirituality and art as a calling. We talk about resilience for life as an artist, working with difficult themes and responding to people with trauma in their lives. We also talk about the resilience of refugees, their brave optimism and statements of compassion for how we live in the world. Kate never asks personal questions but creates trust with cups of tea, laughter and friendship.
Images Courtesy of Kate Viner Studio
Series Audio Editor - Joey Quan.
Series Music - Courtesy of Barry J. Gibb
Closed Captions are added to all interviews in this series. Read only, text versions of every interview are here with news, reviews and your host: www.canartsaveus.com
Discover Kate Viner: www.kateviner.com
Discover The Sanctuary, supporting refugees and asylum seekers locally. www.sanctuaryinchichester.org
Monday Nov 20, 2023
A Legendary Dancer, Ancestor and Legacy of Apartheid South Africa.
Monday Nov 20, 2023
Monday Nov 20, 2023
It's not often we meet a living legend, or someone who achieves their life's vision when there have been unimaginable forces against them. Gregory Maqoma, in the world of dance and on the international stage, is one of the most important artists of his generation. He not only survived the oppression and institutionalized racism in apartheid South Africa, but he broke cultural and gender expectations even within his own family, to pursue a life in the Arts. He has become a cultural landmark in his own right, and his legacy is currently being celebrated in his 50th year. Gregory has taken back African history and the black body from colonial ownership. He honors the classical dance of his African ancestors and contemporary collaborations, amongst numerous highly prestigious awards in South Africa and America, France also awarded him the ‘Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.’ He's a leader in dance and social justice, elevating the possibilities and contradictions in life. He's a visionary who could see beyond the burning tires, the burning houses, and burning flesh in apartheid South Africa. And despite the human injustice he saw growing up, Gregory was and is the Joy Dancer. As part of his legacy celebrations this year, two books have been published. ‘The Joy Dancer,’ introduces children to Gregory as a young boy living in Soweto, a segregated township, discovering the magic of dance, his memoir, ‘My Life, My Dance, My Soul,’ sees that young boy become a giant of courage, conviction and compassion. We talk about life taking risks, courage, the brutal regime of apartheid, the courage of women that made his dance life possible and being brave enough to be curious.
Series Audio Editor - Joey Quan.
Series Music - Courtesy of Barry J. Gibb
Closed Captions are added to all interviews in this series. Read only, text versions of every interview are here with news, reviews and your host: www.canartsaveus.com
Discover Gregory Maqoma: www.gregmaqoma.com/
Discover Vuyani Dance Theatre: www.vuyani.co.za/