MEET NATALIA
In February 2022, our professional artist Filipe Sousa delivered a five-day music residency at Aquarius Ward in South West London, an inpatient service for young people aged 12-18 experiencing a mental health crisis.
The residency was part of creative:tandem, our multi-artform project empowering young people admitted to mental health units due to serious conditions, including psychotic or depressive episodes, anxiety and eating disorders, self-harm or suicidal thinking.
We spoke to Natalia, a young patient who rediscovered her love for singing and song writing during the project.
“If I wasn’t in this project, I probably wouldn’t have rediscovered song writing, but when the workshops are finished I’ll probably continue writing, which is cool.”
natalia
“Throughout this project we’ve created a lot of songs, whether it’s covers or originals, an interpretation of a piece or a soundscape. We’ve been exploring percussion and sometimes using our voice, or strings, so the project was a mix and match of lots of instruments and types and styles of music.
“I got to play lots of instruments. I played ukulele, djembe drums, shakers, maracas, and I tried keyboard. The ukulele was my favourite. It’s more of a high-pitched string and it’s quite high and jolly, which is similar to my singing style so it suits me better than other lower-pitched instruments.
“Being creative feels nice because, especially at school, there’s a very academic focus. Even when you do things like music and art, it’s following a syllabus so you can’t really experiment. You have to learn something. I think it’s very good to be expressive, to give everything a go and just have some fun, which is quite hard when you’re in wards like this. Music in this environment is different to English or maths lessons. You can just be you and experiment and do what’s right for you.”
connecting with others
“I enjoyed working in a group, but in a place like this not everyone wants to engage with the project. Even for me there were moments when I just wanted to go upstairs. Not because the project was bad, but because, especially with music, it can be overwhelming for long periods of time. I also have ADHD so two-and-a-half hours is quite a long time. When other participants wanted to engage it was good because people just had a good time. There were a few of us that came to the project every day and engaged, and that was nice. We just tried to make things work and create a piece together.
“I don’t have any time to be expressive, except for when I sing in the shower at home. It’s good to have an experience like this”
natalia
“There were nice moments when I felt connected to other people. Moments where I was like, we’ve all made something together. It bonds you. It was cool to think, “I made something.” It makes you feel pride, proud of what you’ve achieved, even if you’re not a great musician. Creating something, even a little bit, makes you realise you’ve done something, you’ve contributed.”
rediscovering old passions
“I don’t often have the chance to be creative. At school, I dropped music and art and I’m just focusing on my GCSE subjects. So I don’t have any time to be expressive, except for when I sing in the shower at home. It’s good to have an experience like this, because at school it doesn’t happen.
“I’ve definitely learnt about myself on this project. I’ve learnt that I like playing the ukulele, and I’ve remembered that I like singing! When I was little I used to write songs and it feels really nostalgic. The project reminded me how fun it is to write and sing songs. If I wasn’t on this project, I probably wouldn’t have rediscovered song writing. When the workshops are finished I’ll probably continue writing, which is cool.
“Creativity makes you feel proud of what you’ve achieved.”
natalia
“Having the chance to be creative is important because in daily life you don’t have time to be creative, get your hands dirty, let your hair down. I think it’s really nice to have an opportunity to be yourself and to be free, because life is busy and we’re always saying we’ll do things, but things get pushed back. It’s nice to have time in the day actually to enjoy yourself and not just be aiming for the next thing, doing the next bit of schoolwork or the next homework. Especially in this generation who spend a lot of time using screens. It’s really good to remind young people what it’s like not to be glued to your phone 24/7 and to be creative and be yourself without worrying what other people think.”
You can listen to the piece of music Natalia created with her group below.
Supported by players of the People’s Postcode Lottery