"Health is created where people live, love, work and play."[1]
[1] Ottawa Charter of Health Promotion WHO, 1986
Portal for Gunungan: Asia Pacific Network for Culture and Wellbeing is a network of organizations, communities and individuals that values the rich resources already existing in the Asia Pacific region, providing opportunities and partnerships in practice and research in the field of culture and well-being, celebrating the region’s diversity
Inaugural Meeting
On the 1st March 2004 a group of interested individuals and organizations came together in Singapore to discuss opportunities for the support and promotion of arts and culture in health. The meeting was first proposed during Synergy: Arts, Health and Design World Symposium, held in Sydney in February 2003.
The group agreed to found a network, named Gunungan: Culture and Wellbeing in the Asia Pacific Region. As founders, our vision is to create a network of organizations, communities and individuals that values the rich resources already existing in the Asia Pacific region, providing opportunities and partnerships in practice and research in the field of culture and well-being, celebrating the region’s diversity
Gunungan: Asia Pacific Network for Culture and Wellbeing is a network of organizations, communities and individuals that values the rich resources already existing in the Asia Pacific region, providing opportunities and partnerships in practice and research in the field of culture and well-being, celebrating the region’s diversity.
We seek the understanding and inclusion of culture as inseparable part of health. The significance of culture to individual and community wellbeing is extensive: it defines the way we relate to each other, how we care for young and old, how we include / or exclude people on the basis of gender, age, race, social / economical status, or beliefs. Culture determines our attitudes and habits that influence the promotion of health and prevention of diseases. Culture also defines our relationship to our physical environment (natural and built) our sense of place and the development of our cultural landscapes
We at GUNUNGAN recognise that wellbeing in the 21st century is about connectedness. Social relations, physical environment, cultural landscapes are important aspects of wellbeing. In 1997, the World Health Organisation, through the Jakarta Declaration on Health Promotion affirms that “the prerequisites for health are peace, shelter, education, social security, social relations, food, income, the empowerment of women, a stable eco-system, sustainable resource use, social justice, respect for human rights, and equity. Above all, poverty is the greatest threat to health”.
There is a marked lack of promotion of the work being presently done in the Asia Pacific region. There are also opportunities for collaborative work both in research and practice. The establishment of a network could be vital in further developing the work in the Asia Pacific, facilitating the exchange, within the region, and advocating for the inclusion of culture and the arts in creative developments aiming at promoting health and wellbeing.
Some of the initial aspects that GUNUNGAN will focus on are:
| Art and Culture in Healthcare: | Culturally appropriate health care Arts and Cultural programs in healthcare facilities. |
| Community Building, sustainable development: | Culture as means of bridging inequalities, supporting social exclusion Community development, cultural industries working for poverty alleviation and environmental sustainability |
| Environment: | Built environment, supportive design Sustainable development and culture, environmental health |
| Expressive/ Creative Therapy: | Use of the arts to treat patients, clinical aims |
| Health Promotion: | Creative community participation, culturally appropriate and locally inspired health promotion strategies/actions. Health education, prevention of health problems and support for healthy life styles. |
The first action, agreed at the inaugural meeting is mapping out practitioners and organizations involved in the field of Culture and Wellbeing in the Asia Pacific region. The project will inform the state of the field, and provide opportunities for networking and sharing.