Defining the Role of “Relational Producer” in Arts-and-Health Collaborations in Hospitals: A Reflection on Catalysts and Partnerships

Abstract

As the profile of the arts-and-health sector grows and interdisciplinary projects with public outcomes become more common, it is important to explore roles and ways of working at the interface between different disciplines. The complex role of producer, likely to become increasingly relevant in this landscape, is here analysed. While incorporating aspects of existing roles (e.g. hospital arts manager, cultural venue participatory producer, independent creative producer, public engagement manager), the producer has a very specific raison d’être and could be defined as ‘relational producer’. This role is not well understood and yet central to this field of practice.

Collaborations in Art and Medicine: Institutional Critique, Patient Participation, and Emerging Entanglements

“…Sofie Layton led on the Heart of the Matter (2016-2018) a long running public engagement project exploring the medicine and metaphors of congenital heart disease; Heart of the Matter developed out of Under the Microscope (2014-2016), Layton's Wellcome Trust funded artist's residency at Great Ormond Street Hospital [20]. Working with bioengineer Giovanni Biglino and supported by a team that includes a health psychologist and arts producer with specialist knowledge of the field [21], Layton has facilitated workshops with clinicians, heart patients and their families (Fig. 5), creating a body of work that bring together clinical and patient perspectives about the heart.…”

What Arts-and-Health Practices Teach Us About Participation, Re-presentation, and Risk

“…Three of the authors and colleagues have also discussed elsewhere the roles of a relational producer, including facilitating institutional relationships in this context, but this role may depend on the scale and budget of the project. 7 In other cases, the scientific or medical partner(s) in the collaboration may champion the work at an institutional level.…”

“…The authors view participatory artsbased research and arts practices in a medical context as a profoundly collaborative process, with participants at the core held together by a multidisciplinary team. 7 Risk in Arts-and-Health Projects The experiences of the authors in arts-based collaborations, particularly with regard to re-presentation of narratives of cardiovascular health and disease, 8,9,10,11,12 has led them to think carefully about the possible dimensions of risk and their associated ethical issues in collaborative, interdisciplinary, creative, and participant-centered work. These reflections take into account settings of engagement and art making (eg, hospital or arts studio workshop, one-on-one patient interactions), participants (eg, adult or pediatric patients with acquired or congenital heart disease, women with Takotsubo cardiomyopathy or "broken heart syndrome," heart transplant patients), and different venues for public sharing (eg, installation in hospital settings, contribution to an externally curated group exhibition).…”