Care Aesthetics: For artful care and careful art

179 Pages·2022·9.065 MB·English

by  James Thompson

Care Aesthetics
What if the work of a nurse, physio, or homecare worker was designated an art,
so that the qualities of the experiences they create became understood as aes-
thetic qualities? What if the interactions and physical connections created by art-
ists, directors, dancers, or workshop facilitators was understood as a work of care?
Care Aesthetics is the first full-length book to explore these questions and examine
the work of carer artists and artist carers to make the case for the importance of
valuing and supporting aesthetically caring relations across multiple aspects of
our lives.
Theoretically and practically, the book outlines the implications of care aes-
thetics for the socially engaged arts field and health and social care, and for acts
of aesthetic care in the everyday. Part 1 of the book outlines the approaches to
aesthetics and to care theory that are necessary to make and defend the concept
of care aesthetics. Part 2 then tests this through practice, examining socially
engaged arts and health and social care through its lens. It makes the case for
careful art exploring the implications of care aesthetics for participatory or
applied arts. Then it argues for artful care and how an aesthetic orientation to
care practices might challenge some of the inadequacies of contemporary care.
This is a vital, paradigm-shifting book for anyone engaged with socially engaged
arts or social and health care practices on an academic or professional level.
James Thompson is Professor of Applied Theatre at the University of Manchester,
where he has held senior roles, most recently as Vice President for Social Respon-
sibility. He was the co-founder of the Theatre in Prisons and Probation Centre, the
arts organisation, In Place of War, and has run arts projects in conflict zones inter-
nationally. He has written widely on applied theatre and the socially engaged arts.

Care Aesthetics
For artful care and careful art
James Thompson
Cover image: Pekic/Getty Image
First published 2023
by Routledge
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and by Routledge
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Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2023 James Thompson
The right of James Thompson to be identified as author of this work has
been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright,
Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in
any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing
from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or
registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation
without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A catalog record has been requested for this book
ISBN: 9781032196176 (hbk)
ISBN: 9781032196169 (pbk)
ISBN: 9781003260066 (ebk)
DOI: 10.4324/9781003260066
Typeset in Bembo
by KnowledgeWorks Global Ltd.
To Mum, Frances, with love

Contents
Acknowledgements viii
Introduction 1
Part I
Care Aesthetics
1 What is the aesthetics of care aesthetics? 15
2 What is the care of care aesthetics? 44
Part II
Care Aesthetics in Practice
3 Careful art 75
4 Artful care 107
5 Everyday care aesthetics 138
Bibliography 157
Index 164
Acknowledgements
All writing is indebted to a dialogue with others and this book is no exception.
For Care Aesthetics, I want to thank family, friends, and colleagues for inspiring
and directly contributing to the process of the book’s development. This includes
my friends and partners in the Democratic Republic of the Congo who per-
haps unbeknownst to them shifted my thinking and prepared the early ground
for this work. In particular, the much-missed Eraste Rwatangabo and Antoine
Muvunyi who still lives and works in Uvira, South Kivu. Many people read early
drafts and provided invaluable criticism. Maggie Gale, a colleague close to home
at the University of Manchester, was generous with her time and ever helpful
in her detailed feedback on the work. Cindy Cohen, at Brandeis University,
Massachusetts, a little further away, has been hugely supportive – her insightful
comments on one of the early chapters was vital for its development. Maggie
and Cindy are exemplary colleagues, and I cannot thank them enough for their
friendship and good-humoured conversations over many years. Similarly, I want
to thank Paul Heritage, from Queen Mary, University of London and People’s
Palace Projects who provided invaluable guidance on an early draft. It goes with-
out saying that the many colleagues at Taylor and Francis have made the process
of getting this work from idea to print so much easier. I want to thank Ben
Piggot for his commitment to the project and Steph Hines for her professional
support throughout the process.
Much of this book was completed during the pandemic while I was on sab-
batical from my university. I want to thank the many colleagues at Manchester
who made this possible, in particular all colleagues from the Drama Department
and notably the current head of department, Jenny Hughes. She demonstrated
amazing leadership at this difficult time and made the struggles that many faced
during the multiple lockdowns that much easier to manage. While away on
sabbatical, I had the privilege of working in Portugal and I would like to thank
Acknowledgements ix
the many colleagues there for their kindness and hospitality. Isabel Bezelga at
the University of Évora, Hugo Cruz co-founder of the Associação MEXE from
Porto, António Vicente from Teatro Imediato, O Grupo de Teatro Terapêutico
do Hospital Júlio de Matos and Teatro de Identidades in Lisbon, and Isabel
Menezes from the University of Porto. While working in Portugal, I had the
fortune to stay with Bev and Etienne Wenger-Traynor and want to thank them
for their welcome and their willingness to open their house to me. Writing from
their home was a constant joy and provided a great space to focus on the process
of reworking the book.
I want to thank people I engaged with during the writing who inspired it in
different ways. Amanda Stuart Fisher, from the Royal Central School of Speech
and Drama, has been a co-conspirator on all things related to performance and
care. She was the co-editor of our book Performing Care which was a rehearsal
for several the ideas in this book, and I want to acknowledge that some of the
words here have been borrowed from that edition. Maurice Hamington, from
Portland State University, has been a great support and his work on embodied care
frames much of my approach to care ethics as explained in Chapter 2. I want to
thank Roger Robinson and Peepal Tree Press for their permission to quote his
poem ‘Grace’ from his collection A Portable Paradise (2019), which is central to
the introduction to the book. Clive Parkinson who is a great artist and thinker
in the field of arts and health and always offers wise words for anyone seeking to
bring together work in health, care, and the arts. Peter Jenkinson and Shelagh
Wright are great friends and two of the best arts and social provocateurs who
have provided me with endless links and contacts that have been vital for many
of the debates in these pages. In a different way, Dawn Cheshire and her son
Connor have been friends throughout the pandemic and I want to acknowledge
how much her bright and curious lad taught me about care (and cake!). Then
Jenny Harris and Ric Demby – great friends and enduring source of support.
They provided vital and generous discussion about the arts, care, and the politi-
cal woes facing our country, particularly during the endless weeks of lockdown.
Care Aesthetics is the subject of a research project funded by the UK Arts and
Humanities Research Council, and I want to thank them for the support for the
project. The research team behind this project have been important inspiration
behind the ideas in this book and I am excited about the work we are devel-
oping together. Thanks to John Keady, Professor of Mental Health Nursing at
University of Manchester; Jackie Kindell, Visiting Lecturer at Manchester and
Head of Allied Health Professionals and Social Workers at Pennine Care NHS
Foundation Trust; and Kerry Harman, Senior Lecturer in the Department of
Psychosocial Studies at Birkbeck, University of London.
Finally, I want to thank my family – Mum Francis, sister Bridget and partner
Kevin in Goring, nieces Molly in Barcelona, Evie in Manchester and Danya in
Newcastle, parents-in-law Stan and Judy in Ilkley, and then sister-in-law and
brother-in-law Sharon and Paul in Leeds. Love and thanks always to daugh-
ters Hannah and Leah, in London and Manchester, respectively, and my wife,