'Journey to self’ is an art show in Hong Kong organised by mental health artist and activist, Sravya Attaluri who has cultivated a global audience through promoting artistic expression as a healing tool for mental health challenges.
Sravya and her organisation Draw for Mental Health have collaborated with WeWork Hong Kong and Phenomenally Pink on a campaign to cultivate the concept of positive mental health culture in Hong Kong, and more importantly to challenge and overthrow the “normalised” high-stress lifestyle HK residents lead. This art exhibition aims to promote accessible solutions to Hong Kongers, tapping into artistic expression as a proactive stress management tool or a coping mechanism.
The exhibition also aims to promote the overall art culture in Hong Kong and to celebrate local Hong Kong female and non-binary artists using different creative mediums such as, illustration, painting, graphic design, film and tattoos to advocate for mental health and self-care. The gallery exhibition which opened on July 8th on WeWork New Street offers a unique combination of digital and in person interactive pieces. Guests can explore various formats of art expression when navigating daily life struggles especially in the new normal, where 61% of Hong Kong adults currently suffer from poor mental well-being [2], with 1 in every 7 people developing a common mental disorder in their lifetime [3].
The gallery exhibition is the latter component to this community-first campaign which also comprises of a virtual workshop that took place earlier in June 2020 as a continuation of Mental Health Awareness Month, and an ongoing exhibit on the main window of the Lan Kwai Fong WeWork branch which features a range of female local artists including @thequietplaceart, @julieoolie_, @nicroquel.illustration, @joystudi0 and @breakfastinclub.