Our Visions of Health is a participatory arts-based project exploring the ways that everyday people connect their surroundings to their health and wellbeing. The project is ongoing and continuously developing, with room for collaboration.
Conceived and led by Christine Bedenis, Our Visions of Health takes a broad and holistic understanding of health, beyond diseases and medicalization and includes what are commonly referred to as social determinants of health. Each person’s ability to care for their bodies is impacted by any number of factors beyond their control, and through creative processes this project works to connect the macro systems with the micro personal experiences.
The project initially began in Zomba, Malawi as a photovoice project, asking community members to show, by taking a picture, something that they saw as impacting their health. As part of their Master’s thesis at Malmö University, Christine created a participatory documentary about the impacts of and response to gang violence among youth in San Salvador, El Salvador.
This project is ever evolving and open to further and future collaborations. If you have an idea, please reach out using the form below.
“Saving our planet, lifting people out of poverty, advancing economic growth...these are one and the same fight. We must connect the dots between climate change, water scarcity, global health, food security and women’s empowerment. Solutions to one problem must be solutions for all.”
Behind Our Visions of Health
Christine Bedenis
Christine is a cross-cultural storyteller, with a focus on stories of social justice. They have lived in Malawi, Ghana, Thailand and the United States, and immersed themself into the culture of each place. Christine is driven by a strong belief in our shared humanity, no matter background or life experiences, and building relationships based on that connection. You can learn more about Christine, where they’ve lived and traveled, and see more of their photography at christinebedenis.co.
Get in Touch
Like the project? Interested in learning more? Would you like to bring Our Visions of Health to your community? Reach out! We’d love to hear from you.