We are delighted to share Boats On An Ocean – a 10 minute audio piece exploring the emotional impact on healthcare professionals during the Covid-19 pandemic, contrasted with the hero narrative.
You can listen to the piece on the Coventry Creates website, where it is being showcased as part of the online digital exhibition.
Please note: Age guidance 12+
This piece contains themes of mortality and illness and is based on real life testimonies from front line NHS workers during the Covid 19 pandemic. As an emotive piece, we suggest you listen to it with headphones in a quiet space.
© BrianAJackson
During lockdown, China Plate were very fortunate to facilitate an innovative arts-based research workshop, which provided a space for a representative group of healthcare workers to reflect on and explore their experiences of the Covid-19 pandemic.
We worked with writer and director Nick Walker, researchers Kerry Wykes, Dr Louise Moody, Dr Sally Pezaro and Dr Liz Sparkes; Sound Designer Charlotte Bickley, actor Bharti Patel and 8 multidisciplinary healthcare workers from Coventry and elsewhere.
Researchers found that even the smallest displays of compassion can make the difference to individual healthcare workers, such as small acts of kindness, caring language and being listened to; therefore, it was important that our workshop embodied these themes.
The piece is intended to act as a point of stimuli for discussion and debrief after the pandemic, informing the development of additional resources to help healthcare workers reflect and recover.
A special thank you to the healthcare worker participants whose stories were fundamental to the creation of this piece.
We are interested in hearing audience responses to the piece – please tweet us using #BoatsOnAnOcean.
Coventry Creates is a joint initiative launched and funded by The University of Warwick and Coventry University, as part of The City of Culture University Partnership, to support creatives in the run up to Coventry UK City of Culture 2021.
For more information, please contact Susan Wareham.