Rachel Kelly's London Cultural Diary
Art really is therapy, attests the new memoir by Rachel Kelly: the Times' former journalist and mental health campaigner lets us peek into her cultural diary.
Art really is therapy, attests the new memoir by Rachel Kelly: the Times' former journalist and mental health campaigner lets us peek into her cultural diary.
We’re constantly told to view art as therapy, but what does this actually mean?
The modish tenet is more than just media-speak or psychobabble, as journalist and mental health campaigner Rachel Kelly attests in her beautiful, devastating new memoir.
Black Rainbow: How Words Healed Me charts Kelly’s journey through cataclysmic depression and out again, whilst anthologising the poems that got her to the other side. It was poetry, she describes, that gave her shelter, comfort and that stopped the sky from falling in.
With Black Rainbow hot off the press, (we urge you to read it; it’s exquisite) the writer and mother fills us in on her cultural highlights this summer.
Exhibition: Magnificence in Renaissance Venice: Veronese National Gallery, until 15 June 14
It has to be the Veronese exhibition at the National. For the connoisseur and the casual enthusiast alike, this is an indulgent treat. The pieces have been flown in from galleries all over the world, and seeing them all together in this fashion is probably a once-in-a-lifetime-opportunity.
Festival: The Anxiety Arts Festival London, June
This festival will be sponsoring a variety of events, taking place all over London for the duration of June. Their programme promises to be a fun, intelligent and accessible way of raising mental health awareness.
Theatre: The Francis Bacon Opera at the National Portrait Gallery Late Shift, 9 May 2014, 18:30.
I first heard about this idiosyncratic short opera from friends who love the Edinburgh Fringe. It’s a transcript of Melvyn Bragg’s famous interview with the boozy artist set to music by Stephen Crowe. I’m excited to see it in a gallery environment!
Gig: Kate Bush Hammersmith Apollo, 26 August – 1 October.
Need I say more?
Literary Event: The Healing Power of Poetry with Rachel Kelly at the Idler Academy, June 5.
I know it’s rather cheeky to push one of my own events, but I really think this will be a winner! In discussion with Victoria Hull from the Idler, I will be giving tips on how you can use poetry to help you through everyday trials, as well as a salve for deeper troubles. I recommend this to anyone with a love of poetry or an interest in mental health issues.
Black Rainbow: How Words Healed Me was published by Hodder 24 April 2014
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