The Importance of Holistic, Positive Spaces – reflections from Japan

After 26 years in arts and homelessness, I am learning new things every day from the incredible community we work with at Arts & Homelessness International. I was lucky to have been invited by the Osaka Metropolitan University (Equality and Justice Art Programme – EJ ART) to take part in a symposium and co-run a workshop in a shelter with Cocoroom in Osaka, Japan. It has made me reflect more on the importance of positive, holistic transformational spaces in homelessness.

Kanayo (pictured above), Founder of Cocoroom and I have worked together for 20 years in Japan, UK and Brazil. Cocoroom is many things – an arts and homelessness project; a space of sanctuary where the community can be in a positive, creative environment and enjoy a free cup of tea with friends; a year-round programme called the University of the Arts; a holistic space which combines health and well-
being and a social enterprise guest house which supports the non-profit side of the operation and enables the local community and travellers to meet.

The photos are of a health event they ran this week where a nurse and dentist came to give free check ups and there were stalls for creativity and free food – it made me think of the Street Fest in London which Museum of Homelessness co-runs.

MOH, Cocoroom, No Tan Distintes in Argentina and others are kindred spirits and doing something so important in the world. They are spaces of sanctuary which are holistic – creativity, health, food, community, activism etc – all rolled into one. This is about the whole person being nourished and nurtured and, crucially, celebrated – these are not places or one-way ‘giving’, they are co-created communities.

There is something so powerful about this and my colleague Natasha told me this week about the theory of Margaret Wheatley’s Islands or Sanity – creating pockets of life-affirming possibility, refuge, and healthy community amidst widespread chaos and destruction, focusing on fostering creativity, kindness, and connection within a trusted group rather than trying to fix the whole system at once. This really resonated this week at Cocoroom.

I think we’re all only part-way along a journey of discovery about why creativity is important. Sometimes I feel the answers are within reach and then something else compelling presents itself. Every day there seems to be more to learn. And of course, with arts and creativity, sometimes their value doesn’t need to be explained – it just ‘is’.

And all the while, orgs like Cocoroom, MOH and NTD are pushing the boundaries and making the world a better place.

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