Welcome to Forma Mentis! We hope that you will enjoy these exercises and videos as much as we did working on this project. Forma Mentis is a project developed by the Gabriel Caruana Foundation. This project was meant to be a series of workshops at the Richmond Foundation exploring the relevance of arts-based modalities to empower individuals who experience marginalisation and social exclusion, as a result of mental health status. However the Covid 19 Pandemic forced us, like many, to change our plans. Having an incredible team of creative, patient and supportive people meant that the project changed format and opened up to a wider audience. We thus developed a series of pre-recorded video workshops and a zine that contain a series of exercises.
The Forma Mentis videos are led by Gabriel Buttigieg, Denise Scicluna and Pietru Farrugia, contemporary artists with a background in psychology and psychotherapy. The videos contain 9 different exercises that explore and enhance our emotional resilience and personal/communal wellbeing.
The videos are accompanied by a zine, that will be available both online and also in printed format. The printed zine is being disseminated to the Richmond Foundation and the Malta School of Art. We have a limited number of the zines that can be requested for free from our website (you just need to pay postage and a donation is always appreciated). The videos and zine can be found in this page (scroll down for more!). To spread the word we will be sharing all the videos and zine on our Facebook and Instagram pages, starting with the first introductory video on Sunday 28th March at 11:00. This will be followed by the first video at 17:00. Following which we will be sharing one video exercise every Saturday until the 22nd of May on our Social Media pages. If you feel comfortable in sharing your work we’d like you to tag the Gabriel Caruana Foundation on Facebook and Instagram and using #FormaMentisArt. We will be sharing the artwork on the 29th of May.
We hope that all of you can benefit from these exercises in these challenging times. These videos and zine do not replace actual therapy. If you would like to seek psychological help for your mental health wellbeing, please seek a professional or call the Richmond Foundation Helpline on 1770.
This project has been funded through the Small Initiative Support Scheme managed by the Malta Council for the Voluntary Sector on behalf of Parliamentary Secretary for Youth, Sports and Voluntary Organisations within the Ministry for Education and Employment. This project reflects the views only of the author, and the MCVS cannot be held responsible for the content or any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
Forma Mentis Zine
To get a copy of the Forma Mentis zine which contains an Introductory Essay by Umberto Buttigieg and the exercises by Gabriel Buttigieg, Denise Scicluna and Pietru Farrugia click on the downlod link on the image. The downloadable zine is free but kindly consider supporting our work by making a donation via the donate button below. You can also request a printed copy of the zine by sending in your request by following this link. The printed zine is also free of charge but postage and packing fees apply.
Gabriel Buttigieg – Exercise 1
Denise Scicluna – Exercise 1
Pietru Farrugia – Exercise 1
Gabriel Buttigieg – Exercise 2
Denise Scicluna – Exercise 2
Pietru Farrugia – Exercise 2
Gabriel Buttigieg – Exercise 3
Denise Scicluna – Exercise 3
Pietru Farrugia – Exercise 3
