A Review of the Creative Dialogues Project: Using Creative Arts Online during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

In this article, the authors review the Creative Dialogues project, which began in January 2020 as a response to the health crisis that was then emerging in China. The authors asked a group of creative arts therapists from China, Guam, and the USA to join them to develop arts-based collaborative improvisations using dance, art, creative writing/poetry, and fairytale-making about their experiences related to COVID-19 in an online setting. The project expanded to be international in scope as the virus spread and continued until November 2022. The authors reviewed the metaphors and verbal reflections created in these meetings. In this review, the authors identified five broad themes that included personal connection, confrontation of the unknown, conflict, resilience and hope, and spirituality. Examples of the themes are presented.

Keywords

• creative arts
• creative arts therapy
• subjective experiences of the pandemic
• improvisation