Jennifer Brough Tells Us About the Resting Up Collective, Who Bring Together Art Therapy, Mindfulness And Disability Representation

Jennifer began the Resting Up Collective to bring people together and create freely, however they feel they can. The Collective brings together art therapy, mindfulness and disability representation into fulfilling projects. It’s a safe space, free from pressure, providing the chance to make art and build community. Hosting workshops online, and in person at The Contemporary, the Resting Up Collective is open to anyone who feels they could benefit from a slower way of creating, and living.

Could you explain how the project began, and what you’ve been doing lately?
It began as a pandemic project when I was feeling worried about what was going to happen. As someone chronically sick, with chronically sick friends, I was feeling very isolated. I contacted people I met online within the art and disability community and asked if they wanted to be part of this small collective, that was very low pressure, where we could create things together and just work slowly. Predominantly at the moment we do workshops about slowness and incorporating rest and creativity into lives that might be chronically ill, disabled and otherwise busy, like many of us are.

What type of creative ventures have you done so far?
We do lots of different workshops, with art galleries like The Contemporary, or online to make them more accessible. We also have an ongoing project which is like a slow mail chain called Postcards From Flaresville, which invites people to write a postcard to the next person in the chain about where they currently are, how they're feeling, and offers that slow connectivity that I think so many of us are missing in the digital age - especially with disabled people who can’t always go out and commune with friends or people in their community. 

Amongst our groups we have visual artists, we’ve got a few of their pieces on our Substack, like poems from people in the collective. It's all flow, there's no real deadlines we work to. It's a very generative, restorative project for a lot of us.

We've had a lot of nice feedback from people. Our emphasis is very much on the process of creating is as important as the eventual thing that you make. You can create as and when your body allows, rather than what society expects you to do. 

Would you say it's born from a place of wanting to be creative, but creative spaces aren't always set up for people with disabilities?
The world has been set up in a way for a long time that values productivity over wellness, often disabled people aren't catered for in many spaces, be that going to visit a gallery, or even access a town, without having to do a lot of forward planning. It's not just for disabled people, it's for people that might be shut out of creative practices because they are working class, or because they're people of colour. A lot of these spaces are not geared for accessibility in so many ways.

People are shut out of regular working hours as well. We operate under Crip Time. There's a quote from Alison Kafer that we have on our blog, “rather than bend disabled bodies and minds to meet the clock, Crip Time bends the clock to meet disabled bodies and minds". Resting Up Collective is an alternative space of imagining what things could be like, and that's what a lot of the exercises we do in our workshop are. Considering your ideal space for rest and how we can bring that into being, what we would need. 

How do you feel about Nottingham as a place to set this up?
What I like about Nottingham is it’s a very communal city and I feel like if you want to do something, there is space to do that. It's very navigable, so many of the friends I've made are from these little indie projects that are happening. If it's going to happen anywhere, it's going to happen here because it's so open to newness and different voices.

Is there anything you feel you’ve learned during this process?
One thing, definitely, is that the worst people can say is no. Having that confidence in what you're doing, it really resonates further than you think. We're only a small group, we've only just hit 700 followers on Instagram, but for us it's not about the numbers but these moments and creating spaces that allow people to rest and be gently creative. 

Secondly, many of us in the collective are still navigating our own relationship with rest, that push and pull between doing and being, and being gentle with yourself. You will rest, then be able to do lots of things, have a flare for a few days and not be able to do anything. It's a very liminal space to be in when you're ill and wanting to do things. Giving yourself the generosity that you would give to others, and trying to implement that into your own creative restful practice. 

Safe spaces are so important for so many communities, is there any advice you would give on creating one?
I think so much of creating spaces that are comfortable for other people is guided by your own education, and also your own needs. Us predominantly coming from a place of disability and chronic illness, in our workshops we incorporate loads of optional breaks, we say you can use this space for whatever you want. If you want to have your camera off, if you’re lying down, if you wanna get up and move around. 

I think being flexible and accommodating to whoever is in the space that you're sharing is the best way. Be open to feedback and ask for responses, don't be afraid to ask people for what they need before you're setting up a space. So many places won’t have seating or an option for sick people. It's important to have awareness beyond your immediate experience. It's really important that everyone feels the space is for them.

If anyone in Nottingham is thinking of ways to create alongside their demanding day to day schedule, whether that's with illness or jobs, family life or caring responsibilities, just drop Resting Up Collective a DM

@restingupcollective_