Runsewe advocates use of culture as therapy against COVID-19

Fri, Jun 5, 2020
By publisher
2 MIN READ

Lifestyle

OLUSEGUN Runsewe, Director-General, National Council for Arts and Culture (NCAC), has advocated the use of culture as a therapy against COVID-19 pandemic.

Runsewe, in a statement on Friday, emphasised the potency of culture to address all human challenges.

He said that culture was the totality of the ways of life of people and, therefore, could be employed to solve all human problems.

The NCAC director-general said, in combating the ravaging COVID-19 pandemic, the combination of medical solutions and cultural therapy was greatly required.

According to him, theatre, music, dance drama and songs, which are elements of culture, could provide the necessary balm to speed up the healing of COVID-19 patients.

“The same way medical doctors use theatre as a place to heal the sick, and artists use the theatre to educate and entertain, culture is a theatre of the mind and soul.

“When a body, mind or spirit suffers challenges, culture could be a tool for resolving such challenges,” he said.

Runsewe said that in addition to all the Council was doing to assist in the fight against COVID-19, it would soon stage a programme titled: “Cultural Therapy in the Midst of COVID-19”.

He explained that in compliance with social distancing regulation, it would be a “drive in theatre” where the audience would sit inside their vehicles and watch eight man cast perform live on stage.

The director-general said apart from the programme serving to entertain the audience, it would also target the four areas of the treatment of therapy including behavioural, cognitive, humanistic and holistic.

According to him, the world now needs a cultural re-armament to reboot the global pulse brought about by COVID-19.

“COVID-19 should not be seen as a problem requiring a solution, but a challenge calling on the world to think creatively on how to respond to emerging issues in the world.

“We must all begin to think outside the box to deploy our knowledge and special skills to fight the challenges of our time,” he said.

Runsewe recalled that when King Saul in the Bible suffered serious medical condition, he solicited the services of David whose musical instrument, the harp, brought him to normalcy each time he was tormented by evil spirit.

He said that in like manner, the Lagos State Government recently staged a musical concert at the isolation centres for people with COVID-19.

NAN

– June 5, 2020 @ 17:10 GMT |

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