A BOX OF FIRED CLAY BRICKS in MATERIALS AND MEDIA IN ART THERAPY

Edited by Catherine Hyland Moon

Routledge, January 2026

This brilliant new book “provides an overview of material and media theory and practice in the field, with an emphasis on advances since the first edition. This book takes an intersectional, anti‑oppressive, social justice framework to theory and practice. The contributing authors represent multiple countries, write reflexively from their own intersecting identities, consider the use of materials from culturally aware and respectful positions, and reflect critically on the socio‑cultural‑political implications of materials and media in the context of therapy.”

For those who follow Art Refuge’s choice and use of materials on The Community Table, you may be interested in our contribution to this body of work with our chapter (17): A BOX OF FIRED CLAY BRICKS: BUILDING HOME ON THE COMMUNITY TABLE WITH PEOPLE ON THE MOVE, Miriam Usiskin and Bobby Lloyd.

We begin:

“This chapter focuses on a box of miniature fired clay bricks and its use within open access psychosocial group support for people on the move. Delivered by the charity Art Refuge on either side of the English Channel, this work responds to the psychological needs of people, both displaced and seeking asylum, where loss of home is pervasive.”

We end:

“At the time of this writing (April 2024), some of the huge Calais boulders had been quietly shifted out of place, revealing small patches of ground with grass, weeds, and flowers reappearing from beneath the rocks. Structures can shift. Fleeting poetic acts carried out with miniature bricks can also somehow diminish the dehumanizing effect of the border. We have learned to trust that the materials we use, in this case the bricks, can offer creative, imaginative opportunities for people that are both humanizing and empowering. Reusable, environmentally responsible, and sustainable, our faith in the material is transmitted to the people who join the table, who in turn make use of its transformative potential.”