Artist Spotlight: Vivana Luzochimana
About me…
Halo reader! My name is Vivana Luzochimana, born in Tanzania but my heritage dates to Burundi! I am Burundian-Australian, and I live through music. Music has taken me to and out of so many experiences in my life and to be able to create at with that medium is truly a gift. I express my storytelling through poetic flow, repetition of language. My natural curiosity has led me here, has led me to poetry and to my field of study, Behavioral Science. If we meet, please don’t be shy with your playlist!
I heard about mindshare…
I first heard about mindshare after my fringe show in 2021. Anna had posted a review for the show and I was completely touched by how much she took, how much she learned and how impactful the show was. I wanted to get involved with mindshare to help break that stigma around mental health, mindshare is doing so much good work and I knew I could help through my poetry as the themes are centered around mental health.
My mental health…
I am relatively a cheerful person, but my mental health is sometimes unstable. I live every day anew, I wake up and I learn myself, I learn about others, I seek understanding – that helps me stay grounded. I do not have a diagnosis and I feel quite alright about that. I’m grateful I am able to process and handle my emotions as they arise.
Creativity in my journey…
Creativity has played a critical role in my mental health journey and in the journey of knowing who I am. I started writing as way of letting out the things that I could not say out loud, I wrote fiction and non-fiction. Most recently, the last few years, I have referenced mental health throughout my pieces. Writing is this medium that I pour myself into wholeheartedly, I find peace and I find honesty through that. I feel much lighter and less burdensome. A. relief of pressure.
I also find comfort in…
I also find comfort in crime films, fashion, and music. Every morning I find comfort in dressing up, in my specific choice of music, essentially, I live my life as if it were a film. I dress up according to how I feel, today – I feel like a detective so I might chuck on a turtleneck and long trench coat. Tomorrow I might feel like a famous star, so I’ll wear something that screams “look at me”. It’s quite fun, I find a lot of joy through that.
My community…
My community are my close friends and close family. I have a small circle of friends that I immerse myself fully with and I truly prefer it that way. Sometimes being too surrounded is like having a lot of useless information, I have been there, I take pride in having the friends I have.
I want to see…
I am happy with the amount of awareness and education surrounding mental health, I think that more and more people are becoming more aware of themselves and their world, resulting in a positive awareness around mental health issues and open conversations about them. I’d like to see more support on the emotional wellbeing of men especially around addiction.
You can read some Vivana’s works on mindshare here.
Find Vivana on Instagram viviy_aj.
Read about other artists spotlighted on mindshare here.
