‘We need a shared language’: Scotland-wide festival highlights links between the arts and health

The Jameel Arts & Health Lab and the Scottish Ballet host the first national festival exploring the cultural engagement in health, aiming to unlock new funding streams for the arts in Scotland, reports The Art Newspaper.

Part of a global Healing Arts campaign created by the Jameel Arts & Health Lab in collaboration with the World Health Organisation, the week-long event is the first to involve over 100 activities happening in locations across a nation.

Nils Fietje, co-founding director of the Jameel Arts & Health Lab, tells The Art Newspaper: “One of the big challenges is that these are two sectors [healthcare and the arts] that don’t traditionally work together. We generally talk about how health intersects with transport, economics or education, but we haven’t explored it in the cultural sector. That’s because there aren’t many connections between these two fields, we don’t have a shared language. Bringing these worlds together is what this week is about.”

Launched in 2023, the Jameel Arts & Health Lab is a collaboration between the World Health Organisation (WHO) Regional Office for Europe, the Steinhardt School at New York University (NYU), Community Jameel and CULTURUNNERS to coordinate and amplify scientific research into the effectiveness of the arts in improving health and wellbeing.