Mapping of Initiatives on Culture, Health and Well-being

By the beginning of 2021, three Ghent museums (i.e. Museum dr. Guislain, Huis van Alijn and Heritage House Sisters of Charity) decided to deepen their expertise on cultural heritage and wellbeing. Under the heading ‘ErfGoedVoelen’ and in collaboration with partners from the healthcare, research and educational sector, they submitted a project proposal to the Flemish Government via the Cultural Heritage Decree, to examine and facilitate wellbeing-oriented cultural heritage interventions. Through four pilot projects, ErfGoedVoelen addressed a different group each time: (1) adolescents receiving support from a psychiatric institution, (2) home-based adults with (young onset) dementia and their informal caregivers, (3) children receiving support from a psychiatric institution, and (4) home-based individuals over-55s experiencing social isolation. During weekly meetings at the museums, several cultural heritage methods (e.g. object handling, object storytelling, creating) were used.
Although the cultural heritage sector is increasingly committed to developing its outreach efforts whereby heritage collections are used to promote wellbeing, little is known about the giving of meaning of and by those involved.
The research report associated with the ErfGoedVoelen project aims to explore the meaning and prerequisites of wellbeing-focused cultural heritage interventions. Using an interpretive research design, it offers valuable insight into the important role these projects can play for both participants and professionals, along with a thorough analysis of the factors and conditions that contribute to their success.

The organisation believes in art as a means to increase human well-being, especially in those moments when we are most vulnerable, such as during hospital stays. For that reason they organize art exhibitions and workshops always related to art in hospitals.

The organisation is implementing the incubation phase of the Prevention through Culture project under the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs. The project is under the patronage of the Government Commissioner for Human Rights, Mrs. Klára Laurenčíková.
The project is based on an international cooperation with the Danish National Centre for Art and Mental Health, where art activities are proven to be functional and effective in promoting the building of psychological resilience, prevention of mental illness, a tool for developing socialization and learning prerequisites.
The aim of the project is to transfer this good practice to the Czech environment and modify it to fit the specifics of the Czech environment. Prevention through Culture is an activity aimed at creating an effective and safe tool for prevention and education in the field of mental health, mental literacy and socio-emotional learning through the implementation of Creative playing under the guidance of trained artists.
The organisation is cooperating with the National Institute of Mental Health of the Czech Republic on the evaluation and probing of the project. The evaluation survey will serve as a basis for further advocacy.

Art is a guarantee of mental health,” said Louise Bourgeois, a major artistic figure of the 20th century. Research over the past 20 years supports her statement, highlighting that engaging in artistic activities generates a wide range of benefits: promoting well-being, quality of life, physical and mental health, and social capital.
The program implemented two years ago offers patients suffering from depression an introduction to art and an opportunity to engage in creative artistic endeavors. Patients referred by the hospital service to MO.CO. participate in artistic practice workshops (visual arts, dance) specifically designed by invited artists, drawing inspiration from the contemporary art center’s programming. Groups of about a dozen participants, led by a professional artist, meet over a period of five weeks.

The Grounding retreat program was born from the need to support, empower, and connect female activists, and artists who work with the community. They have organized two editions of the program. The first was held in Kelebia, a village near Subotica, and the second (2024.) regional meeting included women from Serbia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Romania, Greece, and Hungary and it was held in Utrine.

Darba Waħda… is an intergenerational project led by Anna Formosa that took place between 2015 and 2019 during which children and older people were given a safe space to share and learn from each other through creative methods including drama, games and exercises, arts and crafts, storytelling, improvisations etc. By means of the carefully structured workshops and involvement of professional artists, participants unleashed their creativity, built friendships and developed new skills together. Darba waħda… was about using creativity to harness the strengths, potentials and achievements of elderly people, and the joy and youthfulness of children to provide a line of communication that transcends the generational divide. There were 18 projects of 10 weekly sessions each, spread around Malta and Gozo over the years, the last one being a special edition. This was followed by another 3 projects in schools supported by the National Literacy Agency..

FilHERmonia is an annual series of events that represents another chapter in the Philharmonic's history, dedicated to themes related to women, art, and health. For years, October has been globally recognised as Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and FilHERmonia focuses not only on medical aspects but also on this topic's psychological, social, and cultural dimensions.
Women representing various fields of art and science, such as artists, musicians, conductors, composers, managers, and music lovers, have always been part of the Philharmonic. The entire month is devoted to caring for the body, skin, spirit, and mind while simultaneously creating an atmosphere of sisterhood. We believe that constant development, which requires moments of pause, finding harmony, and self-care, is a critical element of life.
FilHERmonia is an initiative created by women, about women, and for women. It combines art and science and emphasises the symbiosis of spirit and body. We focus not only on breast cancer prevention but also on mental health, both in everyday life and during illness. During each event, we emphasise both the history of predecessors and the present while also looking to the future.
As part of the FilHERmonia series, concerts are organised, led by outstanding female musicians under the baton of renowned conductors and dedicated to magnificent female composers. In addition, each edition offers lectures, workshops, film screenings, exhibitions, and promotion of preventive examinations. These events are an integral part of the Philharmonic's seasonal program while aligning with the global "Pink October" initiative. FilHERmonia is not just a series of artistic events but also a platform promoting health and balance for all women and their surroundings.

The Mental Power Prague Film Festival is an international film festival featuring actors (non-actors) with mental and combined disabilities.
With its 17-year history, the festival serves as an inspirational meeting place for artists and audiences. Since its inception, the festival has become a significant platform where individuals with mental disabilities can showcase their works and share their stories with the world.

Living Museum Madrid is part of the original movement created by psychologist and artist Janos Marton and artist Bolek Greczynski in the early 1980s in New York. The Living Museum project established a space dedicated to art on the campus of Creedmoor Psychiatric Hospital. Today, the Living Museum movement is present in more than 20 countries, including some in the USA, Switzerland, Korea, Georgia, the Netherlands and Germany.
Living Museum is presented as a space for artistic work that promotes the creative and professional development of people with mental disorders and/or disabilities and with an interest in artistic creation. Its main focus is art, promoting the development of personal artistic projects as a support for the empowerment, inclusion and recovery of people with mental health problems, and eliminating the stigma that the label of mental disorder and/or disability represents in our society.
The artistic workshops are based on the Open Studio methodology and are characterised as open, safe and stress-free artistic spaces, adapted to the individual needs and rhythms of each artist. Living Museum seeks to provide an environment where artists feel professionally recognised, and where their work and creative experimentation is valued.
Living Museum Madrid is also a space for socialisation through art, where dialogue and the exchange of artistic experiences is encouraged, where life narratives are generated and the creation of support networks is promoted through art.
From October 2023 to June 2024, Living Museum Madrid has carried out the First Artistic Residencies with the participation of 15 artists. These residencies have taken place at the Centro de Cultura Contemporánea Condeduque in Madrid, ending with the group exhibition El Despliegue de la Pausa (The Deployment of the Pause). This creative space will continue next year, extending the residencies to a total of 20 artists.
Living Museum Madrid is currently focused on establishing alliances with other artistic entities of a similar nature, and among its main objectives is to achieve a permanent location and stable funding that will allow for its growth and continuity in its work of inclusion and empowerment through art.

Through the creative coworking Lab-CREARTE the organizers are developing in an interdisciplinary way integrative projects and initiatives for the Recognition of Heritage Values in its three fundamental aspects: the human, the natural and the cultural, providing new meanings and promoting innovation as axes of Sustainable Development in Rural Ecosystems in line with the SDGs, the Green Deal and the New European Bauhaus (NEB). With the SEEDS OF THE BIOSPHERE initiative, they begin a path of shared reflection and creation of projects and initiatives in cooperation with independent professionals related to the areas of activity that they are developing.
Starting from the CREARTE workshops, in 2018 they began a journey of recognition of people's values and talents as a common thread for educational, socioeconomic and territorial integration projections. “EnTre2 Plan” for Safeguarding and Innovation of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of the Popular Embroidery of the Sierra de Francia of Salamanca, as a common thread for educational, socioeconomic and territorial integration projections.
From there they continue to investigate and discover, through the SEMILLAS DE LA BIOSFERA initiative and the lines of action ARTESA, ALDABA and TALLERES DE OFICIO, new lines of IMMERSION, TRANSMISSION and CULTURAL INNOVATION.
In relation to Natural Heritage through the CO-CREATORS line of action and the SAVIA and SALUDARTE programs they investigate and design pilot experiences and methodological, participatory and collaborative models of awareness and ecocultural immersion through workshops, Art Itineraries in Nature and artistic interpretation processes based on biological structures, ecosystems and landscapes, inviting us to explore new visions. and integrative aesthetics of nature for the benefit of the community and the CRAFTS, NEW CULTURAL INDUSTRIES and ECOTOURISM sectors.