Culture and Health Forum
The international Culture and Health Forum will focus on artists working at the intersection of culture, health, care, education and social sectors. The event is open to everyone interested in themes arts, culture, health and well-being and international cooperation.
WHEN
29. – 30.9.2025
WHERE
Culture and Health Forum is a two-day international event organized as part of the Culture and Health Platform project (2024–2028).
The event will bring together
- emerging artists working at the intersection of culture, health, care, education and social sectors
- educators, researchers and students in the field of arts, culture and health
- other professionals and students interested in research on and practices of arts, culture and wellbeing
- organizations advocating for the use of arts and culture to enhance health and wellbeing of individuals and communities.
Culture and Health Forum will showcase and share best practices and latest research in the field of arts, culture and health. The Event will be organized by the Arts Academy of Turku UAS in collaboration with Taikusydän Arts & Health Coordination Centre in Finland, and the Nordic Arts and Health Research Network.
Register by 12 September 2025
Programme
Monday, September 29
09:00-10:00 Registration, coffee & networking (Sigyn Restaurant & Lounge)
10:00-10:30 Welcoming words & art performance (Sigyn Hall)
10:30-11:15 Keynote: Prof. Christina Davies, Director of the Centre for Arts, Mental Health and Wellbeing, University of Western Australia. Topic: “Good arts, good mental health” (Sigyn Hall)
11:15-12:00 Introduction to CultureAndHealth Platform
12:00-13:00 Lunch
13:00-14:15 Parallel Sessions I:
- Bringing Culture and Health Policies Together: EU Member States launch the Culture and Health OMC report
Kornelia Kiss, Head of Culture and Health, Culture Action Europe,
Edith Wolf Perez Founder & Chairwoman, Co-Founder of ARTS for HEALTH AUSTRIA, Co-Chair, EU Member States’, “Culture and Health” Open Method of Coordination (OMC) Group,
EU member states representatives from the OMC group - Workshop: Play and Creativity in Dance, Riina Kalmi, dance artist, Finland (Vulcan Hall)
- Workshop: Person-centered music-making on hospital wards, MusiCare-Team: Magdalena Bork, Stefan Heckel, Laura Bezold, Austria (Studio Theatre)
- Workhop (Rope Theatre)
14:15-14:45 Coffee break & Posters & Stands (Rope Theatre Lounge)
14:45-16:00 Parallel Sessions II:
- Panel Discussion: Youth Mental Health & Arts (Sigyn Hall)
- Showcasing Artist Practices (Rope Theatre)
- Workshop: Songs from the Inside: Co-Creative Songwriting in Healthcare, Saaramaija Żórawski, music pedagogue (MA), musician (Studio Theatre)
- Workshop: The Humor Workshop, Red Noses International (Vulcan Hall)
18:00 onward Evening programme
Please note that the schedule for the event is a plan, and therefore subject to change.
Tuesday, September 30
09:00-10:15 Parallel Sessions III
- Research Presentations: Session: Enacting health through theatre and drama (Rope Theatre)
- Riku Laakkonen & Jenny Paananen, Tampere University: “Empathy in Action: Drama Workshop as a Safe Place to Practice Challenging Encounters in Nursing Home”
- Eva Hallgren, Stockholm University: “Creating Together in Existential Fragility: Drama/Theatre Participation in Early Psychosis Care”
- Jenny Wiik, Novia University of Applied Sciences & Tove Hagström, Yttra Tove Hagström: “The Song of the Tree – From Play to Activating Classroom Workshop for Teenagers”
- Showcasing Artist Practices (Sigyn Hall)
Healing Walls: Art as Therapy in Institutional Spaces, Melinda Šefčić, Ph.D., Visual Artist and Researcher, Assistant Professor (external), Academy of Fine Arts, University of Zagreb, Croatia - Workshop: “Expressing one’s true self through text, film and voice.” Co-creative artistic documentary film with and for children with serious medical conditions, Lisa Partby, documentary filmmaker and pedagogue, Sweden (Studio Theatre)
- Workshop: Shambhavi Singh, University of Helsinki: “Cut, Fold, Mad!: DIY zines making workshop” (Room H319/330)
10:15-10:45 Coffee break & Posters & Stands (Rope Theatre Lounge)
10:45-12:00 Parallel Sessions IV
- Research Presentations: Session: Links between creativity and wellbeing (Sigyn Hall)
- Elisabeth Punzi, Gothenburg university: “I can’t really describe everything this group has meant and done for me” – Creative workshops in a psychiatric outpatient clinic. An Interpretative phenomenological analysis
- Julie McCarthy, Greater Manchester Combined Authority / NHS GM: “Can Creative Health Unlock Mental Health Equity?”
- Viktorija Bogdanova & Inkeri Aula & Masood Masoodian, Aalto University: “The creative journey as a transformative process affecting well-being”
- Showcasing Artist Practices (Rope Theatre)
- Workshop (Vulcan)
- Workshop / presentations (Room H319/330)
12:00-13:00 Lunch at Sigyn (self-funded)
13:00-14:15 Parallel Sessions V
- Research Presentations: Session: Arts and mental health in community practices (Sigyn Hall)
- Marit Stranden, Norwegian Resource Center for Arts and Health: “In Motion – developing a guide that use dance artists’ embodied experience to make movements accessible and safe”
- Keld Stehr Nielsen, National Centre for Arts & Mental Health – Denmark: “What can the grey literature tell us about the relation between art and mental health – and how to extract it”
- Showcasing Artist Practices and Projects (Rope Theatre)
- Workshop: Pilvi Kuitu, Cultural Centre PiiPoo & Tampere University: “TOSI-labra – An Arts-Based Method for Supporting Youth Wellbeing and Agency” (Studio Theatre)
- Workshop (Room H319/330)
14:15-14:45 Coffee break & Posters & Stands (Rope Theatre Lounge)
14:45-16:30 Reflective Panel Discussion & Closing, Art Performance (Sigyn Hall)
18:00 onwards – Evening programme
Please note that the schedule for the event is a plan, and therefore subject to change.
Venue
The Culture and Health Forum will take place at Turku UAS Arts Academy, which is in Linnankatu 54-60, 20100 Turku, Finland, right next to the River Aura. Visit Arts Academy’s website for detailed information how to get to campus: Linnankatu Arts Academy.
Travel to Turku
There are several ways to get to Turku, and we recommend that you travel to Turku on Sunday or early Monday morning (e.g. by ferry from Stockholm). If you wish to look for travelling options with an address, it is Linnankatu 54-60, 20100 Turku, Finland.
For detailed information how to travel and get around in Turku, we recommend reading more from Visit Turku: Travelling to & around Turku.
Accommodation options
When looking for suitable accommodation for your stay, you can use the address of Arts Academy (Linnankatu 54-60, 20100 Turku ) as a reference. There are several hotels and hostels you can book your room, for example: Scandic Hotels, Radisson Blu Marina Palace Hotel, Centro hotel, Hotel Kakola, Bob W Turku City Centre and Hostel S/S Bore.
Getting to the Arts Academy
If you arrive at Turku Airport, you can conveniently take bus No. 1 which stops right in front of the Arts Academy. The bus service runs regularly between the harbor and city center – you can check the schedules at www.foli.fi/en.
Coming from either the Turku Main Railway Station or Harbor Station? No worries – both stations are just a pleasant walk away from the Arts Academy. Remember to book your train to the station Turku – City Center Logomo.
And if you’re arriving by ferry at the Viking Line or Silja Line terminals, you can hop on the same convenient bus No. 1 that will take you straight to the Arts Academy and city center.
The CultureAndHealth Platform
The Culture and Health Forum is part of the Culture and Health Platform project (2024-2028).
The Culture and Health Platform project (2024-2028) aims to support European emerging artists who already have some experience working in the arts & health field and who want to develop their work further and join European cooperation. The project is coordinated by Culture Action Europe and involves 16 partners from across Europe. Taikusydän and Turku University of Applied Sciences represent Finland in the project.
The CultureAndHealth Platform is co-funded by the European Union (grant nr: 101176227). Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or EACEA. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.
