Jameel Arts & Health Lab organizes a festival in New York City coinciding with the United Nations General Assembly.
The UN General Assembly (UNGA) Healing Arts Week 2025 is set to take place in New York from September 20 to 26, marking a significant event in the collaboration between various international organizations. The festival, organized by the Jameel Arts & Health Lab, will see the participation of the Saudi Arabian, US, British governments, NYU Steinhardt, the World Health Organization (WHO), and the UNGA itself.
At the heart of this festival is a focus on recognizing arts engagement as a health behavior. Stephen Stapleton, a founding co-director of the Jameel Arts & Health Lab, emphasizes the need for complementary, preventive approaches to health. He believes that arts and health interventions can offer a crucial solution to the growing health challenges that traditional healthcare systems are struggling to address.
The festival will feature a diverse range of events, including discussions, performances, and workshops, all aimed at exploring the role of arts in health and well-being. A highlight of the festival will be a keynote speech delivered by Daisy Fancourt, author of "Art Cure: The Science of How the Arts Save Lives".
One of the unique aspects of the festival will be an interactive tour of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which will include an art-making workshop. Another exciting event will be a participatory session to explore how theatre can build social connection, trust, and coalition.
Music will also play a significant role in the festival. Magos Herrera, a Mexican-American jazz singer, will perform a concert focusing on music's role in supporting emotional regulation, connection, and mental health.
In addition to the festival, a photo essay for the Jameel Arts & Health Lab-Lancet Global Series on the Health Benefits of the Arts will be unveiled. This photo essay will have its regional launch during next month's Global Health Exhibition in Riyadh.
The arts and health evidence base has grown significantly across clinical, population, and neuroscientific research over the past two decades. Randomized controlled trials have demonstrated efficacy in mental health, stroke rehabilitation, and palliative care through arts and health interventions. Integrating arts into health systems, as per Stephen Stapleton, can make the arts a vital health asset for individual and population well-being.
The festival will also host a roundtable discussion to explore social prescribing as a means to realize the economic, clinical, and public health potential of the arts. Prof. Nisha Sajnani, another co-director of the Jameel Arts & Health Lab, states that the festival aims to embed creativity into the fabric of clinical and public health.
This collaborative event between the Jameel Arts & Health Lab, NYU Steinhardt, the WHO, and various governments is a testament to the growing recognition of the importance of arts in health and well-being. The UNGA Healing Arts Week 2025 is poised to be a transformative event in the field of arts and health.
Read also:
- Inadequate supply of accessible housing overlooks London's disabled community
- Strange discovery in EU: Rabbits found with unusual appendages resembling tentacles on their heads
- Duration of a Travelling Blood Clot: Time Scale Explained
- Fainting versus Seizures: Overlaps, Distinctions, and Proper Responses
