Healing Arts Scotland
Mon 19 - Fri 23 August 2024
Image: Martin Creed. Work No. 3435 EVERYTHING IS GOING TO BE ALRIGHT. 2020 © Martin Creed. All Rights Reserved, DACS 2023. Photo: Sim Canetty-Clarke
Healing Arts Scotland (HAS) 2024 was a nation-wide festival celebrating and advocating for improved physical, mental and social health through the arts.
Spearheaded by Scottish Ballet as part of the Jameel Arts & Health Lab’s global ‘Healing Arts’ campaign in collaboration with the World Health Organization, the one-week activation was launched as part of the Edinburgh International Festival and produced in collaboration with a national coalition of organisations and communities across Scotland, with contributions from partners from around the world across culture, science, health, education and government.
The aim of HAS 2024 was to catalyse and strengthen a network of communities that could positively address current health concerns and inequalities across Scotland, with a focus on five priority areas where the arts can have a measurable impact:
- Loneliness and isolation
- Dementia
- Young peoples’ mental health
- Social prescribing
- Arts in confined spaces
It was the first-ever countrywide Healing Arts campaign and included a range of events such as: celebratory performances, exhibitions, public art programmes, workshops, dialogues, media partnerships and a high-profile policy moment.
Vist the Healing Arts Scotland website
#HealingArtsScotland
Healing Arts Scotland Film
This film features the variety of events which took place across Scotland as part of the project and their impact within these communities.
Music: Mackay’s Memoirs by Martin Bennett, with kind permission from Kirsten Bennett
Events
Opening Celebration
Monday 19 August 4pm, Edinburgh
Scottish Parliament
Over 250 people took part in a huge performance of music and dance.
Featuring an ensemble cast of community performers, including National Youth Pipe Band, TRYST, Oi Musica, Samba Ya Bamba, Scottish Ballet’s Youth Exchange company, NHS staff, Dance Base’s PRIME Elders Dance Company, SB Elevate and Dance for Parkinson’s.
Conferences
Monday 19 & Tuesday 20 August, Edinburgh
Various Venues
These conferences featured UK and international speakers who are leading innovative practise in arts-in-health interventions.
There were also four specially curated panels as part of the Festival of Politics at the Scottish Parliament.
Wellbeing Concert
Wednesday 21 August 6.30pm, Glasgow
Tramway
A joyous and uplifting concert celebrated Healing Arts Scotland week. Performed by artists from Glasgow and beyond, both professional and community based.
This concert was for everyone, including those who enjoy a more relaxed performance environment: the lights were on in the auditorium throughout, audience members were free to move around and to choose where they would like to sit.
Nationwide Events
Monday 19 – Friday 23 August
Various Venues
There were over 130 Healing Arts Scotland events across the length and breadth of the country.
Day Events
Wednesday 21 – Friday 23 August
Glasgow, Aberdeen, Orkney & Shetland
Dynamic and participatory days that brought together communities, researchers, and academics to celebrate and debate the role of the arts in health.
Accessibility
Healing Arts Scotland venues were accessible wherever possible, and many events were BSL interpreted and/or live captioned.
Our Partners
Alongside Scottish Ballet and the Edinburgh International Festival, the partners who helped to shape the week included Luminate, Health and Social Care Alliance (ALLIANCE), Intercultural Youth Scotland, Scottish Opera, Sistema Scotland, National Galleries of Scotland, Creative Scotland, International Teaching Artists Collaborative, Healthcare Improvement Scotland, Imaginate, Indepen-dance, Mental Health Foundation Scotland, Tonic Arts, The University of Edinburgh, Arts Culture Health & Wellbeing Scotland.
