Healing Arts Birmingham

'Ozzy the Bull for Healing Arts Birmingham' BY Yasmine Joanna

Arts & Health for Social Justice

About Healing Arts Birmingham

22-26 June 2026

Healing Arts Birmingham is a city-wide initiative demonstrating how arts, culture, and heritage can transform health, wellbeing, and social equity. Co-led by Birmingham City Council, the initiative is part of the Jameel Arts & Health Lab's global outreach campaign in collaboration with the World Health Organization.

Supported by a coalition of organisations and communities across the Midlands, Healing Arts Birmingham brings together artists, practitioners, researchers, and policymakers to tackle health inequalities and embed creative practice at the heart of public life.

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Events Map

Explore the events that shaped Healing Arts Birmingham 2026

EXPLORE EVENTS

Healing Arts Birmingham Films

View our films celebrating and advocating for arts & health for social justice.

Healing Arts Birmingham Opening Ceremony

Featured Events

Opening Ceremony - Launch of Healing Arts Birmingham

Monday 22nd June 2026

Symphony Hall, Birmingham

The Opening Ceremony for Healing Arts Birmingham was curated and hosted by B:Music on behalf Birmingham City Council Public Health, the Jameel Arts and Health Lab and supported by Healing Arts Birmingham Partners.

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National Arts in Hospitals Network at Healing Arts Birmingham

Friday 26th June 2026

Venue: Midlands Metropolitan University Hospital, Smethwick, England

Attendees found out more about the work of the National Arts in Hospitals Network, including talks by Hospital Rooms and an introduction to Forum Theatre by the University of Birmingham. The event concluded with a visit to the community garden, gallery tours and opportunities to meet the artists.

Highly Sprung Grow 120623 632 Credit Andrew Moore

Creative Health Region: Policy and Practice

Thursday 25th June 2026

Online

Led by the West Midlands Combined Authority, Culture and Creative Industries Team, this event explored Creative Health practice at a regional level.

Creative Health in Neighbourhoods

Friday 26th June 2026

Midlands Arts Centre

Led by The National Centre for Creative Health, this symposium brought together people representing health and cultural practitioners and organisations with academics to explore how creative health can be an integral part of neighbourhood health services and support preventative and community-led solutions to health inequalities.

'Where Art meets Health' - Symposium / Panel Discussion

Wednesday 24th June 2026

Birmingham School of Art - Margaret Street

This interactive symposium brought together experts from a range of art-related fields all working at the intersection with health. Featuring panellists from diverse backgrounds able to offer varied perspectives, it made for a lively discussion with critical corners. Opening remarks were followed by a panel discussion and audience questions. A guided tour of the School of Arts' Creative Health Exhibition was also on offer.

Creative Health in Action: People, Practice and Partnerships

Tuesday 23rd June 2026

Studio 5, Birmingham Hippodrome, Thorp Street, B5 4TB

Led by Birmingham Hippodrome, Birmingham Rep, LGBTQTeeHee!, Mimar Theatre and Birmingham Royal Ballet, this half-day symposium celebrated the impact of creative health in Birmingham. Through panels, performances and discussion, attendees explored how creative interventions support communities, and how they can better care for the wellbeing of the practitioners who deliver them.

Faith, Arts and Healing

Wednesday 24th June 2026

Birmingham Cathedral

Birmingham is a city of faith. This event sought to contribute to the Healing Arts Festival by opening up a conversation on how faith and the arts combine to promote healing and growth at a grassroots level. Attendees were all experts in this by nature of their experience.

'Where Art meets Health' Exhibition

Monday 22nd June - Friday 25th June 2026

Birmingham School of Art

Join us at Birmingham School of Art for a dedicated Creative Health Exhibition showcasing local and regional Artists working at the intersection of Arts & Health

'What Are the Odds?' Exhibition

Sunday 21st June - Sunday 27th June 2026

Library of Birmingham

'What are the odds?' Ikon Creative Health is an off-site exhibition, at the Library of Birmingham, which explores the role of art in supporting health and care systems.

Art, prisons and health symposium

Thursday 25 June 2026

Library of Birmingham, The Gallery, 3rd Floor, B1 2ND

Organised by Ikon in partnership with Agder Kunstakademi and Culture Forward as part of Healing Arts Birmingham (HABrum), this symposium considered the impact of art on health in prisons. In showcasing initiatives from the UK and Norway, it highlighted contrasting philosophies of criminal justice and criminal care whilst reflecting on the role of creative practice within the prison and probation systems.

Healing Arts Birmingham: Neighbourhood programme

Attendees learned more about The Healing Arts Birmingham Neighbourhood programme, which provided grants to support a diverse range of community-led projects taking place across the city during Healing Arts Birmingham.

Creative Health: Research in Action

Monday 22 June 2026

Dhani Prem & Mary Sturge Rooms, The Exchange, 3 Centenary Square
Birmingham, B1 2DR

Attendees joined an afternoon of talks and discussions exploring the relationships between research, creativity and culture, and public health and wellbeing.

Creative Health Quality Framework design by Jennie Ives

Creative Health Quality Framework: An Introduction

Tuesday 23rd June 2026

Online

Victoria Hume, Executive Director of the Culture, Health & Wellbeing Alliance, introduced the Creative Health Quality Framework, a ground-breaking tool that clearly articulates what "good" looks like for creative and cultural initiatives that aim to support people's health and wellbeing, and showcased how it's being used so far.

Policy Roundtable: Invest in Arts & Health

Tuesday 23rd June 2026

Arts Council England Offices, Birmingham (B1 2LH)

This roundtable brought together leaders from government, philanthropy, culture, healthcare and social investment to explore the future funding landscape for arts and health. Participants considered current opportunities and challenges, identified investment gaps, and discussed what was needed to unlock greater support for the sector.

Policy Roundtable: Heavy Metal and Mental Health

Monday 22nd June 2026

Symphony Hall, Centenary Square, Broad Street.
Birmingham, B1 2EA

Birmingham is long regarded as the home of Heavy Metal, and this closed-door roundtable explored the intersection of heavy metal and mental health.

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Policy Roundtable: UK Arts & Health, The Time is Now

Monday 22nd June 2026

Arts Council England Offices, Birmingham (B1 2LH)

The session launched UK Arts & Health: The Time is Now, a new policy brief developed following the APPG on Creative Health Parliamentary Roundtable, highlighting key recommendations and opportunities for action.

Closing Ceremony

Friday 26th June 2026

Midlands Arts Centre

The Closing Ceremony for Healing Arts Birmingham was a celebration of the collective journey so far and forward thinking of Arts & Health in Birmingham and the West Midlands. The event hosted panel discussions, community taster sessions, live music and performances throughout the day.

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