Jameel Arts & Health Lab Organizes NYC Festival in Conjunction with the UN General Assembly
In the heart of New York City, from September 20 to 26, the Jameel Arts & Health Lab is staging its annual UNGA Healing Arts Week. This festival, taking place alongside the 2025 UN General Assembly, brings together a diverse range of events that highlight the potential of arts in healthcare and public health.
The festival is a collaboration between Saudi, US, and UK organizations, and it aims to embed creativity into the fabric of clinical and public health. Prof. Nisha Sajnani, another co-director of the Jameel Arts & Health Lab, expressed this vision, stating that the festival seeks to place arts engagement on par with physical activity, nutrition, sleep, time in nature, and social connection in terms of health importance.
One of the festival's highlights is a concert by Magos Herrera, a Mexican-American jazz singer. Herrera's performance will explore music's role in supporting emotional regulation, connection, and mental health.
The festival's keynote speech will be delivered by Daisy Fancourt, author of "Art Cure: The Science of How the Arts Save Lives." Fancourt, a professor recognised for her work on how engaging in the arts can transform physical health, mental wellbeing, and public health innovation, will share insights from her book.
A roundtable discussion will explore social prescribing as a pathway to realizing the economic, clinical, and public health potential of the arts. Traditional healthcare systems are proving insufficient on their own according to Stephen Stapleton, a founding co-director of the Jameel Arts & Health Lab. Integrating arts into health systems, he argues, can make the arts a vital health asset, supporting both individual and population well-being.
Arts and health interventions, according to Stapleton, can offer a complementary, preventive approach to health issues. This is evidenced by randomized controlled trials that have demonstrated efficacy in mental health, stroke rehabilitation, and palliative care within the arts and health evidence base.
The festival will feature a variety of events, including an interactive tour of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, an art-making workshop, and a participatory session that explores how theatre can build social connection, trust, and coalition.
The Jameel Arts & Health Lab-Lancet Global Series on the Health Benefits of the Arts will unveil a photo essay during the festival, which will have its regional launch next month's Global Health Exhibition in Riyadh.
The UNGA Healing Arts Week is more than just a festival; it's a testament to the power of arts in promoting health, fostering connections, and driving innovation in healthcare and public health.
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