Programme: Nordic Arts & Health Research Network meeting on 30 September – 1 October 2025, Turku, Finland
The Nordic Arts & Health Research Network will organise their next network meeting on 30 September – 1 October in Turku, Finland. The theme of the network meeting is Arts Supporting Mental Health and Wellbeing. The meeting is hosted by Turku University of Applied Sciences and organised in collaboration with the Culture and Health Platform project.
We warmly welcome all network members to participate in two exciting days with presentations, workshops and networking opportunities together with your Nordic and international Arts and Health colleagues. The programme on Tuesday 30 September is organised jointly with the Culture and Health Forum. The event is free of charge for the network members.
Registration for the event is open until 12 September: Please register here.
(Please note that this registration form is intended for both the network meeting and Culture and Health Forum. Also note that the places in these events are limited.)
Programme
Tuesday, September 30
9:00-10:15 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: “Cut, Fold, Mad!: DIY zines making workshop”, Shambhavi Singh, University of Helsinki (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 (TBA) (Rope Theatre)
Workshop (TBA) (Vulcan)
Workshop / presentations (TBA) (Room H319/330)
12:00-13:00 Lunch at Sigyn (self paid)
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 (TBA) (Rope Theatre)
Workshop: ” TOSI-labra – An Arts-Based Method for Supporting Youth Wellbeing and Agency”, Pilvi Kuitu, Cultural Centre PiiPoo & Tampere University (Studio Theatre)
Workshop (TBA) (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 –> Evening programme
Wednesday, October 30
8.30-9.30 Membership meeting
9.30-9.45 Break
Session: Art therapy: Contexts and perspectives of emotion regulation and pain management
9.45-10.05 Kristin Benedicte Svendsen, Oslo Metropolitan University: Integrating Art Therapy to Strengthen Emotional Regulation in Chronic Pain Management
10.05-10.25 Mimmu Rankanen, Oslo Metropolitan University: Theoretical perspective on processing and regulating emotions in art therapy
10.25-10.45 Sari Kuuva, University of Jyväskylä: From Heart to Image: Exploring Emotions and Embodiment through Visual Methods in a Solution-Focused Art Therapy Context
Break 10.45-11.00
Session: Supporting older adults through digital audio and music
11.00-11.20 Emily Cousins, University of Southern Denmark, Digital audio entertainment for wellbeing: findings from creative workshops with older adults
11.20-11.40 Heini Siltainsuu, University of Jyväskylä: Becoming me with music – understanding the role of music in the subjective wellbeing and identity work of ageing individuals
11.40-12.00 End of the meeting
12.00-> Lunch (self paid)
Please note that changes in the programme may still occur.
About the venue:
The network meeting is organised at Arts Academy, Turku University of Applied Sciences (Linnankatu 54-60, 20100 Turku, Finland). Arts Academy is located by the Aura River, about 2 km from the city centre.
For more info about the network meeting, contact: Liisa Laitinen, liisa.laitinen@turkuamk.fi