About this Event
CAMHRA is launching CAMHRArts, a new multidisciplinary strand that situates contemporary artistic practice at the heart of its inquiry into mental health and distress. Rather than reducing mental health and illness to strictly biomedical terms, CAMHRArts invites artists, arts organisations, and scholars to co-create dialogues that weave together multiple knowledge systems, diverse modes of expression, and expansive conceptions of vitality and distress.
By fostering collaborations that cross disciplinary borders, we aim to expand the cultural vocabulary of mental health, challenge dominant narratives and cultivate inclusive spaces where varied experiences of distress can be articulated, heard, and valued.
This panel will explore how artistic interventions can reshape our understanding of mental health, examine the methodological implications of integrating artistic practice into research rather than consider artistic practice as an “add-on” to research projects, and discuss strategies for sustaining equitable partnerships within the broader CAMHRA framework.
Creative Conversations on Vitality and Distress: A New Dialogue for Mental Health
📅 17th March 2026
⏰ 6.45 pm-8 pm
📍 Paul Wembley Wing of Senate House, SOAS University of London
The hosts of the events:
is an art historian and independent curator. She has a particular specialisation in Southeast Asian Modern and Contemporary Art. Vera completed her PhD in History of Art & Archaeology from SOAS, University London in 2024. She has recently joined the Royal College of Art as Tutor (Research), Curating Contemporary Art and Curatorial Research Fellow at the Manchester School of Art.
is a social anthropologist, artist and architectural engineer. She is a lecturer at SOAS and post doc in Durham’s engineering department, and fellow at the Durham Energy Institute where she is currently the artist in residence. Nora uses her art practice as a mode of enquiry in her academic research.
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
SOAS University of London, 10 Thornhaugh Street, London, United Kingdom
GBP 0.00
