Health, Wellbeing and the Arts in the Nineteenth Century
About this Event

Twenty-first century practices of health and wellbeing are increasingly turning towards the arts as powerful agents in a busy world. Key publications such as the WHO European Region report ‘What is the evidence on the role of the arts in improving health and well-being? A scoping review’ (2019) and an Arts Council England report ‘The Role of the Arts during the COVID-19 Pandemic’ (2021) have explored the many different ways in which the arts impact health as individuals and communities. Yet the relationship between health and the arts has a long history.

This conference explores a wide range of facets of the relationship between health, wellbeing and the arts during the ‘long’ nineteenth century (c.1789-1914), from an international, interdisciplinary perspective. Papers draw on a wide range of art forms including music, literature and the visual arts, and address various aspects of health or wellbeing, from perspectives including psychiatry, public health, historiography and gender.

The provisional conference programme is available here: https://musichealthandhappiness.wordpress.com/2024/11/01/conference-programme-health-wellbeing-and-the-arts-in-the-nineteenth-century/