Healing Arts Scotland 2024 Launch
The Healing Arts Scotland Opening Celebration event takes place outside the Scottish Parliament at 4pm on Monday 19th August as part of Edinburgh International Festival.
Article Source: Healing Arts Scotland
Last Updated: 19 June 2024 12:10
Healing Arts Scotland 2024
Announcement of countrywide HAS events and speakers, including Opening Celebration at Edinburgh International Festival
Announcement of key conference speakers, country-wide HAS events and details of outdoor Opening Celebration Event at Edinburgh International Festival.
• The Healing Arts Scotland Opening Celebration event takes place outside the Scottish Parliament at 4pm Mon 19th August as part of Edinburgh International Festival, featuring over 250 performers and participants from across Scotland in an energetic celebration of music and dance that captures the spirit and healing power of coming together through the performing arts. Ensembles featured include Scottish Ballet, National Youth Pipe Band, TRYST, Oi Musica and Samba Ya Bamba. Scottish Ballet will present a specially commissioned dance piece featuring an ensemble cast of community performers, including Scottish Ballet's Youth Exchange company, NHS Lothian staff, Dance Base's PRIME Elders Dance company and Dance for Parkinson's Scotland group. The work will be performed to Mackay’s Memoirs by the late Scottish Celtic fusion artist Martyn Bennett, which celebrates its 25th anniversary – it was originally commissioned for the opening of the Scottish Parliament building on 1 July 1999.
• The HAS Conference, in Edinburgh on 19th & 20th August and Glasgow on 21st August will feature Scotland’s Chief Medical Officer Sir Gregor Smith, as well as leading international arts health figures, including Christopher Bailey, Arts and Health Lead at the World Health Organization and a co-founder of the Jameel Arts and Health Lab; Dr Jill Sonke, from the Center for Arts in Medicine at the University of Florida; Nils Fietje and Calum Smith from the Behavioural and Cultural Insights Unit at the WHO Regional Office for Europe; Dr Daisy Fancourt, Professor of Psychobiology & Epidemiology at University College London; Sangeeta Isvaran, dancer-performer and founder of the Wind Dancers Trust, who has developed the Katradi method, working in marginalised, underprivileged communities using arts in education, empowerment and conflict resolution across 30 countries; Kunle Adewale, renowned Nigerian international artist, Founder and Executive Director of the Arts in Medicine Projects and the Global Arts in Medicine Fellowship, and arts in health practitioner; Magdalena Schamberger, theatre director, who collaborates with people living with dementia to create accessible performances in theatres, care homes and other settings; Fiona O’Sullivan, Director of Children’s Wellbeing for the Edinburgh Children’s Hospital Charity; Agustin Ivanez, Argentinean neuroscientist and Director of the Latin American Brain Health Institute at Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez (Chile), interested in global approaches to dementia and social, cognitive and affective neuroscience; Dr Nisha Sajnani, Associate Professor and Founder of Arts & Health at NYU. The conference will also highlight the innovative arts and health work happening in and across Scotland.
• The new Healing Arts Scotland website healingartsscotland.org/ is launched today, and features an interactive map showing all the Healing Arts activities happening across the country so far – more will be added as they register. Examples of events include:
Cancer Tapestry, the latest project from Dr Andrew Crummy MBE, creator of The Great Tapestry of Scotland, and Macmillan Cancer Support, unveiling a tapestry featuring 100 cancer stories from around Scotland, with the opportunity to add a stitch of your own to this historic artwork during live tapestry workshops;
Small Town Boy, marking the 40th anniversary of the LGBTQ+ anthem, with an exhibition and rave at SWG3, Glasgow curated by Scottish artist Joe Henry in collaboration with Bronski Beat and London Records. Artists taking part include Scottish artist, designer and DJ Charles Jeffrey, Irish Sculptor James Horan, Drag Queen Jonbers Blonde (RuPaul's Drag Race), Scottish/Filipino artist Csian Canave, as well as the original photographs from the Small Town Boy video by Steve Rapport, which have been painted over by Joe Henry, adding a layer of authenticity and nostalgia, further contextualizing the struggles and triumphs of the LGBTQ+ community.
Storywalk, an outdoor storytelling walk with wild foraged tea in the Cairngorms National Park, 'restorying' the land with folktales, lore of plants, trees and nature, as well as highlighting injustice within the landscape to help healing in its broadest sense.
WHO Arts & Health Lead / Co-Director Jameel Arts & Health Lab, Christopher Bailey said:
“Many cities around the world have taken part in our series of Healing Arts activations, but I am excited to see Scotland taking a truly national approach. Scotland’s unique sense of community, its embrace of all art forms, and its commitment to health for all promise to be an exciting combination. I can’t wait to participate and see what the communities come up with.”
Chief Medical Officer, Sir Gregor Smith said:
“The links between the arts and health are long established, not only in creating the environment for good health to flourish, but in supporting people with long term conditions. Scottish Ballet are leading exponents of this approach and I am immensely proud to be attending and supporting Healing Arts Scotland Week to learn more about how we can make the most of this fantastic opportunity to improve people’s health and wellbeing.”
Scottish Ballet CEO/Artistic Director, Christopher Hampson said:
"Healing Arts Scotland 2024 will be an inspirational week-long celebration of the huge impact the arts has on the nation's health and well-being. Scottish Ballet is proud to be leading on this global outreach project in collaboration with the WHO and a host of partner organisations. I’m really excited about the largescale participation performance taking place outside Scottish Parliament – it will be a true testament to all the wonderful arts health work that happens every day across Scotland."
Edinburgh International Festival CEO Francesca Hegyi said:
“The Edinburgh International Festival is proud to be part of the first ever nationwide Healing Arts campaign in Scotland. This is an important dialogue to help address health inequalities across the country and we look forward to facilitating those conversations throughout August.”
Healing Arts Scotland:
Whether it is dance classes, choir rehearsals, creative writing workshops or pot throwing, fantastic events take place every day all across Scotland that help improve people’s wellbeing. Healing Arts Scotland is a week-long celebration of these events, highlighting the joy they bring to those who take part, and their importance to the nation’s physical, mental and social health. This will be the first ever countrywide Healing Arts Week, following previous city-wide celebrations around the world, including New York, Paris, London, Venice and Jaipur.
The Opening Celebration of Healing Arts Scotland, taking place on 19 August, features over 250 performers from across Scotland in an energetic mass participation performance of music and dance outside the Scottish Parliament.
Scottish Ballet will present a specially commissioned dance piece featuring an ensemble cast of community performers, including Scottish Ballet's Youth Exchange company, NHS Lothian staff, Dance Base's PRIME Elders Dance company and Dance for Parkinson's Scotland group. They will dance to Mackay’s Memoirs by the late Scottish Celtic fusion artist Martyn Bennett, a landmark work by the GRIT Orchestra. The song has a strong connection to the Scottish Parliament itself, as it was commissioned for the opening of the Scottish Parliament building on 1 July 1999. This performance marks its 25th anniversary and is performed with live musicians from piping supergroup TRYST and the National Youth Pipe Band, under the musical guidance of GRIT Orchestra’s Greg Lawson.
Two new musicals compositions will also be debuted, by youth street band musicians Oi Musica with Glasgow-based collective Samba Ya Bamba, and the National Youth Pipe Band, in a mass moment of music making that captures the spirit and healing power of coming together through the performing arts.
The Opening Celebration will be followed by the HAS Conference in Edinburgh - two days of international industry speakers and panel discussions on the impact of healing arts activity, a conference and Wellbeing Concert in Glasgow and a series of special events in Aberdeen, Orkney and Lewis.
Events can be registered and viewed on the brand new Healing Arts Scotland website, which has an excellent interactive map showing all the brilliant events taking place across the country.
Healing Arts Scotland 2024 is led by Scottish Ballet as part of the Jameel Arts & Health Lab’s global ‘Healing Arts’ campaign in collaboration with the World Health Organisation, and will be produced together with a national coalition of organisations across culture, science, health, education and government.
Alongside Scottish Ballet and the Edinburgh International Festival, the partners helping to shape the week include Luminate, Health and Social Care Alliance (ALLIANCE), Intercultural Youth Scotland, Scottish Opera, Sistema Scotland, National Galleries of Scotland, International Teaching Artists Collaborative, Open Mind Project, Healthcare Improvement Scotland, Imaginate, Indepen-dance, Mental Health Foundation Scotland, Tonic Arts, The University of Edinburgh and Arts Culture Health & Wellbeing Scotland.
Image credit: SB HAS Hospital Film - Image by Mihaela Bodlovic
Sponsored Links
Latest Edinburgh News
Castle of Light offers special priced tickets for spectacular closing night
Experience the award-winning after-dark event at Edinburgh Castle one final time, with a special £10 ticket available for the final night (Sunday 4 January 2026).
READ MORE
Edinburgh Rugby scores new deal with city centre sports bar
Edinburgh Rugby has scored a new deal with one of the city’s most popular sports bars, which will see all the buzz from Hive Stadium pop-up in the Grassmarket.
READ MORE
A Goal So Good it is a Work of Art!
It’s a winner! A spectacular new photograph is now on show at National Galleries Scotland: Portrait to celebrate Scotland’s men reaching the FIFA World Cup 2026.
READ MORE
First Footin goes Global with Live Streaming announced from iconic venues
Edinburgh’s Hogmanay has announced the event will include live streaming for the first time, opening the New Year’s Day performances to audiences around the world.
READ MORE
Distillers Fair returns for its 25th year at the The Scotch Whisky Experience
This December, The Scotch Whisky Experience invites guests to raise a dram to a quarter-century of discovery as the Distillers’ Fair returns for its 25th year.
READ MORE
National Galleries of Scotland celebrate the return of Surrealism collection
Scotland’s world class collection of surrealist art is back home in Modern One and free to visit from 17th December 2025.
READ MORE
The Johnnie Walker Experience named Europe and The World Leading Spirit Tourism Experience again.
Two in a row: The Johnnie Walker Experience has once again been named Europe and The World’s Leading Spirit Tourism Experience at the 2025 World Travel Awards(WTA).
READ MORE
Dynamic Earth Announces Appointment of New Chief Executive Officer
Dynamic Earth is pleased to announce the appointment of Gwilym Gibbons as its new Chief Executive Officer, following a rigorous and far-reaching recruitment process.
READ MORE
Edinburghs Christmas adds themed skating sessions
Edinburgh's Christmas has added new special themed skating sessions to run throughout the season.
READ MORE
Vue Edinburgh Omni set to dazzle with new Laser by Barco technology
Film fans in Edinburgh can now enjoy the latest releases in even greater clarity and colour with the arrival of Laser by Barco projection technology at Vue Edinburgh Omni.
READ MORE
Deer Park backs Livingston FC Community young footballers with kit sponsorship
Deer Park is helping to kickstart the footballing journey of young players by sponsoring new training kits, match kits, and rain jackets for the Livingston FC Community’s 2017 age group.
READ MORE
DF Concerts & Events launches The DF Academy
DF Concerts launches the DF Academy to strengthen pathways between education and Scotland's live music & events industry.
READ MORE
Dance Base to celebrate 25th year in Grassmarket home
2026 represents a landmark year for Dance Base, Scotland’s National Centre for Dance, as the organisation celebrates 25 years in its purpose-built home in the heart of Edinburgh’s Grassmarket.
READ MORE
Edinburgh Zoo welcomes second rare sloth bear
The Royal Zoological Society of Scotland’s (RZSS) Edinburgh Zoo has welcomed a second male sloth bear, named Rajath.
READ MORE
Innis & Gunn unveils 1875 Arctic Ale in tribute to legendary North Pole expedition
A ‘KNOCK-OUT’ new beer has been unveiled inside an ice sculpture in Edinburgh to celebrate 150 years since the legendary North Pole expedition it was originally brewed for.
READ MORE
National Galleries of Scotland get their skates on to recreate iconic Skating Minister
To celebrate World Ice Skating Day on 14 December, the National Galleries of Scotland got their skates on to recreate one of the most iconic paintings, Sir Henry Raeburn’s Skating Minister.
READ MORE
Everyman presents Nationwide preview screenings of Sentimental Value
See the highly anticipated new comedy drama before anyone else, with preview screenings at Everyman cinemas nationwide.
READ MORE
Enlightenment an Immersive Experience set to transform McEwan Hall in Edinburgh
Swiss art collective PROJEKTIL brings its vivid light and sound show to Edinburgh from 31 January, following acclaimed runs in Glasgow, Liverpool and Leeds
READ MORE
Edinburgh International Book Festival and Celtic Connections unveil major new partnership
Edinburgh International Book Festival and Celtic Connections unveil major new partnership bringing together Scotland's most celebrated writers and musicians!
READ MORE
Hogmanay celebrations at Lost Shore set to kick 2026 off with a bang
Lost Shore Surf Resort, Europe’s largest inland surf destination, is gearing up for a spectacular start to 2026 with a packed programme of festive events.
READ MORE
Chief Executive of The Scotch Whisky Experience awarded highest international honours in the whisky world
The Scotch Whisky Experience is proud to announce that Chief Executive Susan Morrison has been inducted into the Whisky Magazine Hall of Fame,
READ MORE
DF Concerts & Events celebrates a year of sustainable and inclusive events
DF Concerts & Events is celebrating the success of their sustainability initiatives delivered across their major summer events in 2025.
READ MORE
Isaac McHale and Stuart Ralston Burns Night in Edinburgh
On Sunday 25th January, for one night only, Isaac McHale returns to his native Scotland for a Burns Night dinner with Stuart Ralston at his Michelin-starred Lyla.
READ MORE
Funded Debut Fringe for Scottish comedians returns for 2nd year
Scottish comedy producer Brass Tacks Comedy is once again offering one Scottish or Scotland-based comedian a funded Edinburgh Festival Fringe debut for 2026, supported by Red Bull UK.
READ MORE
Celebrate the New Year with a sparkling experience at The Ivy Edinburgh
With toasts to celebrate the new year breaking around the world, the experience is not to be missed!
READ MORE
Slice of kindness fuels staff at hub of Scottish charities
Staff at Norton Park in Leith, home to more than 20 charities, can now tuck into freshly made pizza with generous discounts, thanks to a local partnership with community-minded business, Pizza Geeks.
READ MORE
Big Fat Bingo of The Year shows announced
Christmas is coming in fast, and hot on its heels is the surreal, off-kilter period between Xmas and NYE... Bongo's Bingo have got just the tonic to help see out the final days of 2025!
READ MORE
Discover December Events at Virgin Hotels Edinburgh
From Christmas events to Artist in Residence, discover Virgin Hotels Edinburgh's events taking place in this festive season!
READ MORE
Scottish jazz talent in tune as award winners unveiled
The Scottish Jazz Awards 2025 celebrated the cream of the crop in the jazz scene on Sunday night, honouring outstanding artists and contributors at a memorable ceremony in Glasgow.
READ MORE
Anna Campbell Jones launches small batch Scottish botanical rum distilled in Glasgow
Interior designer, BBC Scotland's Home of the Year judge and entrepreneur Anna Campbell-Jones has released her first spirit.
READ MORESponsored Links
Sponsored Links