Healing Arts Birmingham by Birmingham City Council and the Jameel Arts & Health Lab in collaboration with the World Health Organization, is a landmark new city-wide programme positioning Birmingham at the forefront of England’s thriving creative health movement - and it's taking place this week.

Taking place from Monday 22 June to Friday 26 June 2026, the week-long initiative will bring together the arts, culture and public health sectors through a diverse programme of research symposia, exhibitions, concerts, community events, policy roundtables, and guided cultural tours exploring the role of arts in shaping healthier and more connected communities.

Building on the success of Healing Arts’ global campaign, including recent activations in New York, Barcelona, and Singapore, Birmingham will become the first city in England to deliver a dedicated Healing Arts programme at this scale, with events taking place across neighbourhoods, cultural venues and community spaces throughout the city.

The programme will include both free and ticketed events, creating opportunities for audiences across Birmingham and beyond to engage with the city’s creative health sector in meaningful and accessible ways. Events will be co-led by a coalition of local, national and international collaborators including Arts Council England, Ikon Gallery, University of Birmingham, B:Music, Midland Arts Centre, National Centre for Creative Health, National Arts in Hospitals Network, CULTURUNNERS, New York University, Hospital Rooms, Department of Health and Social Care and Agder Kunstakademi.

At a time of accelerating global interest in the health benefits of the arts, Healing Arts Birmingham proposes culture, and artistic engagement as a core pillar of public health. It will include the launch of a national policy brief, UK Arts & Health: The Time is Now, published by the Jameel Arts & Health Lab in collaboration with the World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe, and National Centre for Creative Health with support from Arts Council England; and coincide with the 2026 release of Professor Daisy Fancourt’s best-selling book Art Cure: The Science of How the Arts Transforms our Health; and a landmark report from University College London linking engagement in arts with a slower pace of ageing. Against this backdrop, Healing Arts Birmingham will be an important platform for national policy dialogue on creative health.

For more information, visit: healingartsbirmingham.org