Art and Culture as Therapy at the Symposium for "Practitioners in Arts and Health" in MoMA Nov 18–20, 2025

It was a real privilege to be invited to take part in the Symposium for "Practitioners in Arts and Health" at The Museum of Modern Art in MoMA (Nov 18–20, 2025) and present scientific results of the project Art and Culture as Therapy and the network of museum projects in Iceland. Health and museum professionals, caregivers and artists met, shared and exchanged knowledge and experience, mainly about Dementia. An invaluable experience for all - celebrating the 20th anniversary of "Meet me at MoMA" program! 

 

What I take with me are many things, - the sessions on laugh, story-making, the great work of the artist Janine Antoni. The most immediate thoughts are that many museums offer specific programs for caregivers and they GREATLY appreciate that care shown to them. Also a question was brought up about how medical students are taught empathy. Often actors come into play, here museums could also play an important role.

 

From the perspective of the medicine and key speakers:

Susan Magsamen is the founder and executive director of the International Arts + Mind Lab (IAM Lab), Center for Applied Neuroaesthetics, at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and a faculty member in the Department of Neurology.

Ad, Mary Sano, PhD, is a Professor of Psychiatry at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Director of the Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center.

 

A roundtable of international perspectives on Global Insights and Cultural Programming designed for individuals with Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia, was facilitated by Lara Schweller, Associate Educator of Access Programs and Initiatives, The Museum of Modern Art. 

Featuring: Halldóra Arnardóttir, PhD Art Historian and part-time teacher at Iceland University of the Arts; Adriane Boag, Program Convener, Access and Inclusion, National Gallery of Australia; Cristina Bucci, Coordinator MTA System, Museum of Tuscany Alzheimer’s; Evi Kaisari, Schools & Community Engagement Senior Manager, Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center.

Art and Culture as Therapy as part of Treatment and Care for Dementia through Person Centered Medicine

The project Art and Culture as Therapy was included at the 13th International Congress of Person Centered Medicine in Reykjavík 6/7 November 2025. The organisers felt there IS a need to introduce “Art as a therapeutic tool” for person centred treatment. 

The 13th annual international congress on Person Centered Medicine was planned for by the Icelandic Alzheimer Society in collaboration with the International College of Person Centered Medicine. Held in Reykjavik, it’s main theme was “Person Centered Medicine and Care in Dementia.” The field of dementia is person centered in a different ways from most other fields in medicine as the person in the center is progressively loosing cognitive abilities. The person centered approach also needs to take into account the different stages of cognitive deterioration.

Other lectures on "Art as a Therapeutic Tool” were Michael Timmons who spoke about the "playlistforlife" project in UK and Pro. Werdie van Staden at the University of Pretoria in South Africa who spoke about the use of art from the perspective of philosopy.

 

Inclusive Museums for well-being and health through the creation of a new shared memory

The Museum Studies at University of Iceland, with the rest of the collaborative Universities has completed this Erasmus +project!

The Inclusive Memory project aims at promoting the building of a common shared social memory realised through a museum based social inclusive system, through the link Art-Health-Wellbeing. It is based on the concept which sees museums as teaching and learning environments, and Universities as active social actors, both strengthening their role of cultural integration facilitators. The core idea of the project stems from the potential benefits of the cooperation between HEIs, Health and Social care Institutions and Museums, as a strategic partnership to advance in museum education as well as in museum experience in order to support the design, realization, monitoring and evaluation of art-based activities and actions specifically addressed to people with social care and health problems.

https://www.inclusivememory.unimore.it

We hope you enjoy the reading and that it turns out to be of inspiration for your projects and programs!