Monday, 18th May 2026 – Creativity and Wellbeing Week 2026
Monday, 18th May 2026 – Creativity and Wellbeing Week 2026
As part of Creativity and Wellbeing Week 2026, London Arts and Health presents an inspiring and timely event titled “What does Critical Hope feel like?”an afternoon dedicated to reflection, dialogue, and creative exchange within the evolving landscape of health and care.
Taking place on Monday, 18 May, from 2 PM to 4 PM at the Buffini Chao Deck, National Theatre, London, this free-to-attend session invites practitioners, artists, and communities to come together and explore what hope looks like in challenging times.
Exploring Critical Hope in Acute Times
This year’s festival theme, Critical Hope for Acute Times, responds to the growing pressures facing the health and care sectors. From impending NHS redundancies and unstable funding for creative health initiatives to wider concerns around climate change and planetary health, the context is one of uncertainty and urgency.
This event creates space to engage with these realities—while also asking how creativity and collective thinking can help shape resilient, forward-looking responses.
Curated by ARCH
The session is curated by Advocates for Representation in Creative Health (ARCH), a collective formed in 2024 to bring together creative health leaders in London who identify as Black, Brown, Asian, or of mixed heritage.
ARCH works to:
- Increase diversity within the creative health workforce
- Expand awareness and access to creative health opportunities across London’s communities
Their involvement ensures that conversations around critical hope are grounded in lived experience, representation, and equity.
Event Highlights
The afternoon will feature a dynamic programme of conversations, panel discussions, and creative engagement.
Key sessions include:
- Tola Dabiri in conversation with Patrick Vernon
- A panel discussion chaired by Jemilea Wisdom-Baako, joined by:
- Maz Koshika-Morris (Represent Recovery Network Artist)
- Francis Augusto (Culturally Mindful Artist, Wandsworth Borough of Culture)
- Tony Cealy (Legislative Theatre and Creative Health practitioner)
The event will conclude with a reflective, eco-based creative health activity led by artist Selene Heath, offering attendees a chance to actively engage with the theme.
A Space to Connect and Re-energise
Designed as both a reflective and interactive experience, the event encourages networking, knowledge-sharing, and creative exploration. It aims to bring the sector together in a space of “critical hope”—supporting practitioners to reconnect with their work and envision new possibilities for the future of creative health.
Event Details
- Date: Monday, 18 May 2026
- Time: 2:00 PM – 4:00 PM (arrival from 1:45 PM)
- Location: Buffini Chao Deck, National Theatre, London
- Entry: Free
The venue is fully wheelchair accessible, and attendees are welcome to bring refreshments from the theatre café.