Healing Arts is a global campaign by the Jameel Arts & Health Lab in collaboration with the World Health Organization
Healing Arts is a global campaign by the Jameel Arts & Health Lab in collaboration with the World Health Organization
8 December | 12.30 - 5PM | 9 December 2025 | 10.30AM - 6PM Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music, National University of Singapore
The NUS symposium opens the Healing Arts Singapore week with a focus on research, practice, and policy at the intersection of arts, health, and wellbeing. It brings together leaders from research, healthcare, arts and culture, and government to explore how the arts can strengthen wellbeing, reimagine care, and inspire systemic change. Through dialogues, presentations, and workshops, participants will engage with emerging evidence, innovations, and collaborations that link arts participation with healthy ageing, youth mental health, and inclusive communities. The discussions will also spotlight growing efforts to integrate the arts into healthcare and community systems through social prescribing. The NUS symposium culminates with the launch of the THRivE (Tools for Health Research and Evaluation in arts and heritage) toolkit — Asia’s first freely available e-book supporting more rigorous evaluation in arts, heritage and health — followed by a celebratory THRivE reception with live music and canapés.
HASG opening session with Mr Baey Yam Keng (Minister of State, Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth & Ministry of Transport) as our Guest-of-Honour. Welcome Address by HASG co-organisers and Ms. April Siwon Lee (Technical Officer, World Health Organization Western Pacific Region), and others, with keynotes by Ms. Aruna Johnson (Director, Arts Ecosystem Group, NAC), Mr. Lee Kwok Ming (Group Director, Ageing Planning Office, Ministry of Health), and Dr. Nisha Sajnani (Professor, New York University).
Join moderator Dr. Joanne Yoong and panelists Prof. Kua Ee Heok, Prof. Emi Kiyota, Ms. Ngiam Su-Lin, Dr. Sharon Chang, and Charmaine Tan as they discuss how Singapore can design, implement and sustain the systems, spaces, and policies needed to embed the arts in healthy ageing. This session bridges research, practice, and policy for a more creative and caring future.
Explore studies and programmes that link the arts with healthy ageing. Featuring speakers from NUS, NTU, National Gallery Singapore, and other partners, these concurrent sessions showcase innovations in music, dance, theatre, and visual arts that enhance wellbeing, connection, and care.
Celebrating the transformative power of music through an inspiring evening of performances—featuring Chen Zhangyi's LILY, the YST Orchestral Institute, pianist Dr. Azariah Tan, Arts Fission, Beautiful Mind Charity and The TENG Ensemble. Blending classical masterpieces with contemporary creations, the programme takes you on a musical journey through themes of resilience and renewal.
Youth mental health is an increasingly pressing issue, and creative arts programmes or interventions can offer engaging and effective ways to support the wellbeing of young people. In a panel session co-hosted with the Institute of Mental Health (IMH), Prof Daniel Fung, Ms. Fontane Liang, Ms. Sandra Cheah and Ms. Jane Goh to discuss how arts-based interventions or programmes can foster mental wellness in youths.
This session will also feature a discussion of the forthcoming World Health Organisation (WHO) Policy Brief on ‘The Role of the Arts in Supporting Youth Mental Health.’ This segment will be presented by two co-directors of the Jameel Arts & Health Lab, Dr. Nils Fietje (Technical Officer, WHO Regional Office for Europe) and Dr. Nisha Sajnani (Professor, New York University).
Join The Red Pencil (Singapore) for an experiential art therapy session to discover how creative expression supports emotional well-being. The session includes an introduction to The Red Pencil, an overview of art therapy, stories of how art therapy has helped youths and other communities, and two guided art activities (no art experience needed!) done comfortably at your seat.
The Red Pencil (Singapore) is an Institution of Public Character and a registered
charity founded in Singapore in 2011 with a mission to bring the benefits of creative
arts therapy (drawing, music, movement and dance) to less privileged children, adults
and families who have been through overwhelming and traumatic life circumstances.
The process of creative arts therapy allows our service users to express the
unspeakable, experience release and relief, find new resources inside and outside,
gain self-confidence and new perspectives, and feel empowered to move on towards
a more hopeful and happier life. Visit www.redpencil.sg for more information.
How can the arts become a meaningful part of healthcare? This thought-provoking session brings together leaders from the World Health Organization (WHO), SingHealth, and the arts community to discuss how Arts-on-Prescription programs can transform wellbeing and care delivery.
Join Ms. April Lee, Prof. Kheng Hock Lee, Dr. Michael Tan, Ms. Adeline Kwan Li Feng, Mr. Lim Yuan Kang, and partners as they share insights from research, clinical practice, and creative engagement. Together, they will explore how the arts can be effectively integrated into person-centred models of care, bridging the worlds of art, health, and community.
Discover how arts, heritage, and health programs can be effectively evaluated using evidence-based approaches. The THRivE Toolkit (Tools for Health Research and Evaluation in arts and heritage) is a comprehensive digital resource designed to guide practitioners in measuring the impact of arts and heritage programmes. All attendees will receive complimentary access to the toolkit (in digital format).
This project is supported by the National Heritage Board and Tote Board, with the preliminary version developed through funding from the National Arts Council.
The day will conclude with a canapé reception and live music — a chance to celebrate, connect, and exchange ideas with others passionate about the intersection of the arts and health.
Technical Officer, Behavioural and Cultural Insights Unit, WHO Regional Office for Europe; Founding Co-Director, Jameel Arts & Health Lab
Technical Officer, WHO Regional Office for the Western Pacific
Global Director, Healing Arts; Director of International Engagement, Jameel Arts & Health Lab
CEO and Senior Consultant Department of Developmental Psychiatry; Adjunct Associate Professor, Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, Duke NUS Medical School and Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine; Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist and the Chief Executive Officer, Institute of Mental Health
Research Director, Culture Academy; Chief Research Officer and Chief Data Officer, National Arts Council
Group Director, Ageing Planning Office, Ministry of Health, Singapore
Deputy Director (Healthy Ageing), Agency for Integrated Care
Director, Literary Arts and Access & Community Engagement, National Arts Council
Founding Director, Centre for Music and Health, Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music, National University of Singapore
Co-Founder and Executive Director, ArtsWok Collaborative
Deputy Director, Community & Access, National Gallery Singapore
Head, Strategy & Partnership Development, Stroke Support Station
Dean, Research and Knowledge Exchange, University of the Arts Singapore, Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts
Vice Dean (Performance & Research), Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music, National University of Singapore
Emeritus Professor, Department of Psychological Medicine, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore
Principal Investigator and Research Assistant Professor, Department of Psychological Medicine, National University of Singapore
Provost’s Chair Professor of Psychology; Professor of Psychology and Medicine; Head of Psychology at Nanyang Technological University; President of the International End of Life Doula Association; Board Director of the International Work Group on Death, Dying and Bereavement
Associate Professor, National Institute of Education - Visual & Performing Arts, Nanyang Technological University
Assistant Professor, Clinician Scientist (Population Health), Alice Lee Centre for Nursing Studies, National University of Singapore
Assistant Professor, Linguistics and Multilingual Studies, School of Humanities, Nanyang Technological University
Head, Communications and New Media Department; Thematic Co-lead, Centre for Computational Social Science and Humanities, National University of Singapore
Associate Professor, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine and College of Design and Engineering; Deputy Executive Director, Centre for Population Health, National University of Singapore
Adjunct Senior Lecturer for ‘Theatre and Community Engagement’, National University of Singapore; Adjunct Lecturer, School of Arts Management, Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts and Arts Business Management, Ngee Ann Polytechnic
PhD Student, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore
Research Coordinator, Centre for Music and Health, Yong Siew Toh Conservatory, National University Singapore
Associate Principal Harpist, Singapore Chinese Orchestra; Senior Music Therapist, Institute of Mental Health
Music Therapist, Licensed Counselor, President, Malaysian Music Therapy Association
Assistant Manager, Community and Access, National Gallery Singapore
Deputy Director, Creative & Youth Services, Singapore Association for Mental Health
Programme Manager and Art Therapist, The Red Pencil Singapore
Art Therapist, The Red Pencil Singapore
Art therapist, Art educator and Artist, Art Therapists' Association Singapore
Art Therapist and Artist, Art Therapists' Association Singapore
Senior Peer Support Specialist, Institute of Mental Health
