COP28 Healing Arts Week

COP28 Healing Arts Week was an official partnership between the Lab and the Conference of the Parties (COP). Over three days, meetings and events amplified the critical influence that the arts can have on both human and planetary health, at the world’s largest climate policy convening, in the year of its first-ever dedicated Health Day. Panel talks included Arts for Health in the Face of Climate Change; Safeguarding our Planet: Biodiversity, Climate and One Health; and Arts, Health and Climate: Choreographing a Climate of Wellbeing. A private reception in association with the WHO Foundation at the Jameel residence was attended by, among others, Toyin Saraki (Founding Director, Wellbeing), Anil Soni (CEO, WHO Foundation), and Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (Director-General, WHO) – on the heels of his significant announcement at COP28 that the climate crisis is also a health crisis, declaring: “It’s well overdue that 27 COPs have gone without a serious discussion of health. No more.”  Dr Tedros thanked the Lab for leading the way in global arts and health efforts.

1 December | Arts for Health in the Face of Climate Change

Jameel Arts Centre, Dubai

This conversation took place as part of the Community Jameel & Afikra COP28 Live Conversations, to amplify local communities, youth, experts, and non-experts' voices in an intergenerational forum about climate action. The panel was moderated by Cléa Daridan (Community Jameel curator) and Mikey Muhanna (Founder and Executive Director of Afikra). Panel participants included Stephen Stapleton  (Founding Co-Director, JAHL), Uns Kattan (Deputy Director, Community Jameel), Dr Marina Romanello (Executive Director, Lancet Countdown), and Nadia Christidi (researcher, writer, and arts practitioner). 

2 December | Safeguarding our Planet: Biodiversity, Climate, and One Health

COP28 Blue Zone

Christopher Bailey (Arts & Health Lead, WHO, and Founding Co-Director, JAHL) spoke on this panel organized by Aeon Collective about the role of the arts in areas ranging from biodiversity to human wellbeing. Other panellists included Prince Sultan bin Fahad (Chairman, Saudi Water Sports and Diving Federation), Princess Hala bint Khaled (President, Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation), Raquel Peixoto (Associate Professor of Microbiology, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology), Richard Bush (Chief Environment officer, NEOM), and Catherine Cone (Environment and Sustainability Director, Royal Commission for AlUla).

3 December | Arts, Health and Climate: Choreographing a Climate of Wellbeing

COP28 Green Zone

To mark the inaugural Health Day at COP28, the Lab, in collaboration with Aeon Collective and Impact One, co-hosted a high-level panel. The focus was on how the arts can translate the complex science of climate change and its profound impact on both human and planetary health. Panellists included Refik Anadol (artist and designer), Princess Mashael bint Saud Al-Shalan (Co-Founder, Aeon Collective), Manal Ataya (cultural diplomacy expert), and Christopher Bailey (Founding Co-Director, JAHL).

3 December | COP28 Private Reception

Jameel Private Residence

Community Jameel and the WHO Foundation hosted the Arts, Health & Climate Reception honouring the Lab and its work over 2023, and to honour the collaboration between the Lab and WHO. The reception was attended by the Lab team, senior policy officials, and arts and climate representatives.
At the reception, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (Director-General,  WHO) said, “The arts can be a powerful ally in our quest to improve health for all. I have seen the impact of the arts on community well-being, and I’m very pleased that this collaboration will help us understand the science of that impact in order to improve the lives of people from all backgrounds.”