THE first Accra Arts & Health Festival wrapped up after a week of events in Accra. It brought together artists, healthcare workers, researchers, educators, and policymakers to look at how the arts can support public health and wellbeing.

The festival took place from July 20 to 26 and was inspired by the Global South Arts & Health Initiative, started by the Global Arts in Medicine Fellowship (GAIMF), which now connects over 45 cities worldwide.

GAIMF worked with Knutsford University, the British Council Accra, Young Leaders for Arts and Health, and the National Health Students’ Association of Ghana (NAHSAG) to organize events in hospitals, universities, cultural districts, and public spaces throughout Accra.

One of the festival’s key achievements was an agreement between Knutsford University and GAIMF to create Ghana’s first creative health curriculum for nursing students. This partnership will bring arts-based care, empathy-building, and creative wellbeing practices into nursing education.

Professor Anthony Kwame Ahiawodzi, vice-chancellor of Knutsford University, said this partnership will help make the university’s nursing school a leader in arts-in-health education. It will also give future nurses practical skills in visual arts, music, drama, movement, and storytelling to use in patient care.

The festival named the Accra Art District as Africa’s first Creative Health Corridor. This new cultural zone will host exhibitions, installations, workshops, and community programs to show how creativity connects to physical, mental, and social wellbeing.

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Over the seven days, the festival included a guided tour of the Accra Psychiatric Hospital, a Pan-African discussion on youth mental health, an academic symposium, clinical workshops, public exhibitions, and an arts and health forum at the British Council. It also featured the GRACE-Epi Workshop, supported by the Wellcome Discovery Award, which introduced participants to research on the arts, ageing, and wellbeing.

Youth involvement was another important part of the festival. In the first ‘Health Students Got Talents’event, students used creative practice to support health advocacy. Medical students from the University of Ghana also developed three pilot creative health projects. The festival awarded over GHS100,000 in scholarships to early-career researchers, practitioners, and students to help them access international creative health training.

An Arts & Health Expo highlighted organisations working in Ghana’s creative economy and offered free health screenings. At the same time, a Creative Health Ideation Lab taught participants about design-thinking methods to tackle health challenges.

The week ended with a global virtual closing ceremony. Keynote speaker Dr Khadija Owusu spoke about how working together across the arts, health, and education sectors can help build healthier communities.

Dr Kunle Adewale, chair and global development lead of the Global South Arts & Health Initiative, called the first festival “a milestone in Ghana’s cultural and health landscape” and said it shows how working together across fields can improve wellbeing and shape the future of public health.

Bishop John Kwamena Essel, pro-chancellor and founder of Knutsford University, said the agreement with GAIMF is an important step forward for creative health education and innovation in Ghana.

The festival was backed by a wide range of academic institutions, cultural organisations, and civil society partners, such as the University of Ghana Medical School, the University of Glasgow, the Commonwealth Leadership Institute, ArtGlo Africa, Impact Africa Alliance, and the Accra Art District.