European Festival of Art for Mental Health

THE NECESSITY OF A EUROPEAN FESTIVAL OF ART FOR MENTAL HEALTH

The NEFELE initiative has as a top priority the organization of a European Festival of Art for Mental Health.
The beneficial relationship between the Arts and mental health has been well documented, the NEFELE festival is working to develop this relationship further.
- New therapeutic approaches to mental health using the Arts have been developed and have been shown to have an impact on recovery.
- Art can be used to challenge attitudes, prejudices and stigma around mental health. Art pushes social boundaries in a unique way.
- Art can help to maintain your mental health as a recreational activity and as a creative outlet.
Research has shown that a wide number of mental health arts organisations exists within the EU, with different approaches and methods. It has however been noted that some countries have a lower number of such organisations, this is something that the NEFELE project has the potential to change.
The benefits of the NEFELE European Mental Health Arts Festival will be as follows:
- the reinforcement of local, existing, mental health art initiatives
- the encouragement of their development, as there is sizeable room for growth throughout Europe in this area
- the enrichment of the organizations with several activities
- the transfer of expertise and fellow peer advice alongside the exchange of good practice and policies
- providing a platform for cross cultural exchange that could help reduce organizations’ costs
- the growth of work aimed towards eliminating social stigma
- the contribution of formatting strong and unified European politics regarding the combination of both fields, Art and Mental Health
In conclusion, we will briefly refer to the main aims of a European Festival
- Its function as a ‘magnifying glass’, which will focus on the issues of Mental Health, and
- The reinforcement of the relevance and importance of both mental health organisations and of the artist’s role in the field of mental health in the EU.