EIC Brandy Schillace speaks with Victoria Hume, Director of the UK’s Culture, Health and Wellbeing Alliance and a Research Associate in the medical humanities at WiSER. Hume serves as an arts manager in the NHS for 15 years, and spent four-and-a-half years at Wits initiating a series of arts and health collaborations, including a new music-in-hospitals programme. Her 2016 EP, Closing (released on Lost Map records), featured on Lauren Laverne’s Best of 2016 playlist (BBC Radio6 Music). What better person to discuss the role of arts and culture for health and well-being?
In this wide-ranging interview, Hume talks about the challenges faced by arts, and also the unique role they have in our lives and upon our health. Hume also speaks to us about the most recent special issue, December 2019, on health humanities in Africa. That project, and her current work as Director of the Alliance, combine to provide a fuller understanding of culture and arts in England but also far beyond. We hope you will listen in, and then also join us at journal for Hume’s article and also her musical accompaniment on the blog.
Listen to the interview here.
Postscript: note that Alliance’s first annual conference, the Cultures of Health and Wellbeing Conference (21st–22nd March 2019), will now take place at the Great North Museum: Hancock in Newcastle, and not in Leeds as stated in the podcast.
- For more information about the conference, visit the website here.
- To book a place at this conference, visit the Eventbrite page here.