Mental Health, Well-Being, and International Cultural Mobility

On The Move presented a Mobility Webinar on Mental Health, Well-Being and International Cultural Mobility livestreaming on the global, commons-based, peer-produced HowlRound TV network on Tuesday 26 September 2023 at 9 a.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4) / 2 p.m. BST (London, UTC +1) / 15:00 CEST (Oslo, UTC +2).

As part of its pluriannual program co-funded by the European Union, On the Move twice a year proposes Mobility Webinars to investigate collectively international artistic and cultural mobility. Together with partners, the network conceives these online sessions as knowledge building and peer-to-peer exchange, strengthening training activities and inviting guest experts to share their lived experience and views in order to help us embrace different perspectives on key transversal topics such as green mobility, inclusive and accessible opportunities, digital mobility, etc.

For this fourth Cultural Mobility Webinar, On the Move explores the positive and negative impacts of international cultural mobility on the mental health and well-being of artists and culture professionals. Many studies and cultural initiatives at local, national or European levels have investigated the various contributions of arts and culture to the well-being and good health, including mental health, of the population. Significant research projects have established clear and concrete evidence of how our field supports the sustainability and resilience of our societies, particularly when targeting vulnerable communities. However, very few literatures have investigated the well-being and mental health of the creative work force itself.

In recent years, this theme has gradually come into the spotlight when addressing other burning issues in the culture field: the impacts of gender-based violence on mental health and well-being; of the poor work conditions of arts professionals; of discrimination against diverse, parenting, or disabled culture workers; of the psycho-social stressors of refugee artists; of climate change related anxieties and contradictory injunctions; etc.

Cross-border mobility is often seen as a key component of a professional trajectory, not only because of the knowledge and cultural growth it brings, but also because of the economic sustainability it can support. The international dimension is particularly necessary and important to the artists and culture professionals that don’t have access to such opportunities offered in their local/national ecosystem. They have to navigate the many paradoxes and tensions linked to the realities of cultural mobility: balancing work and private life while traveling frequently away from home and their family, developing financial sustainability while being dependent of foreign gatekeepers and funders, applying to international opportunities while facing visa rejections, fleeing dangers and relocating in a safer country while not having the recognized status or knowledge to operate in this new context.

Thanks to our panelists, this webinar allows us to better identify the psychosocial risks linked to international cultural mobility and address existing inequalities while discussing a more person-centered care.

Preliminary schedule

15:00: Welcome words

15:10 - 16:25: Panel discussion and exchange with participants
Moderator: Yohann Floch, Directors of Operations (On the Move)
Panelists: Heather O’Donnell, director, the Green Room (TGR); Joris Janssens, PhD, expert culture and regional development, IDEA Consult; Krystel Khoury, PhD, grants coordinator, Mophradat

16:25: Conclusions and perspectives

16:30: Closure of the Mobility Webinar

For more insights on the program, the panelists, and the moderator, download the full program and panelists’ biographies.

About HowlRound TV

HowlRound TV is a global, commons-based, peer-produced, open-access livestreaming and video archive project stewarded by the nonprofit HowlRound. HowlRound TV is a free and shared resource for live conversations and performances relevant to the world’s performing-arts and cultural fields. Its mission is to break geographic isolation, promote resource sharing, and develop our knowledge commons collectively. Anyone can participate in a community of peer organizations revolutionizing the flow of information, knowledge, and access in our field by becoming a producer and co-producing with us. Learn more by going to our participate page. For any other queries, email [email protected] or call Vijay Mathew at +1 917.686.3185 Signal. View the video archive of past events.