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Introducing HEARD – Health, Arts and Design research hub

Students experimenting in the Grow Lab, Central Saint Martins
  • Written byCommunications Team
  • Published date 30 March 2021
Students experimenting in the Grow Lab, Central Saint Martins
"Students experimenting in the Grow Lab, Central Saint Martins, on the Hacking Hearts Scientist in Residence project, November 2019. © Hacking Hearts CSM/TiTech 2019”

Bringing together artists, researchers, students, and practitioners from across the UAL community, HEARD (HEAlth, ARts and Design) is a new research hub focusing on art and design and their relationship to health.

The research projects undertaken by the group aim to be empathetic, ethical and driven by a collective urgency to place Art and Design research as a critically engaged agent within the Medical Humanities, and in direct engagement with service providers in active healthcare contexts. HEARD is curious about aesthetic, social, and political ideals within health and medicine and the role art and design can play in querying established ideologies.

Since its formation in 2019 as a series of discussions lead by Emeritus Professor at LCC, John Wynne, and a UAL wide gathering in 2020, HEARD has been developing into the collaborative research hub that it is today building on a rich variety of practice in this area already happening at UAL.

Referring to HEARD's collectively written mission statement, Anne-Marie Creamer, Pathway Leader BA Fine Art Professional Diploma at CSM and Convener at HEARD said:

“We engage creatively with visual, cultural and socially dynamic media to critically respond to institutions and histories of medicine and clinical practice, global health and bodies as producers of knowledge.

HEARD seeks to engage with well-being and ill-being as they are entangled and mutually influential”

The research group’s aim is to find the right questions, tell new stories and shape a more equal future, something they say is now in focus given the COVID-19 health crisis and the period of profound societal challenge and change.

HEARD will be primarily looking at:

  • Art and design in relation to health
  • Aesthetic, social, and political ideals within health and medicine
  • Querying ideologies in relation to health
  • Well-being and ill-being as they are entangled and mutually influential.
  • Institutions and histories of medicine and clinical practice
  • Global health and bodies as producers of knowledge.

HEARD Currently has a 15 member working group, and a further 78 researchers across the UAL community.

There’s lots more to come from HEARD, including taking part in UALs Research Season this March. The group is working towards holding a public event later this year as well as working with Post Graduate Students who want to research under the remit of HEARD.

For more information on HEARD, contact heardadmin@arts.ac.uk.

You can also read the full HEARD mission statement.