Art Worlds Apart: Art as Boundary Object between the Arts & Health Field and Art History

The purpose of the 3-year project Art Worlds Apart (2022-2024) is to investigate from an art historical perspective the systematic uses and reflections on art as a vehicle for wellbeing within the emerging field of Art & Health.

This is important since Art & Health is a fast-growing field in a core societal sector, health and social care, and its attitudes and expectations towards the arts will likely influence many people’s meetings with and experiences of art.Through analyses of policy documents and research publications (written 2005-2020), field studies (to be conducted 2022-2023), as well as by arranging and analyzing dialogue meetings between art historians and health care professionals working in the field (to be conducted 2023-2024), this project will explore A) which attitudes and expectations towards art characterize the Art & Health field, B) which types of knowledge about art are seen as important, and C) how these attitudes affect what type of art that is prioritized and how it is mediated.

The project will also investigate what it means that the Art & Health field has emerged and functions as a separate art world to the field of Art History, which traditionally manages knowledge about art.

Why do the fields of Art & Health and Art History currently constitute art worlds apart, and can/should the divide between them be bridged? The project will result in a monograph as well as at least two research articles and three conference presentations.