Welcome
Welcome to the Abstract Publications of the ISfAM Congress 2026
“The Healing Arts – Forging Alliances of Arts & Medicine”
Welcome to the abstract publications of the International Society for Arts & Medicine (ISfAM) and the second international ISfAM congress “The Healing Arts – Forging Alliances of Arts & Medicine”, which took place June 18 to 20, 2026, at Marta’s Gästehaus, Berlin, Germany and online.
The International Society for Arts and Medicine (ISfAM) was established in 2023 to connect arts and medicinie scientifically, therapeutically and with societal perspective. ISfAM is a forum for scientists, medical doctors, artists, therapists, and individuals, organizations and sponsors working or interested in this field. The shared commitment is improving and sustaining health through the arts, including visual arts, music, dance, other performing arts, literature and architecture.
The relationship between the arts and medicine is gaining momentum. Across healthcare systems, research institutions and cultural spaces worldwide, artistic practices are increasingly recognized not only as supplementary but as structurally essential for health, healing and prvention. The congress brought together medical professionals, artists, researchers, practitioners and students from around the world to present, discuss and further develop healing arts.
In the light of basic global challenges – including post-pandemic burden, wars, humanitarian and ecological crises, transformation by artificial intelligence – the congress was dedicated themes of resilience, repair and innovation. The five main plenary themes were: Structures and spaces of care – rethinking health systems; Arts in times of crises – collective repair and cultural resilience; Lifelines – arts and care across the human lifespan; Embodied research – practice as site of knowledge; Future impact, practice and policy – a collective agenda.
A central ambition of this congress was to connect arts and medicine and close dialogue of artists and medical professionals.
The pre-conference day on June 18 opened the congress with workshops and a public lecture in the evening. The main conference program on June 19 and 20 featured five plenary sessions and approximately 200 presentations, organized across 17 thematic blocks, as well as a guided poster session. Throughout the congress, a dedicated artistic space offered exhibition-based experiences, and artistic contributions were embedded into the program in various forms.
This publication gathers approximately 200 abstracts and contributions presented across all formats. It serves as both a record of a rapidly growing field and an invitation to continued collaboration. The plenary program featured leading voices from the international arts and medicine community, including Nora Amin, Daisy Fancourt, Christopher Bailey, Jörg Fingerhut, Sandra Noeth, Hod Orkibi, Cornelia Kiss, Kai Lehikoinen, Mei Rui, Nisha Sanjani, Einat Shuper Engelhard, Debora Sloboda, Iryna Uzhakova, Maja Vulkan and Claudia Witt.
Edited by Prof. Dr. Stefan Willich, Prof. Dr. Anne Berghöfer and Vanessa Weiss
Scientific Committee: Annemarie Abbing, Mazda Adli, Christopher Bailey, Anne Berghöfer (co-president), Sasha Bergstrom-Katz, Benno Brinkhaus, Daisy Fancourt (co-president), Iva Fattorini, Lukas Feireiss, Josephine Geipel, Wolfram Herrmann, Vicky Karkou, Michele Luchetti, Benjamin O’Brien, Hod Orkibi, Thomas Ostermann, Adak Pirmorady-Sehouli, Naomi Press, Sabine Koch (co-president), Einat Shuper Engelhard, Nisha Sajnani, Hannah Strohmeier, Rainbow Tin Hung Ho, Maya Vulcan, Cor Wagenaar, Stefan Willich (co-president), Claudia Witt, Rebecca Zarate (co-president)
