Artwork title, Artist name, YYYY

The Culture and Health platform fund for the Maltese islands

Invalid deadline format: April 7, 2026 12:00 pm

Deadline

The deadline to apply is April 7, 2026 at

12:00 pm.

Late applications will not be accepted.

apply now

The CultureAndHealth platform fund for the Maltese islands is part of a four-year international initiative aimed at supporting emerging European artists working at the intersection of culture, health, care, and the social sectors. The CultureAndHealth platform is co-funded by the European Union, Culture Action Europe and 14 European partner organisations, including ARC Research & Consultancy as the Maltese partner for the platform. The key benefits of the CultureAndHealth platform for artists include:

  • Financial support for projects that bridge culture and health; 
  • International mobility and increased visibility; 
  • Trainings and capacity-building initiatives; 
  • Peer support and networking opportunities; 
  • Showcasing events highlighting artists’ work.

For more information about the CultureAndHealth platform, you can consult the online launch event video. A collection of projects in the culture, health, and well-being fields can be found in the CultureForHealth mapping database. 

As part of the local platform initiatives, ARC Research & Consultancy, in collaboration with Arts Council Malta (from now onwards referred to as the Funding Entities), are issuing a fund targeting emerging Maltese and Malta-based artists and creative professionals in the intersectoral fields of culture, health, and care.

The scheme is supported in equal amounts by Arts Council Malta (through funds allocated by the Ministry for the National Heritage, the Arts and Local Government) and ARC Research & Consultancy (through funds allocated by the European Union).

In line with one of ACM’s overarching themes focusing on care, this fund is a tool to further support the cultural and creative sectors by:

  • Nurturing inter-sectoral collaborations at local, national, and international levels to support the intersection between culture, health, and care.
  • Fostering an interest in culture, health, and care as an intersection which supports holistic well-being and prosperous societies.
  • Exploring the positive effects of arts and cultural activities on health and well-being.
  • Supporting the development of artists and creative professionals committed to exploring this field.
  • Facilitating the creation of projects, programmes, and platforms that enable emerging artists to engage with specific communities, healthcare settings, and/or challenging health conditions through their artistic practice.
  • Building and strengthening strategic partnerships, collaborations, and networks, on a national and international level, to enable sustainable opportunities and long-term systematic solutions at the intersection between Culture and Health.
  • Valuing and positioning the diversity of artistic and cultural expression, access, and participation as integral to Malta’s wider cultural and creative ecology.

This scheme recognises the potential of the intersection between culture, health, and care to support holistic well-being, disease prevention, and care processes, as well as stronger and healthier communities. Whilst recognising the value of all forms of practice and intervention within the field of Culture and Health, this scheme will specifically prioritise artist-led initiatives operating at this intersection. The types of projects which this fund is looking to support are described under the sections ‘Strand 1’ and ‘Strand 2’.

The scheme, which will be divided into two strands.

Strand 1 – International learning mobility

This scheme will offer the opportunity for emerging artists to engage in international shadowing/mentoring opportunities to support development and exchange of knowledge for emerging artists in this area.

This strand supports individuals to express their interest in, and receive support for, participation in pre-defined, international learning and networking opportunities within the intersectoral field of Culture and Health, Care, and the Social Sectors. Applicants are invited to choose one of the below opportunities and to clearly justify the rationale for their choice by making direct reference to their practice and their current research interests.

The following are details about each mobility opportunity offered. Applicants are required to contact the hosts and discuss their participation in order to obtain a letter of intent:

Opportunity 1: The Culture and Health Forum in Vienna (Austria) in 2026

Between the 7th and the 11th of September 2026, the Culture and Health Platform will be organising another conference bringing together partners, stakeholders and creative practitioners working at the intersection between culture and health. The conference will be organised by platform member Arts for Health Austria and will include a range of different activities including networking and exchanges, training, presentations. This platform would be ideal if you are looking to learn more about the current trends in culture and health, if you are seeking to extend your international connections, partnerships and projects and if you are interested in furthering your practice at the intersection of arts and health. 

More information is available here: https://www.cultureandhealth.eu/events/culture-and-health-forum/
To get in touch with the host to discuss your potential participation, please contact [email protected]. In your subject please clearly indicate that your correspondence is related to the Culture and Health Platform Fund for the Maltese Islands.

Opportunity 2: One-to-one shadowing opportunity with Saaramaija Zorawski 

This shadowing opportunity offers a five-day peer-learning experience in Finland, in September 2026, combining observation, participation, and reflective exchange within healthcare and care settings. The programme includes preparation and participation in a group session at a cancer centre, creative development work with mentoring discussions, and a full-day engagement in a care home, concluding with a reflection session.

Profile:

Saaramaija Żórawski is a musician and music pedagogue whose practice blends composition, performance, and participatory methods in hospitals, nursing homes, and community spaces. She works with her self-developed Ääneen Laulettu (“Sung Out Loud”) method, which combines music, creative writing, and artistic expression to support emotional processing and strengthen human connection.

In her recent project at Helsinki University Hospital’s Cancer Center, Saaramaija brought the Ääneen Laulettu method to young adults recovering from cancer treatments. Through music, writing, and collaborative art-making, participants explored their experiences, reduced feelings of isolation, and created shared meaning during a vulnerable transition in their lives.

The project also contributes to the development of a music-based workshop model for hospital environments and promotes the integration of arts-based approaches into healthcare. Saaramaija’s work highlights the potential of music to nurture well-being, support mental health, and build community in clinical settings.

To get in touch with the host to discuss your potential participation, please write to: [email protected]

Opportunity 3: One-to-one shadowing opportunity with Rita Winde and Joanne Thede

This shadowing opportunity offers a three-day learning visit to Sweden (Helsingborg) in autumn, provisionally September. The selected artist will observe and participate in arts-in-care practices, including attending a workshop in an elderly home, learning about local methods and materials, meeting artists and cultural spaces, and visiting regional art institutions.

Profile – Rita Winde:

Rita creates participatory projects that invite collective reflection. With this project, she develops painting workshops for people with dementia, their families, and staff, exploring how art can change interactions in care settings. 

Rita Winde is a Swedish painter and performance artist based in the south of Sweden. She earned her MFA from Valand Art Academy and works between studio and public spaces to explore society, history and relations. In projects such as edithforce, she creates participatory experiences that provoke questions like “Why is it the way it is?” and “What can we do?” Her visual and performance work invites audiences into shared processes and encourages reflection and collective engagement.

Develop painting workshops involving people with dementia, staff, and family members. She wants to explore how interactions between people change when artistic creation is introduced into a residential facility for individuals with cognitive impairments. 


Joanna Thede:
Born in 1969, Joanna Thede has lived half of her life in a small old fishing village called Råå south of Helsingborg in Sweden. She also lived 4 years in Tanzania as a child and in France, Denmark and Scotland as a young adult. Joanna Thede studied languages and art history before entering Glasgow School of

Art where she graduated from the Sculpture Department in 2003. She has also attended fine art courses at Malmö University and University College of Arts, Crafts and Design in Stockholm. Since 2003, she has been working as an artist, mainly with light installations and has made several public art works. During this time, she has also worked with art classes for children and youth, and with art in hospitals. Joanna Thede has received several grants from The Swedish Arts Grants Committee and from Nordic Culture Point. She has exhibited in Scotland, Ireland, Estonia, Lithuania, Greece, Germany, Hungary and India as well as in the Nordic countries, and is represented also in Tanzania and South Africa by private collectors.

To get in touch with the host to discuss your potential participation, please write to: [email protected]

Strand 2 – Project Implementation

This scheme offers emerging artists the possibility to propose projects, led by emerging artists in this field, promoting the improvement of the quality of life and cultural access in healthcare or social care settings. 

This strand will support projects and/or programmes which bring together professionals and organisations across the arts, health, and social sectors that aim at supporting creative projects designed to deliver health and well-being benefits. Projects could include:

  • Participatory art programmes for people experiencing physical and mental illnesses, as well as projects that focus on prevention, in diverse settings.
  • Arts in healthcare environments, including projects designed to enhance healthcare environments and support the well-being of staff and patients.
  • Productions in healthcare settings: which could include performances, installations, and exhibitions that support general well-being and highlight health-related issues.
  • Artist residencies in healthcare or social care settings.
  • Practice-based research activity. 

The projects shall look into integrating new artistic practices—or strengthening existing programmes—within local communities and established structures, to foster long-term connections and sustainability. They shall also look at developing the work of the emerging artists involved.

The partnering healthcare or social care entity/organisation needs to be contacted prior to the application stage. The host needs to sign a letter of intent to be submitted with the application. The partnering organisation cannot be a/another cultural entity, but specifically needs to be a healthcare or social care entity/organisation.  

In the case of Strand 2, applications submitted may: 

  • Form part of a wider project/body of work; 
  • Be self-contained projects; 
  • Consist of a series of projects within a programme of activities.

In line with ongoing strategy and with ACM’s commitment to support the arts, adopting a sustainable and accountable approach to public investment, ACM draws applicants’ attention to the following, in line with its ongoing strategy:  

In the development of their application, applicants are required to follow the guidance provided in the Right to Culture – Resource Pack, with particular regard to community engagement and the adoption of a rights-based approach to their work. The resource pack is aimed at increasing awareness with regard to inclusivity, and at supporting the implementation of cultural rights in day-to-day practice.   

When proposing their operational and programming activities, applicants are also required to consider the Charter for the Status of the Artist, to ensure acceptable and decent working conditions for artists and practitioners in cultural and creative sectors, embracing artistic freedom, accessibility, formal/informal/non-formal skill recognition, decent socio-economic conditions, non-discrimination and equity, ethical considerations, and adherence to intellectual property rights and international labour law. The Charter for the Status of the Artist is meant to provide a dynamic frame of reference for any legislation, policy, or initiative which directly or indirectly impacts artists and cultural and creative sectors, ensuring that any action is aligned with the ultimate long-term vision of elevating the status of artists in Malta in line with their tangible value to society.  

Strand 1: Applicants must be Maltese or Malta-based emerging artists (please refer to definition in section 2) who qualify as:

  • Creative professionals/individual artists;

Kindly refer to Section 9 of these Guidelines and Regulations for information regarding the applicability of State aid rules to applicants/projects.

 

Strand 2: Applicants must be Maltese or Malta-based emerging artists (please refer to definition in section 2) who qualify as one of the following:

  • Creative professionals/individual artists;
  • Entities registered with the Malta Business Registry (including companies, partnerships, foundations, and organisations/associations);
  • Groups, collectives, and consortia;
  • Registered cooperatives;
  • Voluntary organisations enrolled with the Commissioner for Voluntary Organisations.

In case of entities, groups, collectives, consortia, cooperations, and voluntary organisations, the application needs to point out the emerging artists who will lead the process.

Kindly refer to Section 9 of these Guidelines and Regulations for information regarding the applicability of State aid rules to applicants/projects.

Download the guidelines for Strand 1 and Strand 2, and the application form for Strand 1 and Strand 2.

Application deadline: 7th April 2026

Rank Order Strand 1

Beneficiary: Emma Maria Grima

Reference number: CAH112-26-8711

Project Title: We Are Positive

Amount awarded: €1,470

I am a Maltese interdisciplinary artist and campaign specialist working at the intersection of culture and health. My practice combines visual storytelling, audio-visual media, and communication strategy to address sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) and gender equality. I am currently leading We Are Positive, a campaign developed in collaboration with Checkpoint Malta, which uses artistic interventions to build community among people living with HIV and reduce stigma. The project has contributed to national policy shifts, including the introduction of free PrEP and PEP. We are now developing the fourth phase: a documentary and interactive digital platform sharing the lived experiences of HIV in Malta. Attending the Culture and Health Forum in Vienna will allow me to present this work in progress, exchange knowledge, and build transnational collaborations. As an emerging artist, I aim to expand my network and further develop my practice within art and health.

 

 

Beneficiary: Gabriel Agius Pascalidis

Reference number: CAH113-26-8730

Project Title: Opportunity 2: One-to-one shadowing opportunity with Saaramaija Zorawski

Amount awarded: €2,151

This mobility opportunity will provide the applicant – an emerging community musician – with a five-day peer-learning shadowing experience in Finland that combines observation, participation, and reflective exchange within healthcare and care environments. It includes preparatory activities, a group session at a cancer centre, creative development with mentoring discussions, and a full-day placement in a care home, concluding with reflection. The programme is centred on the work of Saaramaija, a musician and pedagogue who integrates composition, performance, and participatory arts in clinical and community settings. Her recent project at Helsinki University Hospital’s Cancer Center engaged young adults recovering from cancer through music, writing, and collaborative art, helping reduce isolation and foster shared meaning. The applicant will benefit from hands-on experience supporting the development of music-based workshop models in hospitals and promoting arts-based approaches to enhance well-being, mental health, and community in healthcare contexts.

 

 

Beneficiary: Benjamin Cachia

Reference number: CAH105-26-8166

Project Title: Enhancing the power of music in healthcare

Amount awarded: €2,110

This project involves shadowing musician and pedagogue Saaramaija Żórawski, whose work combines voice-based and participatory methods in therapeutic and community settings. Focusing on approaches like Sang Out Loud, the project explores how composition, performance, and collective music-making can support cancer patients in hospitals, nursing homes, and community spaces, while deepening understanding of music as a tool for care and connection.

 

 

Beneficiary: Rebecca Camilleri

Reference number: CAH114-26-8769

Project Title: Caring for Community with Embodied Arts and Therapeutic Practice

Amount awarded: €2,079

This project is a five-day international learning mobility in Finland with artist Saaramaija Zorawski is centred on a one-to-one shadowing experience within healthcare and community care contexts. It is designed to support Rebecca Camilleri’s professional development expanding her approach bridging psychotherapy and movement in care environments.The programme combines observation, participation, and reflective exchange across care homes, an inclusive community choir, and an arts-based group process in a cancer centre. It explores how music, improvisation, and creative methods can support emotional expression, connection, and meaning-making for individuals and groups, including vulnerable populations.Through this experience, Rebecca will deepen her understanding of interdisciplinary approaches that integrate artistic and therapeutic practices. The mobility will inform and enrich her work in Malta, contributing to the development of inclusive, body-based, and creative therapeutic spaces that foster well-being, relational awareness, and community connection.

 

Beneficiary: Eve Cocks

Reference Number: CAH107-26-8383

Project Title: Shadowing opportunity

Amount awarded: €1,190

This international learning mobility involves a five-day job shadowing experience with musician and pedagogue Saaramaija Żórawski in Finland, to take place in April or May 2027. The programme takes place across healthcare and care settings, including a cancer centre and care homes. The experience combines observation, participation, and reflective exchange, offering insight into Saaramaija’s Ääneen Laulettu (“Sung Out Loud”) method, which integrates music, creative writing, and participatory practices to support emotional expression and well-being. As an artist working with somatic movement and performance in relation to trauma and lived experience, this opportunity will allow me to expand my practice into new contexts and methodologies, particularly within healthcare environments. The mobility will also foster a peer exchange between music-based and movement-based practices, contributing to my ongoing development within the field of culture, health, and well-being.

 

 

Rank Order Strand 2 

Beneficiary: Douglas Comley

Reference number: CAH215-26-8768

Project Title: DANCE FOR RECOVERY

Amount awarded: €9,000

Dance for Recovery offers significant benefits for both service users and mental health staff by integrating creative practice into care. Through guided movement and music, participants gain tools for emotional expression, stress reduction, sensory regulation, and improved physical wellbeing. The project fosters a supportive and inclusive environment that encourages confidence, connection, and personal recovery. It also strengthens collaboration between the cultural and health sectors, bringing together local and internationally experienced artists with mental health services. Staff benefit from increased awareness of how creative approaches can enhance therapeutic outcomes and support holistic care. Additionally, the initiative contributes to the professional development of artists working at the intersection of culture and health, while promoting the value of artistic participation within Malta’s wider cultural landscape. Overall, it demonstrates how the arts can play a vital role in improving wellbeing, enhancing care practices, and building more connected, resilient communities.

 

 

Beneficiary: Sarah Vella

Reference number: CAH206-26-8488

Project Title: Bringing the HeART to Rehab

Amount awarded: €9,000

Bringing the HeART to Rehab project offers meaningful emotional, social, and creative benefits to people in rehabilitation. Through movement, story-telling, and reflective journaling, participants are supported to rebuild confidence, reconnect with their bodies, process and express emotions in safe and creative ways. The project helps reduce feelings of isolation and strengthens participants’ sense of identity beyond addiction by creating a supportive space where they are seen as individuals with creativity, imagination, and personal stories. It also encourages social connection, trust, and a sense of belonging within the group. Beyond the individual benefits, the project supports a holistic approach to rehabilitation in Malta by showing how participatory arts can contribute positively to wellbeing, recovery, and emotional resilience and how this can work hand-in-hand with the services already provided. The initiative also strengthens collaboration between artists and rehabilitation professionals and hopes to pave the way to bringing arts-based practices to such settings.

 

 

Beneficiary: Franciska Stefania Kovessi

Reference number: CAH202-26-8043

Project Title: 2Gether We Create: Participatory Arts for Well-being and Community Connection

Amount awarded: €8,200

2Gether We Create is a community-based arts and wellbeing initiative developed in collaboration with the St Jeanne Antide Foundation. The project supports adults experiencing social isolation, emotional strain, or life circumstances that limit opportunities for meaningful social interaction, including those navigating caregiving responsibilities, health challenges, or personal transitions. Through a series of participatory sessions, the programme combines movement and drawing to encourage creative expression, emotional awareness, and social connection. Guided imagery and gentle, accessible movement are translated into visual forms, creating an ongoing dialogue between body, mind, and creativity. The project prioritises inclusion, shared experience, and personal exploration rather than artistic skill, offering a safe and supportive environment where participants can reconnect with themselves and others. By fostering creativity, reflection, and interaction, 2Gether We Create promotes emotional wellbeing, strengthens social bonds, and highlights the role of participatory arts in supporting healthier, more connected communities.

 

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