Art and health in urban India (360G-Wellcome-093542_Z_10_Z)

We are beginning a series of activities that foster dialogue between segregated communities: slum dwellers, professional artists and health scientists. The activities involve collaborations between established artists and emerging artists from Mumbai's majority communities. We would like to work towards a high-profile public engagement event to stimulate wider discussion of urban health, to give our collaborators exposure and experience of professional practice, and to cement the initiative. Our idea is to capitalise on the International Conference on Urban Health, India 2011, by mounting a complementary exhibition of creative works on the health of people who live in India's slums. We hope that the event will be the first in a series. Location International Conference on Urban Health, India, October 2011 (city to be confirmed). Aims 1. To publicly acknowledge the huge contribution of urban slum dwellers to India's economic and cultural life. 2. To democratise the sharing of information on urban health science. 3. To encourage artistic creation in a forum in which professionals and amateurs develop ideas together and communicate with international urban health experts and the public. Audience People who would not usually go to an exhibition, people who would not usually enter an urban slum, and people who would not usually expect to engage with art at an international scientific conference. Methods Collaborative development of artworks for an exhibition of pictorial and plastic arts, film and live performance on an urban health theme, linked with a high-profile international conference and its surrounding media coverage.