Results of the “Culture and Health 2025” Open Call

In this year’s “Culture and Health” project call, held as part of the European CultureAndHealth platform, we received as many as 50 applications. We warmly thank everyone who shared their ideas!

This year, the competition jury awarded five equal grants to: Mateusz Drozdowski, Aleksandra Komarnicka-Drużbicz, Paulina Pisuk-Czech, Anna Prokopczuk-Kwapniewska, and Jarek Rebeliński.

The selected grantees will receive funding of 10,000 PLN, mentoring and expert support, training in audience engagement and artistic project development, opportunities to present the results of their work both in Poland and abroad, as well as inclusion in the international CultureAndHealth platform network.

Winning Projects

The jury selected five initiatives that best reflect the program’s goals—combining culture with health, working in cross-sector partnerships, and offering a wide spectrum of artistic activities for diverse audiences:

• “Logged In” – an interactive Forum Theatre performance for high school students in Sopot. By engaging the audience in finding solutions to challenges such as internet addiction, FOMO, and feelings of loneliness, the project combines theatre with mental health prevention.
• “Collage of Emotions” – an art therapy workshop series for women in Bielsko-Biała. Participants, guided by an artist and a psychologist, will use collage and art therapy to safely express emotions, concluding with a group exhibition.
• “Affirming the Body” – intergenerational dance and movement workshops in Warsaw, helping participants build positive body awareness through improvisation, mindfulness, and collective practices.
• “Seeing Yourself in Theatre” – a series of theatre and puppetry workshops for young people attending a day unit of a mental health facility in Kielce. Participants will explore different forms of theatre, create their own short performance, and attend a show together at the “Kubuś” Puppet and Actor Theatre in Kielce.
• “Songwriting – Hearing Yourself” – a cycle of music therapy workshops at a Warsaw center for people who are blind or visually impaired. Through songwriting, improvisation, and conversations about emotions, participants will strengthen memory, wellbeing, and social bonds.

The Jury

Projects were evaluated by an interdisciplinary team of experts in health, psychology, culture, and education:

• Agnieszka Żelwetro – neuropsychologist at the Research and Educational Center for Dementia in Ścinawa; she conducts trainings, teaches neuropsychology at SWPS University in Wrocław, and co-founded the “Art of Memory” Foundation.
• Aneta Banek-Tabor – biologist, nurse, and first aid educator at the Regional Center for Social Policy of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in Szczecin; she supports caregivers of dependent people and runs trainings in health prevention.
• Kasia Szewciów – cultural animator and bodywork facilitator combining dance therapy and relaxation techniques with international projects at the Baltic Sea Cultural Centre in Gdańsk.
• Renata Piotrowska-Auffret – dance and choreography expert linked to the Adam Mickiewicz Institute and member of the curatorial team of the Pavilion of Dance and Other Performing Arts in Warsaw; she connects her interest in care policies with her own artistic work.
• Edyta Ruta – coordinator of the “Culture and Health” program in Bielsko-Biała, representing the City Weave (Miasto Splotów) – Institute of Municipal Culture on the CultureAndHealth platform.

What’s Next?

The selected projects will be carried out over one year: from October 2025 to October 2026, in cooperation with partners from the health, education, and social sectors in Poland. They will also form an important part of the Culture and Health program’s research, which aims not only to support emerging artists but also to build sustainable cross-sector networks of collaboration.

The open call was organized by the City Weave – Institute of Municipal Culture in Bielsko-Biała, together with partners: the Baltic Sea Cultural Centre in Gdańsk and the Adam Mickiewicz Institute. We thank everyone who submitted their proposals and encourage further collaboration! Between 2026 and 2028, three more project calls are planned in Poland under the CultureAndHealth platform.

Congratulations to the authors of the winning projects! 🎉