BEDLAM 2026 Symposium Opening: Artist Wellbeing in Practice

BEDLAM Arts & Mental Health Partnership brings together artists, practitioners, communities and mental health professionals to explore arts, creativity and mental health, with 2026 focussed on Artist Wellbeing. The opening night of the 2026 Symposium features a keynote speech from the team between LGBTQ+ Tee Hee, a groundbreaking project exploring comedy, connection and wellbeing. This is followed by a panel discussion with leading industry voices, taking a deep dive into artist wellbeing.

BEDLAM Symposium Opening Night Schedule:

5pm: Welcome from BEDLAM Partners

Hear from the team behind BEDLAM about the history of the partnership and the 2026 Symposium programme. With Sampad's Artistic Director Piali Ray, Executive Director, Bhavik Parmar, Birmingham Rep’s Head of Creative Learning Rachel Sharpe, and Midlands Arts Centre's Chief Executive and Artistic Director Deborah Kermode. 

5.15pm: Keynote Speech - Trauma, Care and Boundaries

Trauma and lived experience have long been powerful sources of creativity, allowing artists to reclaim difficult experiences, reconstruct narratives, and create connection. Drawing on both psychological and creative perspectives and their work with comedy-wellbeing project LGBTQTeeHee, this keynote explores the crucial distinction between creating art from trauma and creating trauma through art.

Featuring LGBTQTee Hee founder Rob Beck from the Birmingham Rep’s Creative Learning team, and psychologist and academic, Dr Anthony Gifford. Anthony’s research explores how creative practices can support mental wellbeing, identity, belonging and resilience, particularly within minoritised communities.

5.45pm: Panel Discussion - Artist Wellbeing in Practice

This panel discussion brings together leading voices from the arts and mental health sectors to explore how we can better support the wellbeing of artists, creatives and cultural practitioners. Chaired by Rachel Sharpe, Creative Learning Director at Birmingham Rep, the panel features Dr Mahnaz Hashmi, a psychiatrist at Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust and Queen Elizabeth University Hospital, award-winning musician and educator Soweto Kinch, and Alex Robinson, Senior Public Health Officer, Birmingham. Together, they will share insights, lived experience and practical approaches to creating healthier, more sustainable creative environments, examining the role organisations, leaders and artists themselves can play in embedding wellbeing across the cultural sector.
 

Presented as part of the BEDLAM Arts & Mental Health Symposium, running Fri 6 and Sat 7 Nov 2026. Join us for talks, workshops, discussions and performances, all exploring the relationship between arts, creativity, mental health and wellbeing. BEDLAM is a partnership between Sampad, Birmingham Rep and Midlands Arts Centre.