NI Science Festival presents Art Cure

This February, The Crescent is delighted to welcome NI Science Festival for a series of events and workshops as part of the 2026 programme.

Many of us see art as a hobby or a luxury. But what if engaging with it – from classical music to salsa, poetry to pop gigs, galleries to graffiti – is actually one of the most powerful tools we have for improving health and happiness?

In Art Cure, world-leading researcher Professor Daisy Fancourt reveals how the arts can transform our lives. Songs help shape children’s developing brains, creative hobbies build resilience against dementia, and visual art and music can reduce depression, stress and pain as effectively as some medications. Dance helps create new neural pathways for people recovering from brain injury, and attending live music, museums or theatre lowers the risk of loneliness and frailty. Arts engagement even supports the functioning of major organ systems.

Drawing on cutting-edge neuroscience, immunology and psychology – plus inspiring real stories – Fancourt shows how art doesn’t just help us survive, but truly flourish.

Daisy Fancourt is Professor of Psychobiology and Epidemiology at University College London where she heads the Social Biobehavioural Research Group, and Director of the World Health Organization Collaborating Centre on Arts and Health. She has published 300 scientific papers and won over two dozen academic prizes. She is a multi-award-winning science communicator and has been named a World Economic Forum Global Shaper and BBC New Generation Thinker. Daisy is listed as one of the most highly cited scientists in the world.