ART AND MENTAL HEALTH CONFERENCE 2026
15–17 October 2026
Prague • Louny
-buy tickets here-
THURSDAY 15 OCTOBER 2026
PRAGUE
9:00–10:00
Registration and refreshments
10:00–10:30
Conference opening
MgA. Kateřina Melenová and PhDr. Lucie Barvínek Šiklová, PhD; Mgr. Dominika Grygarová, Mgr. Martina Košanová
Benedikt Rejt Gallery in Louny • National Institute of Mental Health • National Library of the Czech Republic
10:30–11:00
Art and culture as mental health infrastructure: from gentle interventions to arts on prescription
Mgr. Dominika Grygarová, Ph.D
National Institute of Mental Health
Speaker biography:
Mgr. Dominika Grygarová, PhD, is a researcher at the Centre for Advanced Brain and Consciousness Studies at the National Institute of Mental Health. Her doctoral research connected the study of the subjective experience of art with methods from neuroscience and neurophenomenology. At the Institute, she works mainly in the cognitive neuroscience of art and media, focusing on eye tracking and neuroimaging. She co-founded the National Platform for Prevention through Culture, which connects the Institute with artistic and cultural institutions and will systematically develop and implement a model for mental health prevention through cultural and artistic activities.
Short abstract:
This talk introduces the main aims of the National Platform for Prevention through Culture. Drawing on examples of established programmes abroad, it shows how artistic and cultural activities can support mental health, resilience, community cohesion and creativity without reducing art to a psychotherapeutic tool. It also asks how these approaches can be developed systematically and embedded in the Czech context.
11:00–11:30
The museum as a space for a good life: art, environment and human flourishing in the Museum of Health concept
Mgr. Zuzana Ivanov
Olomouc Regional Museum
Speaker biography:
Mgr. Zuzana Ivanov (Brabcová) works at the Olomouc Regional Museum, focusing on museum education, public engagement and the development of new museum projects. She leads the planned Museum of Health project, which connects physical and mental health, prevention and quality of life with the setting of a cultural institution. Her work focuses on interdisciplinary cooperation, informal education and new ways museums can help people understand contemporary social issues.
Short abstract:
How can a museum do more than provide information about health and prevention, and itself create an environment that supports a good life? This case study introduces the emerging Museum of Health and the ideas behind its development. It explores how architecture, art, participation and education come together in a new role for the museum as a space for care, prevention and human flourishing.
11:30–12:00
The uMĚNÍM platform: systematically connecting culture and education
Škola tančí and Move IN: creative movement as a tool for wellbeing
Mgr. Marie Pánková, Bc. Eva Papánková
uMĚNÍM Platform for Creative Learning
Speaker biography:
Mgr. Marie Pánková works in communication and cultural project coordination. At uMĚNÍM, she is responsible for communication and programming for the Festival of Art and Creativity in Education (FUK) and edits the MAPA uMĚNÍM project. She also works with the SE.S.TA Centre for Choreographic Development on Škola tančí and with the Designéři dětem platform. She co-founded the literary collective Knihárna and studied journalism and media studies at Charles University's Faculty of Social Sciences.
Bc. Eva Papánková
Project manager and coordinator of creative education programmes for schools (Škola tančí and MOVE !N). She studied economics at the University of West Bohemia. At the SE.S.TA Centre for Choreographic Development, she helped launch its first pilot creative projects for schools and managed international partnerships. Since 2019, she has led the comprehensive Škola tančí programme, organised seminars for artists and teachers, and contributed to methodological materials. She initiates creative learning projects with international partners. At the castle in Žďár nad Sázavou, she co-organises the KoresponDance festival and an arts camp for children. She also sits on the board of the nationwide uMĚNÍM platform.
Short abstract:
How can culture and education be connected? uMĚNÍM is an open national platform bringing together organisations, artists and educators. Through creative learning, the FUK festival and MAPA uMĚNÍM, it brings art into school lessons. It develops children's collaboration, dialogue and imagination, changes classroom culture, and offers teachers new methods for modern inclusive education.
How can dance, education and mental health be connected? The SE.S.TA Centre for Choreographic Development's Škola tančí and Move IN projects bring creative movement into schools. They show how creative expression helps children and teenagers manage stress, build respect, develop empathy and prevent anxiety. Movement can also support psychosocial wellbeing and help prevent teacher burnout.
12:00–13:00
Movement Styles and Cultural Difference
Thania Acaron, PhD - keynote speaker
The Body Hotel C.I.C • University of South Wales
Presentation in English with interpretation into Czech.
Speaker biography:
Dr Thania Acarón (she/her) is an award-winning movement specialist, author, performer, researcher and dance movement psychotherapist (DMP) from Puerto Rico, based in Wales. She holds a PhD on the role of dance in violence prevention from the University of Aberdeen and an MA in Dance Education from New York University. She is certified as a clinical supervisor and DMP in the UK/US, with 20+ years experience, founding The Body Hotel CIC (2020), offering international workshops on movement for wellbeing, with a focus on menopause, LGBTQ+ therapeutic work and embodied decision-making. Thania Acarón is course leader for the MA Arts, Health and Wellbeing at the University of South Wales, and author of Body Questions in Practice: Decision-Making through Movement and the Arts (Routledge).
Social media: @thebodyhotel
Web Links: linktr.ee/thebodyhotel
Short abstract:
Drawing on principles of equality, diversity and inclusion and on case examples, this presentation introduces movement styles and the body's role in understanding cultural difference and belonging. The interactive presentation explores how culture shapes how we move, express ourselves and are understood by others, and how movement behaviour affects the ways we relate to and interact with others.
13:00–14:00
Lunch break
(refreshments provided)
14:00–14:30
Children's mental health in the Central Bohemian Region: prevention, support and a safe school environment
Mgr. Petra Pecková, Governor of the Central Bohemian Region
Central Bohemian Region • Council of the Association of Regions of the Czech Republic
Speaker biography:
Petra Pecková is a Czech politician who has led the Central Bohemian Region for six years. After sixteen years in investigative journalism, she decided to move from reporting on problems to addressing them and entered politics. She became deputy mayor and then mayor of Mnichovice in Central Bohemia, and was first elected regional governor in 2020.
She focuses closely on safety, addiction and prevention, which she sees as one of the most effective ways to protect the mental health of children and young people. She develops partnerships with nonprofit organisations and has helped secure a substantial increase in regional funding for prevention and addiction services. She has long advocated expanding the network of specialist support for people struggling with addiction and for their loved ones.
Under her leadership, the Central Bohemian Region rose to first place among Czech regions for transparency and became a leader in other areas, from digitalisation and public transport to support for vulnerable people, including children leaving residential care, foster families and survivors of domestic violence.
Abstract:
The mental health of children and young people deserves particular attention. Rising levels of bullying, cyberbullying, violence between peers and other risks show the importance of safe and supportive environments in which children can develop. The governor will present Central Bohemian Region activities and initiatives to prevent these harms and support the wellbeing of children and adolescents.
She will discuss work in schools, support for teachers, cooperation with specialists and prevention organisations, and new ways to build children's resilience and prevent difficulties that could affect their education and personal lives. She will also describe steps the region is taking to create safe schools and build a system of early support for children in difficult circumstances. The talk will present the region as an active partner to schools, families and professionals, and demonstrate the value of long-term, systematic prevention for children's and young people's mental health.
14:30–15:00
Art education and educational research projects
doc. PhDr. Marie Fulková, Ph.D.,
doc. Mgr. Magdalena Novotná, Ph.D.
Mgr. Lucie Jakubcová Hajdušková, Ph.D.
Department of Art Education, Faculty of Education, Charles University, Prague
Speaker biography:
Doc. Marie Fulková, Ph.D.
Her work focuses on visual literacy, semiotic and transcultural approaches to art education, and research into the social and cultural dimensions of art education in schools and cultural institutions. She publishes nationally and internationally, speaks at conferences and serves on the editorial boards of several international journals (IJADE, IJETA). She is executive editor of Výtvarná výchova. She works with professional groups in disciplinary and educational research, including ENViL, EERA/ECER and InSEA. She sits on the doctoral programme board for art education, the Faculty of Education's scientific council, and the consortium for the Horizon Europe research project CliVie (ID 101132285), Cultural Literacies' Value in Europe.
Doc. Magdalena Novotná, Ph.D.
She heads the Department of Art Education at Charles University's Faculty of Education. Her research covers visual literacy, transcultural art education, and social strategies and inclusive effects of creativity in cultural education for marginalised groups. She studies reflection and assessment in arts subjects and the role of art education in general education. In teaching, she develops the professional vision and identity of student teachers and new art teachers. She presents at professional conferences and publishes in scholarly journals in the Czech Republic and abroad.
Mgr. Lucie Jakubcová Hajdušková, Ph.D.
She is an assistant professor in the Department of Art Education at Charles University's Faculty of Education. Her interests include art teachers' professional competencies, visual cultural literacy, the boundary between (art) therapy and education, and support for the professional community and new teachers of art. She completed the experiential component of SUR training in art therapy and teaches in an accredited two-year continuing education course for teachers on the use of art therapy in school counselling and preventive educational care.
Abstract:
We present art education as a discipline combining pedagogy, artistic practice and research. Our teacher preparation programmes are built on these three elements: students' creative work is connected with that of their teachers, and artistic and pedagogical practice is regularly reflected upon. Innovative teacher preparation relies on original research, published findings and cooperation across institutions. It must keep pace with European and global changes in the professional demands placed on art teachers in today's visually and intermedially communicating culture. We focus on three domains: (1) functional visual literacy, (2) education and (3) contemporary visual art in its living forms. These naturally intersect with the work of cultural and heritage institutions. We will illustrate this through three projects: one examining teaching in galleries; a transcultural project with Japanese experimental theatre that tracks the development of cultural competence; and the Horizon Europe project Cultural Literacies' Value in Europe, which investigates cultural literacy and social cohesion.
15:00–15:30
Art education as a space for supporting mental health
Mgr. Lucie Tikalová, Ph.D.
Department of Art, Culture and Textile Studies, Faculty of Education, University of Hradec Králové
Speaker biography:
Mgr. Lucie Tikalová, PhD, has worked since 2015 at the Department of Art, Culture and Textile Studies at the University of Hradec Králové's Faculty of Education, where she primarily teaches art education methods and prepares future teachers. She completed a doctorate in the theory of art education and artistic practice at Palacký University's Faculty of Education in Olomouc. Her longstanding interests include communication through visual expression, reflective art education, artphiletics and ways to support the mental health of pupils and teachers through artmaking. She has developed wellbeing workshops with Gočár Gallery in Pardubice.
Short abstract:
This talk presents art education and artphiletics as ways to support the wellbeing of pupils and teachers. Drawing on educational frameworks and a reflective approach to making art, it uses the collaboration between the Department of Art, Culture and Textile Studies at the University of Hradec Králové and Gočár Gallery to show the importance of preparing future teachers, working with emotions and building partnerships between schools and art galleries.
15:30–16:00
Break and refreshments
16:00–16:30
National Platform for Prevention through Culture
Prof. MUDr. Jiří Horáček, PhD, FCMA
National Institute of Mental Health
Speaker biography:
Prof. MUDr. Jiří Horáček, PhD, FCMA, is a researcher, psychiatrist and psychotherapist, and director of the National Institute of Mental Health. His research includes the mechanisms of antipsychotic drugs and psychedelics, theories of consciousness, brain imaging, models of schizophrenia in several species including humans, and possible treatments for depression and existential distress in cancer and palliative care. He has edited several books and authored more than 200 scientific papers. In 2022, he coordinated mental health matters during the Czech presidency of the Council of the European Union and has received several international honours, including the title 'Senior Research Fellow of the Bedfordshire CMHR in association with the University of Cambridge'.
Short abstract:
This talk presents the National Platform for Prevention through Culture, newly established within the National Institute of Mental Health and developed with cultural and arts institutions. It outlines a vision of culture as part of public and mental health infrastructure in the Czech Republic. It also shows how the platform intends to connect cultural institutions, professionals and research, and develop practical forms of prevention based on art and cultural participation.
16:30–17:30
Children are shaped by the world they live in
MUDr. Genovéva Almássy
Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital Ostrava
Speaker biography:
Psychiatrist and psychotherapist. She leads an outpatient therapeutic programme for emotional instability at the Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital Ostrava; teaches and supervises Gestalt Studio training; and is a therapist on the PsiKet 002 study (National Institute of Mental Health / Masaryk Memorial Cancer Institute, Brno). She belongs to the Institute's expert platform for Project Gradient. She graduated from the Faculty of Medicine in Bratislava and trained in Gestalt therapy, EMDR, EFT and MDMA-assisted psychotherapy. During more than twenty years of psychiatric practice, she has helped develop non-pharmacological treatments for people with personality disorders and promoted psychotherapeutic approaches in obstetrics and postpartum care. She also works on an ethical legal framework for the medical use of psychedelics in the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
Short abstract:
Emotional instability, self-harm and suicidality among young people have increased in recent years. We will examine these phenomena from evolutionary, anthropological, psychiatric, neurophysiological and attachment perspectives. What do adolescents experiencing emotional instability teach us about our world? And what helpful approaches can we seek together with them as parents, teachers, mentors and health professionals?
17:30–18:00
Discussion and close of day one
FRIDAY 16 OCTOBER 2026
LOUNY
9:00–10:00
Registration and refreshments
10:00–10:30
Structure of the network and programme / National Platform for Prevention through Culture
MgA. Kateřina Melenová
Benedikt Rejt Gallery
Speaker biography:
MgA. Kateřina Melenová, director of the Benedikt Rejt Gallery in Louny, has worked in art and arts management for over thirty years. She spent many years in České Budějovice and later worked on the Pilsen 2015 European Capital of Culture team, delivering its regional programme, notably the Nine Weeks of Baroque festival. She has directed the gallery since 2020. With curator PhDr. Lucie B. Šiklová, she devised the exhibition trilogy BEAUTY (2023), PLAY (2024) and SOUL (2025), exploring art's healing role. She draws on the gallery's collaboration with the National Institute of Mental Health on these exhibitions as a co-author of the concept for the National Platform for Prevention through Culture.
Short abstract:
This talk presents the proposed structure for putting the National Platform for Prevention through Culture into practice. It addresses questions about organisation, programming (including the six pillars), publishing, sharing experience, distributing information and funding. The National Institute of Mental Health's central expert role is the platform's key principle and an essential criterion for participation.
10:30–11:00
The Council of Galleries and prevention through art
Mgr. Jiří Jůza, Ph.D.
Council of Galleries of the Czech Republic
Speaker biography:
Mgr. Jiří Jůza, PhD, is an art historian and curator who has directed the Gallery of Fine Arts in Ostrava since 2008. Under his leadership, Ostrava's House of Art has developed into a modern, open institution with international reach and strong regional roots. As a curator, he specialises in twentieth- and twenty-first-century Czech and international visual art. He has long been active in professional organisations and currently chairs the Council of Galleries of the Czech Republic, helping shape the country's museum and gallery sector.
Short abstract:
This talk introduces the Council of Galleries of the Czech Republic as a partner of the conference and the planned National Platform for Prevention through Culture. It outlines how galleries can contribute to prevention and mental health through educational programmes. It will also present guidance under development for safe, sensitive preventive interventions in gallery practice, prepared under the expert oversight of the National Institute of Mental Health.
11:00–11:30
Duše/vně space
A therapeutic space as a natural part of a gallery
Jana Šorfová, Director of GASK, and Bc. Tereza Hamáčková
Gallery of the Central Bohemian Region (GASK)
Speaker biography:
Tereza Hamáčková is an art therapist who brings together art, communication, movement and therapy. She is interested in how art creates space for communication, autonomy, safety and a deeper awareness of oneself and the world, and how it can support mental health, including for people with particular support needs. Alongside gallery-based art therapy, she practices movement therapy, climbing therapy, intuitive play and dance—approaches that support awareness of the body, inner processes and personal resources. She works on GASK's bez/bariér programmes, developing therapeutic practice in a gallery setting, and runs her own practice. She studied art therapy at the University of South Bohemia's Faculty of Education, completed five years of intuitive pedagogy training in the Czech Republic and Sweden, movement therapy training and a two-year creative education mentoring programme. She is currently training in primary work.
Short abstract:
Duše/vně space
A therapeutic space as a natural part of a gallery
What happens when a therapeutic space becomes a natural part of a gallery? GASK's therapy room sits at the intersection of art, therapy and public cultural space. This talk shares experience of ongoing group work and the art therapist's role in maintaining a safe space. It shows how an art-filled environment can support self-worth, empowerment, deep relaxation, creativity and wellbeing, and how it can benefit everyone.
11:30–12:00
The therapeutic qualities of the gallery environment: a Gočár Gallery case study
Mgr. et Mgr. Klára Zářecká, Ph.D. et Ph.D.
Gočár Gallery
Speaker biography:
Mgr. et Mgr. Klára Zářecká, PhD et PhD, is an art historian, curator and gallery educator. She previously worked as an educator and curator at the Gallery of Modern Art in Hradec Králové. Since 2022, she has directed Gočár Gallery (formerly the East Bohemian Gallery) in Pardubice. She has long been an assistant professor in the Department of Art, Culture and Textile Studies at the University of Hradec Králové's Faculty of Education, teaching art history and gallery education. Her research specialises in early modern and twentieth-century art history, and museum and gallery education. She worked on the TAČR Museums without Barriers project on behalf of its implementation partner, Gočár Gallery. She also participated in the NAKI project Telč and the Jesuits: the Order and its Patrons and the Digital Literacy Development project, and is a co-investigator on the NAKI Threads of Memory project.
Short abstract:
This talk presents Gočár Gallery as a therapeutic space, building on the TAČR Museums without Barriers project. It focuses on architectural, curatorial and communication strategies for inclusion, particularly for university students with specific learning difficulties.
12:00–12:30
Benedikt Rejt Gallery and Studio PRONA
How the gallery becomes part of the Louny community
MgA. Filip Trubač and MgA. Šimon Roubal
Bc. Michaela Patrovská, Věra Pokorná, MA Michaela Vávrová
Benedikt Rejt Gallery in Louny • Studio PRONA
Speaker biography:
OPĚT: is an artists' collective formed in the Applied Photography studio at the Faculty of Art and Design of Jan Evangelista Purkyně University. Its four young members combine photography, spatial installation and interventions in public space. Their work actively considers artistic engagement, explores shared practice and seeks responses to current social and environmental challenges. They now help run Studio PRONA, putting these principles into practice by building a community base.
Short abstract:
Filip Trubač and Šimon Roubal will introduce Studio PRONA, a joint project of the Benedikt Rejt Gallery in Louny and the OPĚT: artists' collective. This community space brings local artistic practice to life through workshops, talks and exhibitions. They will reflect on its first six months and the development of a shared studio environment.
Speaker biography:
Věra Pokorná and Michaela Patrovská
Both speakers work as educators at the Benedikt Rejt Gallery in Louny. They bring a range of teaching experience, skills in working with children and experience organising cultural events. Their approach centres on perception: the ability to observe, experience and reflect on artworks fully in the present moment, without pressure to possess theoretical knowledge. They lead and organise extracurricular Art Clubs for everyone from young children and teenagers to adults, as well as workshops and educational programmes for schools. Community development is central to their work, including safe, informal spaces for meeting and the connection of attentive observation with critical thinking.
MA Michaela Vávrová
She works as a curator at the Benedikt Rejt Gallery and is also responsible for collection records. The collection is an important starting point for her exhibitions: she likes to draw on its breadth and variety to find themes and connections that still resonate today. She enjoys bringing 'historical' art together with the work of contemporary, often young, artists and discovering unexpected contrasts and connections.
Cooperation with the gallery's educators is an important part of her work, both on exhibitions and on programmes outside the gallery. She sees education as integral to the contemporary gallery and exhibition practice. Together with her colleagues, she looks for ways to connect curatorial and educational perspectives and offer visitors room for their own encounter with art.
Short abstract:
Education at the Benedikt Rejt Gallery in Louny is built on attentive engagement with artworks. Workshops, educational activities and Art Clubs offer space to slow down, experience art through the senses and enter into open dialogue. They connect visual discovery with critical thinking, creativity and the natural growth of a community around visual art.
12:30–13:00
Why and how we need to expand our families
Tomáš Hajzler
Co-founder of PeopleComm publishing
Speaker biography:
Tomáš Hajzler works on freeing work from employment, economic democracy and living more locally. He introduced the Freedom at Work movement and the concept of the liberated company to the Czech Republic, and co-founded the Slušná firma community of organisations and PeopleComm publishing. He has written several books.
He helped start projects on reconnecting with food, volunteered for years at his children's school and has supported numerous movements seeking greater social and environmental justice.
Short abstract:
The nuclear family of two adults living far from relatives and surrounded by unfamiliar neighbours damages our children, our relationships, our joy and our health. It is as unnatural as crawling instead of walking. One of our main tasks is to expand our families again and leave this developmental anomaly behind for good. How can we do that?
13:00–14:00
Lunch break
(refreshments provided)
14:00–14:30
The power of stories and puppets as a bridge to connection
MgA. Marka Míková, Bc. Matyáš Míka
Puppets in Hospital
Speaker biography:
MgA. Marka Míková
Director, actor, writer and musician, and artistic leader of Puppets in Hospital. She helped establish the organisation more than twenty years ago and has long explored how theatre, puppetry and music can enter hospital settings. Long-term projects in children's psychiatric wards are a significant part of her work. She observes moments when a child moves from audience member to co-author and creator.
Bc. Matyáš Míka
Director, actor and musician, and a resident director with Puppets in Hospital. He helps shape the company's programme, prepares new productions and adapts literary works. As a performer he regularly visits young patients. His work seeks themes, stories and theatrical forms that speak to children of different ages and work within the particular constraints of hospitals.
Short abstract:
What can theatre offer a child who spends days or weeks in hospital? Puppets in Hospital will share over twenty years of experience, focusing on work in psychiatric hospitals. The talk will explore how stories, puppets, music and shared play create room for self-expression, connection and moments in which a child can be more than a patient.
14:30–15:00
Children in a digital world
Bc. Michaela Křapková, DiS.
Children's Digital Health • Slow Tech Institute, registered association
Speaker biography:
Bc. Michaela Křapková, DiS., has worked with children, parents and schools for more than ten years, focusing on prevention, wellbeing and healthy environments for children. She now concentrates on children's digital health and on balancing the benefits and risks of digital technologies. As an educator with the Children's Digital Health team, she combines research with practical experience and a clear, human approach without unnecessary alarm. She promotes open communication between children and adults and explores how children can grow up with technology as a tool rather than a force that controls their lives.
Short abstract:
Digital technology is a natural part of children's lives and can offer many benefits, from learning and creativity to keeping in touch with loved ones. We do not want to cut children off from it. But technology also competes for their attention and can affect sleep, relationships, concentration and rest. The aim is therefore to find balance and a healthy relationship in which technology serves children rather than the other way round.
15:00–15:30
A phone as a tool for mental wellbeing: seeing the world differently through therapeutic and mindful photography
RNDr. Ivana Dostálová, Ph.D., PGCert
Independent researcher and consultant • Muphotosci.org
Speaker biography:
RNDr. Ivana Dostálová, PhD, PGCert, is a neurobiologist, clinical scientist, therapist and photographer specialising in therapeutic photography, integrative approaches and mental health support through photography. She completed a doctorate in neurobiology and physiology at Charles University. She holds the world's first postgraduate academic qualification, a PGCert in Therapeutic Photography (Robert Gordon University, Scotland), has studied Mindful Photography in the UK and trained in positive brain neuroplasticity with Rick Hanson, PhD (University of California, Berkeley). For more than a decade, she worked as a clinical scientist in university hospitals and a clinical and experimental neuroendocrinology laboratory, researching eating disorders. She is now studying integrative psychotherapy for healthcare at Charles University's First Faculty of Medicine. She connects neuroscience, psychology and photography, speaks at professional conferences and trains specialists in therapeutic photography and phototherapy techniques.
Short abstract:
This talk presents the mobile phone as an accessible everyday tool for supporting mental health and wellbeing through photography and a mobile diary. It shows how mindful photography can foster visual awareness, reframe experiences, cultivate positive emotions and build resilience, with applications in both personal life and helping professions.
15:30–16:00
Break and refreshments
16:00–17:30
The embodied mind and the nature of beauty
prof. MUDr. Jiří Horáček, Ph.D., FCMA
National Institute of Mental Health
Speaker biography:
Prof. MUDr. Jiří Horáček, PhD, FCMA, is a researcher, psychiatrist and psychotherapist, and director of the National Institute of Mental Health. His research includes the mechanisms of antipsychotic drugs and psychedelics, theories of consciousness, brain imaging, models of schizophrenia in several species including humans, and possible treatments for depression and existential distress in cancer and palliative care. He has edited several books and authored more than 200 scientific papers. In 2022, he coordinated mental health matters during the Czech presidency of the Council of the European Union and has received several international honours, including the title 'Senior Research Fellow of the Bedfordshire CMHR in association with the University of Cambridge'.
Short abstract:
The concept of the embodied mind understands cognition as a process connected with the body, emotions and sensory experience. This lecture shows how embodiment influences our perception of beauty, and why aesthetic experience may involve bodily reactions and the geometry of our own physical structures rather than being purely an abstract judgement.
17:30–19:00
Open forum
Participants and speakers share ideas about the National Platform for Prevention through Culture.
Connecting the cultural, health, social and education sectors and identifying practical steps to develop prevention through culture in the Czech Republic.
19:00
Informal evening programme
STUDIO PRONA | ACCOMPANYING PROGRAMME
DO-ZE-MĚ game by Alžběta Löffelmann (*Rajchlová)
Open to visitors throughout the day.
Towards a New Era: Zdeněk Pešánek and the Legacy of Light
Current exhibition. Open to visitors throughout the day.
SATURDAY 17 OCTOBER 2026
LOUNY
9:00–10:00
Registration and refreshments
10:00–12:00
POSTER PRESENTATIONS
An opportunity to present visually further projects, research, initiatives and examples of good practice exploring how art and culture can support mental health, prevention and human flourishing.
12:00–13:30
Lunch break
13:30–15:30
“GENTLE TUNING”
A space for short practical activities using art, movement, mindfulness and other approaches that support wellbeing, attention and inner stability. “Gentle Tuning” offers a chance to pause, notice one's own experience and discover, through direct participation, simple ways to calm down, focus or cope with difficult situations.
15:30–16:00
Break and refreshments
WORKSHOPS
14:30–16:30
Music therapy workshop and relaxation
Veronika Boulterová
Runs alongside the Gentle Tuning programme at the Benedikt Rejt Gallery in Louny
Venue: Studio PRONA
Capacity: 12 participants
Speaker biography:
Veronika Boulterová is a certified therapist and music therapist. She studied holistic music therapy at Palacký University's Faculty of Arts (2014–2018) and applies the CMLH approach developed by PaedDr. Lubomír Holzer. She has practised music therapy since 2014. She works with clients of all ages, especially children with autism spectrum conditions, developmental language disorder and multiple disabilities, as well as families and professionals in caring roles. She leads workshops on mental wellbeing, interpersonal relationships and stress prevention, and raises awareness of music therapy and autism. She authored a chapter on music therapy for children with autism in the monograph Holistic Music Therapy in the Practice of Helping Professions (Silesian University in Opava).
Short abstract:
Music therapy workshop and relaxation (2–3 hours with a break).
Active part: an introduction to traditional instruments and their use in relaxation, work with emotions and the voice, and group playing and creating together. No musical experience is needed. Receptive part: relaxation while lying down and listening to my instrumental playing and improvised singing, releasing tension and stress.
16:00–17:00
Body Questions: A Decision-Making Workshop Through Movement and the Arts
Thania Acaron, PhD
The Body Hotel C.I.C . • University of South Wales
Venue: Benedikt Rejt Gallery in Louny
Capacity: 40 participants
Speaker biography:
Dr Thania Acarón (she/her) is an award-winning movement specialist, author, performer, researcher and dance movement psychotherapist (DMP) from Puerto Rico, based in Wales. She holds a PhD on the role of dance in violence prevention from the University of Aberdeen and an MA in Dance Education from New York University. She is certified as a clinical supervisor and DMP in the UK/US, with 20+ years experience, founding The Body Hotel CIC (2020), offering international workshops on movement for wellbeing, with a focus on menopause, LGBTQ+ therapeutic work and embodied decision-making. Acarón is course leader for the MA Arts, Health and Wellbeing at the University of South Wales, and author of Body Questions in Practice: Decision-Making through Movement and the Arts (Routledge).
Social media: @thebodyhotel
Web Links: linktr.ee/thebodyhotel
Short abstract:
What does your body already know about decisions you or your clients are facing? This experiential workshop introduces Body Questions, a creative movement-based system for mapping decisions and life transitions. Drawing on Dr Acarón's book (Routledge), participants use body-based movement concepts to explore their own decision-making style and bring embodied practice into creative health and social prescribing.
17:00 - 17:15
Short break
17:15–18:15
Harmonising music workshop: when everyone is a musician
Renáta Náhluková – closing session
Venue: Benedikt Rejt Gallery in Louny
Capacity: 20 participants
Duration: 1 hour
Speaker biography:
Renáta Náhluková is an educator and sound facilitator who works with sound baths, sound healing and music-based educational programmes. She completed three years of art therapy training and is currently studying music therapy, while continuing to test what she learns in practice. She creates a safe space where people can experience deep relaxation and reconnect with themselves through sound and silence.
Short abstract:
Harmonising music workshop: when everyone is a musician
An experiential music workshop for around twenty people. The focus is neither performance nor correct technique, nor learning to play or sing 'well'. What matters is the process itself, shared sound, experimentation and the pleasure of musical expression.
STUDIO PRONA | ACCOMPANYING PROGRAMME
DO-ZE-MĚ game by Alžběta Löffelmann (*Rajchlová)
Open to visitors throughout the day.
Towards a New Era: Zdeněk Pešánek and the Legacy of Light
Current exhibition. Open to visitors throughout the day.
PRACTICAL INFORMATION
VENUES
THURSDAY 15 OCTOBER 2026 — PRAGUE
National Library of the Czech Republic
Mariánské náměstí 190/5
110 00 Prague 1
FRIDAY 16 + SATURDAY 17 OCTOBER 2026 — LOUNY
Benedikt Rejt Gallery in Louny
Pivovarská 34, Louny
Studio PRONA
Sladovnická 21, Louny
-buy tickets here-
