3 x STORIES: Health & Heritage
What can the past teach us about care, vulnerability and wellbeing today? Medical and care heritage is more than a collection of objects, archives or buildings. It is a living memory of care, shaped by the experiences of care recipients, families, informal carers and healthcare professionals across time. Their stories reveal how illness, healing, pain and resilience have been understood and lived. And how culture influences the way we care.
Story 1_ Active with the care archive
Diederick Nuyttens (TOON)
How can the heritage of care and welfare contribute to mental wellbeing today? TOON operates at the crossroads of heritage and care, developing pilot projects that bring together healthcare, welfare, culture, and heritage. By activating the stories and histories of care, TOON invites cultural organizations to engage more deeply with healthcare partners and to explore innovative ways of contributing to a more human, holistic care experience.
Story 2_Use with Care: New Perspectives on Care Heritage
Femke Paulussen (Vesalius Museum)
Can a medical object represent both care and harm, fear and hope? This project at Vesalius Museum brings healthcare professionals and people with care experiences together to reflect on the multiple meanings of medical collections. By integrating lived experience, memory, and context, medical and care heritage becomes more human and socially relevant.
Story 3_HER-UKR
Lien Verpoest, Daryna Zhyvohliadova (KU Leuven)
The EU-funded project HER-UKR: Challenges and opportunities for EU heritage diplomacy in Ukraine addresses the role of cultural heritage in the EU’s external action. Through qualitative research conducted by 15 partner universities, we aim to equip diverse European audiences, from academics to policymakers and cultural organizations, with solid expertise for engaging constructively with Ukraine’s cultural heritage field. In our project we frame heritage as a human-centered responsibility, one that directly affects the mental health and resilience of both Ukrainian heritage professionals and communities living through war.
Meet the speakers of these stories
Diederick Nuyttens
Diederick Nuyttens is a painter and musician affiliated with TOON (the national service role for healthcare heritage).
Femke Paulussen
Femke Paulussen is Head of Collections at Vesalius Museum. Drawing on her background in heritage and participatory practice, she works towards a polyvocal approach to healthcare collections, translated into a public programme based on object-based learning.
