COMPETITIONS
The Art of Health offers a fully managed creative competition service designed for organisations and individuals running health-themed events, conferences, campaigns, forums or projects. We design and deliver end-to-end Art of Health competitions that increase event and project engagement, generate high-quality content and produce structured insight from young people aligned to your objectives.
This service allows you to integrate a visible, participatory, and evidence-informed component into your event or project without adding operational burden to your team.
RECENT COMPETITIONS
National Competition
Zimbabwe
Focus: Adolescent health
We invited Zimbabwean youth to express health experiences through art, music, drama, and design. This competition received 1,153 submissions on issues from HIV stigma to mental health. Finalists received mentorship from local stars such as like Gemma Griffiths (singer / songwriter) and Joe Njagu (filmmaker), blending artistry with activism. The competition’s success laid the foundation for later global projects.
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Ideal Urban Futures Competition
Global
Focus: Climate change & health
We teamed up with Children, Cities and Climate action lab, a project under the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) Centre for Climate Change’s and challenged young creatives to artistically express how climate change impacts their health and how cities can adapt. From Lagos to Lima, participants proved that the fight for planetary health is also a fight for human wellbeing.
Art Over Addiction Competition
Nigeria
Focus: Substance abuse awareness
This competition called for art and spoken word entries to address substance abuse among Nigerian youth. Insightful creative pieces unpacked root causes (poverty, trauma) and solutions (community support, policy reform). We partnered with local rehab centers and artists and engaged highs school students in complementary creative workshops. All activities sparked dialogue that was raw, hopeful, and insightful.
Art for Well-being Competition
Global
Focus: Adolescent well-being
In collaboration with PMNCH, The Art of Health mobilized youth to define well-being through art for the 2023 Global Forum for Adolescents (GFA). The response was extraordinary: 787 entries from 114 countries.
Selected works were displayed at the GFA, where world leaders engaged with young artists’ visions for a healthier future.
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MWEDZI Competition
Zimbabwe
Focus: Menstrual health
The MWEDZI (a colloquial term for “menstruation” in Shona) competition looked at lived experiences of menstrual health across the life-course among women aged 18 years old and older through art and spoken word/prose.
Partnering with Dr Mandi Tembo (PhD), we paired the competition with a national pad-drive campaign, donating supplies to underserved schools in Mbire district. Winning artworks were featured in a Harare gallery exhibit attended by young women and health researchers, sparking conversations on menstrual equity. The pieces celebrated resilience while demanding accessible hygiene products and education.
Art of Health Global Competition
Global
In 2022, The Art of Health launched its first-ever global art competition, partnering with the International Union Against STIs (IUSTI) to amplify voices on sexual health ahead of the 2023 STI & HIV World Congress.
Artists, activists, and storytellers worldwide submitted 357 powerful entries from 18 countries, using painting, photography, and digital art to challenge stigma and reimagine sexual wellbeing. Winning pieces were showcased at the Congress, sparking dialogue among policymakers and health experts. This competition set the stage for future initiatives, proving that creativity is a universal language for change in health education and advocacy.
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Community competitions
Zimbabwe
In 2020, the Art of Health held health-themed art competitions in three communities in Zimbabwe; Hatcliffe (Harare), Hopley (Mashonaland East) and Pelandaba (Bulawayo). These pilot competitions allowed The Art of Health to assess how young people responded to expressing health and wellbeing issues through the creative arts and paved the way for scaling the Art of Health activities locally and globally.
Heating Up Competition
Zimbabwe
The Art of Health Heating Up competition was the second collaboration between the Art of Health and Children, Cities and Climate action lab (London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine). Young people living in Zimbabwe's cities were asked to show through art or photography how their life and health had been affected by heat, heatwaves or drought, and to show the benefits that climate action could bring to their health and well-being.
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Breathe In competition
Zimbabwe
The Breathe In competition in partnership with the Children, Cities & Climate action lab under The Centre on Climate Change and Planetary Health (LSHTM) asked young people to explore, through music and design, what they believe are the benefits that clean air could bring to the health and wellbeing of young people in Zimbabwe. Winning entries were presented to global audiences at the Conference of Youth (COY16) which took place in Glasgow, Scotland on 28 - 31 October 2021.