The Healing Arts:
Encounters in Art and Medicine
Charité Medical Center Berlin,
Paul-Ehrlich-Hörsaal, Virchowweg 4, 10117 Berlin
20.05.2026 / 18:00-20:00
Prof. Dr. Monika Ankele & Angela Alves

Prof. Dr. Monika Ankele

Prof. Dr. Monika Ankele is Professor of the History of Medicine and Medical Museology at Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin and Director of the Berlin Museum of Medical History. A historian by training, her research focuses on the history of psychiatry, patient perspectives, and the material cultures of medicine. She is a founding board member of the International Association for Medical & Health Humanities and Artistic Research (IMHAR) and has co-directed its affiliated institute at the Hochschule für Künste im Sozialen in Ottersberg. Her work bridges historical inquiry with contemporary debates in the medical humanities. Recent publications include contributions to Art and the Critical Medical Humanities (Bloomsbury, 2026). In May 2026, she will open the exhibition Horizontal: Politics and Poetics from the Sickbed at the Berlin Museum of Medical History.

Angela Alves

Angela Alves is a Berlin-based choreographer, dancer, and cultural worker living with a chronic neurological condition. Her practice unfolds at the intersection of body, art, and politics, challenging dominant narratives of health and illness. Working from lived experience, she develops performances and installations that explore vulnerability, rest, and alternative modes of productivity within the arts. Her work foregrounds anti-ableist strategies, centering practices such as resting, pausing, and “cripping” as forms of resistance and care. Alves studied dance at ArtEZ (NL) and dance studies at the Free University of Berlin. Since 2023, she has been an artistic associate in the project team of Prof. Claire Cunningham at the Inter-University Centre for Dance Berlin (HZT), contributing to research and practice in inclusive and embodied performance.

Streaming Link: The Healing Arts


© The Healing Arts is a series of discursive encounters exploring the intersections of art and medicine. Initiated and hosted by curator and educator Lukas Feireiss, the series is organized in collaboration with the International Society for Arts and Medicine and the Network Arts and Medicine at Charité Universitätsmedizin since 2023.

The events take place on Wednesdays from 18:00 to 20:00 at Campus Charité Mitte, 10117 Berlin.