Chasing happiness? The meaning of wellbeing-oriented cultural heritage interventions in museums and cultural heritage institutions

In recent decades, museums and cultural heritage institutions have faced increased scrutiny regarding their societal relevance, prompting a growing interest in the connection between cultural heritage and wellbeing. Many museums have partnered with the healthcare sector, using cultural heritage collections to promote wellbeing. Meanwhile, healthcare institutions integrate cultural heritage into rehabilitation or palliative care. However, research on the relationship between cultural heritage and wellbeing remains predominantly quantitative, focusing on measurable impact and endorsing instrumental approaches to value what cultural heritage can do for individuals and society. This mirrors a broader, contentious trend in the cultural sector, where impact measurements are used to justify cultural investments. Even qualitative studies tend to prioritise provable outcomes, aligning with this instrumental logic. This article challenges the dominance of this approach by shifting the focus from proving impact to understanding participants’ lived experiences in wellbeing-oriented cultural heritage interventions. Rather than assessing such interventions through the lens of their measurable benefits, we explore how participants themselves articulate their value. Therefore, we draw on the findings of ErfGoedVoelen, a wellbeing-oriented cultural heritage intervention that arose from the collaboration of three Ghent (Ghent is one of the three main cities in Flanders, Belgium) museums.