10th WORLD CONGRESS OF WOMEN'S MENTAL HEALTH
5-8 MARCH 2025
NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF MENTAL HEALTH AND NEUROSCIENCES (NIMHANS) CONVENTION CENTRE, BENGALURU, INDIA
The conference fringe
Step away from talks and workshops and discover our fringe spaces. Here, creativity blooms in quiet corners and meaningful connections flourish. Browse through a thoughtfully curated book collection, lose yourself in an immersive art installation, find calm in our quiet room - a sanctuary for reflection and renewal, or take a jaunt with a group in a specially designed walk through the streets of Bangalore. Each carefully crafted space in the Conference Fringe offers an opportunity to explore, connect, and reflect.
Book pop-up :
Mental health is not a single story; it’s an intricate part of how we live, feel, and understand our place in the world. Through books, the team at Champaca – an independently-owned women-run bookstore in Bangalore–invite you to explore new perspectives and start meaningful conversations about mental well-being.
The curation covers a wide range of topics that inspire, comfort and expand the conversation around mental well-being. Heartfelt memoirs about healing and growth, books that celebrate the calming power of nature, reflections on the impact of war or feminist writings that inspire and empower, every book in the selection has been chosen to spark connection, insight, and hope
The quiet room :
Overwhelmed? Tucked away on the first floor of the conference room, is a quiet room for delegates to take a moment to rest, do something tactile, spend some time in silence, breathe or journal. The quiet room offers a selection of calming activities, stress-relief tools like stress balls or coloring materials, and comfortable seating for a peaceful retreat away from the bustling conference environment. No talking, mobile phones, laptops or any interaction with anyone or anything here. The PARC team believes that the best learning happens when you allow yourself to pause, this space is designed to help you recharge and absorb all that the conference has to offer.
Art installation :
I carry you with me', a river that holds the unsaid. There is so much we carry of our patients, clients or participants that we can't and don't share. This is a participatory art-making corner that is designed to give artistic, symbolic and poetic voice to emotions, desires and memories from our work that we carry with us.
Take a break in between talks and participate in this live art installation that will grow over three days of the conference. Bring your experiences to the FAHI team and co-create art with them.
The PSYCHE Exhibition-in-a-Box :
The Exhibition-in-a-Box takes the Science Gallery Bengaluru’s exhibition-seasons outside the gallery space and into a larger audience. With PSYCHE they bring carefully picked exhibits from a larger exhibition to the conference. The exhibit explores themes around mental health, neuroscience, research ethics, and more through multimedia resources like games and Augmented Reality experiences. Take a tour with the Science Gallery team at the conference stalls.
Explore Bangalore :
If you’re visiting Bangalore, we’d love it if you took some time to explore our beloved city. For those of you who are short on time, we’ve asked the good folks at Gully Tours to curate a special walk just for conference delegates. Take a walk around Bangalore’s central district, absorb some history, pop in at a local pub or restaurant and get the pulse of one the city’s most bustling and hip localities.
Art showcase :
A space for emerging artists to showcase their work at the conference and bring fresh perspectives and creativity into the space. Rest your eyes and engage with the artists on the first floor of the venue.
IAWMH reachout :
Dr. Jodi Pawluski, a neuroscientist, therapist and author and key delegate to the Congress will also be talking to students at the Science Gallery, Bangalore outside conference hours. This is a part of our engagement with the city.
Dr Pawluski specialises in science of communication women’s mental health and her research focuses on understanding how the brain changes with motherhood and the role of perinatal depression and its treatment on neurobehavioral outcomes in mother and offspring