ABIL Exhibition at St Paul’s Cathedral – 27 January to 26 February 2015
This Is Not Me. Something I can’t remember has done something I can’t see and made me someone I don’t know.
ABIL was delighted to be able to present a month-long exhibition of artwork from the unique perspective of people with an acquired brain injury.
The exhibition portrayed the reality of living with an acquired brain injury and challenges the perceptions of this ‘hidden injury’.
Experiencing a brain injury creates many more questions as survivors learn to come to terms with changes in their lives, sometimes having to ‘get to know’ themselves and their place in society all over again. Their experience provides a unique lens on the universal themes of alienation, trauma, loss, identity and acceptance.
One of our aims was to raise the profile of ABI and how this ‘invisible trauma’ affects many people; not just survivors of ABI but their families and society as a whole.
The artwork was curated from numerous organisations who work with and support people with ABI. We were overwhelmed with entries and our specialist panel had a difficult time in choosing those that would make the exhibition as the standard of entries was outstanding.
The artworks that were in the exhibition at St Paul’s Cathedral can be seen on the exhibited works page HERE. The remaining entries can be seen HERE. All have comments/reflections from the artists.
We had much excellent feedback from the organisations whose artists had work exhibited, particularly in terms of the increase in self-esteem of the artists themselves.
Our special thanks to St Paul’s Cathedral for hosting the exhibition and to the artists who have allowed us to display their work and in doing so, tell their story.
And to our headline sponsors: Irwin Mitchell; Huntercombe Group; Raphael Medical Centre; and Queen Elizabeth Foundation (QEF).
http://www.raphaelmedicalcentre.co.uk/
Very many thanks also to Sarah Eynstone, who was at the time Chaplain at St Paul’s; Tony Hart, Vice Chair of ABIL; and Emma Taylor and Cara Ingledew of Irwin Mitchell for all their hard work in making the event happen.
