Visualising Illness and Pain. (360G-Wellcome-105147_Z_14_Z)

Drawing on the varied perspectives of artists, historians, art therapists, curators, clinicians and social scientists, the proposed workshop will explore a series of questions relating to the visual representation of illness. Focusing specifically on contemporary works made in response to first-person encounters with illness, the workshop will consider what issues are at stake in reading these artefacts as subjective expressions of pain and suffering. The event will comprise two parts. The fi rst, taking place on a Friday afternoon and evening, will be open to the public, and will include a keynote address by Joanna Bourke and a panel discussion between artist Deborah Padfield, clinician Joanna Zakrzewska and social psychologist Alan Radley. The second, taking place the following day, will take the form of a series of panel discussions involving practitioners from different disciplines, with the aim of addressing a number of clearly defined research questions. We hope that the w orkshop will ultimately function not just as a one-off event, but also as a scoping exercise for a larger collaborative project. One of its likely outcomes will be the planning of an exhibition (with accompanying catalogue) that will be displayed both online and in the Peltz Gallery, Birkbeck.