The charity Headway East London has given artists living with brain injuries the opportunity to show their work off in The Barbican — and now they’re taking their art around east London.
The charity’s art studio: Submit to Love, is a supported studio for people living with a brain injury, welcoming more than 40 artists into the studio each week.
Last summer, more than 5,500 people visited differently various, Submit to Love’s 10-day takeover of The Curve gallery at the Barbican — their largest exhibition, co-produced by people living with brain injury.
Elisa Braglia, Communications officer at Headway said: “we wanted to recreate the atmosphere and the feeling and the creative projects of Headway in the Curve.
“The idea was to bring Hedway to the Barbican, just to make people feel part of that community.”
Headway East London opened its doors 25 years ago, in 1998, from humble beginnings as a table in Homerton Hospital.
It started when doctors and nurses realised that care for people with brain injuries shouldn’t stop after discharging them from hospital; they require weekly support, not just for physiotherapy and therapy, but also to have an opportunity to rebuild their lives through creativity and a sense of community.
It began with a table, some pencils and weekly meetings with some volunteers and evolved over time moving to its Haggerston based centre in 2008.
Now Headway East London works across 13 London boroughs and provides specialist support and services for over 800 survivors, family, friends and carers in the local area each week.
The charity offers music, a professional kitchen and gym facilities, with its gym as a vital way for members to help build strength back in their bodies.
Headway member Keith said: “I’m weak on one side of the body, so I have trouble walking, so it’s lucky to have been able to build strength in your legs.”
The centre’s walls are also adorned with its artists’ work, a mixture of sketches, paintings and embroidered art.
Isabel, a recent headway member said: “It’s a way of expressing yourself, just disconnecting from whatever is bothering you, just losing yourself in whatever it is that’s hindering or bothering yourself.
“It can help make you accept life — then for me, I just improvise.”
Isabel joined last year, suffering a brain injury five years ago and lives with epilepsy.
Over a million people in the UK are living with long-term symptoms of a traumatic brain injury with someone in the UK being admitted to hospital with a brain injury every 90 seconds, according to Headway UK.
The lack of provision for people living with brain injury in UK has meant Headway East London has accumulated a long waiting list, but its members brim with the kind of joy only found in thriving communities.
Isabel added: “without it I wouldn’t have been able to use this facility and everything it offers.
“We all have highs and lows, you get to come here and express your feelings; they help you out and you can share tears and laughter and let out whatever is blocking you so you can continue with your life.”
The extensive art studio was introduced in 2010 and allows its artists to experiment and express themselves through a diverse range of mediums, everything from clay to collage, prints and portraits.
Michelle, the studio manager, said: “Everyone’s got their own art practice, their own portfolio and their own body work.
“That’s where it’s really distinct and you can really see like everyone has got their own style.
“You never stop discovering even after years, John, for example, is quite new to clay.”
John, another artist, was working on a clay pot, assisted by one of the volunteers.
The studio’s staff and volunteers support in a variety of ways — depending on the person and their needs — from physical support to help somebody to make art or even just advice, ensuring that the artists realise their own artistic vision.
Lara, one of John’s support workers, said: “He’s very sociable; it’s about having that contact, the art is fundamental to his social life, having this close contact in the art room.”
Supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund and Arts Council England, the studio’s upcoming exhibition differently various in different spaces is set to tour artwork from the differently various exhibition across 13 boroughs.
Firoza, a member and Heritage Peer Researcher, sketched a self-portrait for the Barbican exhibition, impressing and surprising herself with how the piece came out.
She said: “In secondary school it’s just so controlled, structured, you’ve got these rules, but here there’s so much more freedom to experiment and find your own artistic voice.”
Firoza started her new position as Heritage Peer Researcher last summer, a role created to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Headway East London.
She added: “I’ve worked a lot with the Barbican, I’ve presented panel shows, I’ve had radio and filmmaking experience as well. I’ve got all these skills and experience and I’m learning all these new skills.”
Differently various in different spaces will tour artwork and events to community venues, alongside workshops, events and screenings between March and July 2024.
Image credit: Leon Foggitt
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