NeuroArt, King's College London & Science Gallery London (2022-4)
Provided a platform for neurodivergent individuals to share our lived experience of neurodiversity and facilitate dialogue between neuroscientists and the neurodivergent community. NeuroArt paired neurodivergent artists with neuroscientists who were based at King's College London to create art pieces that were displayed in an exhibition at Workshop Space, Science Gallery London in February 2024.
In addition to these works, the event also included a panel discussion with researchers and lived experience experts, interactive stops, and shared artwork received through an open call at the university. The project was supported by the British Neuroscience Association (BNA), UKRI MRC Centre for Neurodevelopmental Disorders, WOHL Cellular Imaging Centre, the ADHD Research Lab at King's College London, and Ness Labs.
It was disseminated through a Big Bang Magazine cover story, The Academinist podcast, BNA Bulletin 100th Edition cover story, Pint of Science talk, Leuven Brain Institute talk, and King’s College London news article, and the film ‘Art + Science = ’. The project stemmed from Bethan Burnside's own lived experience as a PhD’er/ADHD’er in academia.
The project was conceptualized and started by Bethan Burnside. It was developed and driven by them, and Shaakir Salam and Keshvi Shah, with the help and input of Michael Motoc, Amar Mehta, and Aoife Coghlan. In addition, the volunteer team are grateful to Leigh Wilson, Deepak Srivastava, Ellie Dommett, Anne-Laure Le Cunff and Deborah Reyes for facilitating the vision, and to the panelists not yet mentioned Virginia Carter Leno and Bayparvah Kaur Gehdu. Artists were Carrie Ravenscroft, Bhavani Esapathi, Toni Mo, Khushali Khowal, Anastasia Smirnova, Trinity Bernard-Jones, Sajal Porwal, and Zoe Grisedale-Sherry.
Watch this video created by Jeremy Chevillotte.
Read more in this Big Bang magazine interview, King's College London news item, and British Neuroscience Association news item.
Listen to this podcast episode of The Academinist.
The event was shared through talks at Pint of Science and Leuven Brain Institute.
Photography by Charlie Murphy.
