In 2015-16 I was part of the team that created, researched, curated and directed the Beyond Epilepsy Exhibition. Together with some amazing colleagues, we researched and created content from the detailed history of mental health and epilepsy and combined this with the work of contemporary artists to create a unique exhibition.
The following description is from the project website:
Beyond Epilepsy is a collaborative project between visual artists, historians and scientists exploring the experience of epilepsy in the past and the present. Our first exhibition was launched on the 8th of June 2016 at the CCA: Glasgow and is ongoing until 19th June.
1 in 100 people in the UK has epilepsy.
For hundreds of years, people with epilepsy have faced stigma, isolation and misunderstanding. Both art and social history enable people to connect across different spaces and times and to reflect a shared universal experience. Highlighting and celebrating the stories of individuals, this shared experience offers one notion: we are not the first or the last, and we are not alone.
Beyond Epilepsy is a collaborative project between visual artists, historians and scientists exploring the experience of epilepsy in the past and the present.
Beyond Epilepsy is trying to go beyond the diagnosis.
Beyond the unknown.
Beyond epileptic.
Beyond Epilepsy was awarded funding from the Magnus Magnusson Award through Glasgow Caledonian University in 2016. The project has grown to include five artists, well-established and newly graduated, many of whom have personal experience with epilepsy. Our exhibition has been a part of the Glasgow Science Festival 2016 and supported by Epilepsy Scotland, the largest Scottish charity for people with epilepsy.
See more about the project and launch night here:
Occupational Medical History & Suicidology - Dr Simon H. Walker 