Virtual exhibitions at Kentish Town Health Centre explore autism, pain and mindfulness

Planning, planning, making a plan by Mahlia Amantina (Image: Archant)

A community art initiative at Kentish Town Health Centre is holding a series of virtual exhibitions which explore mindfulness, autism and physical pain.

Based at the health centre in Bartholomew Road, The Free Space Project, has commissioned three artists to work with a virtual exhibition designer on the shows, which are funded by the City Bridge Trust.

For the Creative Wellbeing project, they recreated the exhibition space in the Health Centre virtually, and came up with ways for audiences to interact with the artworks.

Each artist will run an online workshop inspired by their work, and give a talk alongside gallerist Jennifer Gilbert about their art, life and motivations.

Hisba Brimah Tiles (Image: Archant)

The opening show by Hisba Brimah is ‘Mindful Transformations’ and features highly colourful abstract art both as images on walls and as immersive rooms.

Viewers can play Hisba’s mindful Spotify playlist while interacting with the artworks, which reference Japanese woodblock prints and geometric combinations of triangles and quadrilaterals. Hisba says the soundtrack keeps her calm and helps her find new ways of experimenting with shapes and materials.

Next up is Liliana Zaharia with On a Scale from 1-10 which explores the representation of physical pain through photography, videos and interviews informed by personal experience. Working in collaboration with psychotherapist Irina Petreanu, she offers a perceptual, poetic expression of the experience of pain rather than taking a documentary-style approach.

Finally, Reading-based Mahlia Amatina’s Life on a Spectrum is inspired by her arts led advocacy work on neurodiversity. The interactive exhibition uses visual art, writing and videography to engage viewers of all backgrounds on whatever level works for them. Building on her previous exhibition On a Spectrum - an exploration of Asberger’s Syndrome - she hopes to encourage viewers to understand and celebrate neurodiversity.

Liliana Zaharia untitled 1 (Image: Archant)

Hisba Brimah’s exhibition runs until September 13 with a workshop on August 26 and a talk on August 27. Liliana Zaharia’s On A Scale From 1-10 opens on September 14 and runs until October 11 with a workshop on September 22.

And Mahlia Amantina’s Life on a Spectrum runs October 12 until November 16 with a workshop on October 20.

Explore Hisba Brimah’s exhibition here freespaceproject.org/portfolio/mindful-transformations/