It has been a wonderful journey co-curating ‘States of Existence’ exhibition exploring mental health and systemic causes of the taboos surrounding them. We have selected 25 artists from diverse background some of which are currently inpatients at psychiatric institutions. Exhibition took place at the Well Space which was launched recently as a response to the gentrification and the loss of local public spaces in Hackney. It all has been made possible by the generous people donating their time, skills and resources. A true power of the community!

Exhibition Statement:

S T A T E S  OF  EXISTENCE

  |10-15 October 2019|

States of Existence showcases transitory works from humans who express themselves through art to convey varied experiences of human life in the complex world we live in today. The 25 featured artists dive deep into human existence whilst raising an array of important questions.

Breaking the stigma surrounding *mental health* is challenging in the binary narrative of normal/abnormal, healthy/unhealthy and well/unwell. We examine why & how the stigmas were created in the first place.

The works on show explore physical, mental, emotional, social, spiritual or racial adversity of the modern human life while looking into the establishment and perpetuation of these difficulties by the historical abusive assertion of power and control through psychiatry.

The creation and fetishization of a ‘perfect mind’ through the advent of capitalist societies has mental illness reduced to ‘individual’ chemical imbalances; today the possible economic, social and systemic causes of such difficulties are rarely discussed. We feel lonelier more than ever. This exhibition aims to bring us together in a stigma free, safe space to evoke thought and initiate important conversations we all desperately need.