Legacies of Sickle Cell

Join a panel discussion exploring artistic-, collections- and community-based work on sickle cell disease.

Facilitator F Zeeshan Choudhury, curator and educator Alinta Sara, and artist and sickle cell survivor Laurel Brumant-Palmer will reflect on the hidden legacies in research and the disconnect between the sickle cell community and the NHS.

There will be an opportunity to ask questions, and you are invited to share your thoughts, but you are equally welcome to simply listen.

You can dive deeper into our collection through a small digital showcase of material curated by Alinta.

If you want a break from the activities, you can head to our Chill-Out Room to lie down or relax. There will be low lighting, comfortable seating, cushions, mats, ear defenders, earplugs and sensory toys.

This conversation may include personal accounts of pain, medical trauma and experiences of institutional discrimination.

We’ll be in the Reading Room on level 2. You can walk up the spiral staircase to the Reading Room door, or take the lift up and then head left from the Library Desk.

Booking a ticket for a free, in-person event does not guarantee you a place. You should aim to arrive 15 minutes before the event is scheduled to start to claim your place. If you do not arrive on time, your place may be given to someone on the waiting list.

If this event is fully booked, you may still be able to attend. We will operate a waiting list, which opens 30 minutes before this event starts. Arrive early, and we’ll give you a numbered ticket. If there are any unfilled places just before the start time, we will invite you to enter in order of ticket number.

This event will have British Sign Language interpretation.

This event will be live-transcribed. The captions will be displayed on a screen in-venue.

This is a relaxed event, which means that if you need to, you are welcome to move around and make noise at any time.

This event is wheelchair accessible, which means people in wheelchairs can access the location with relative ease.

For more information, please visit our Accessibility page. If you have any queries about accessibility, please email us at [email protected] or call 020 7611 2222.

Our event terms and conditions

Facilitator

F. Zeeshan Choudhury's website

F. Zeeshan Choudhury is a facilitator who uses creativity to foster radical wellbeing. Her research and practice finds meaningful ways for people to question injustice and imagine new futures. She is an advocate for hyper-local community engagement, and runs community groups in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, including the Writer’s Circle at The Common Press in Shoreditch, and Writing to Uncover The Self at St. Margaret’s House in Bethnal Green. Her latest project, Forming New Folklores, imagined new ways of cross-cultural storytelling between the UK and Bangladesh.

Speaker

Alinta is an independent curator, researcher and lecturer in French language and African Art History at Imperial College London. She co-founded Bokantaj, an initiative fostering global cultural exchange, and her curatorial work combines oral histories and visual arts to explore heritage, memory and contemporary cultural debates. She is currently consultant curator for the Sickle Cell Society exhibition at the London Royal Hospital.

Speaker

@laurelbrumant on Instagram

Diagnosed with Sickle Cell Disease (HbSS) at age three, Laurel has lived with chronic pain and health challenges while pursuing her passion for art. She graduated in 2016 with first-class honours in Graphic Design, Visual Communication and Illustration, and uses her creative practice to raise awareness and inspire hope.

British Sign Language interpreter

Sharan has worked as a Sign Language Interpreter for over 15 years, including 10 years with Wellcome Collection. Based in London, she takes a holistic approach to her work and enjoys bringing to life, through her interpretation, the experiences that Wellcome Collection offers for all to enjoy. NRCPD number: 1011797.

British Sign Language interpreter

Michelle has been a qualified British Sign Language Interpreter for over 20 years and has been working with the Wellcome Collection for the last 10 years. She loves being a small part of the team who ensure that the Deaf Community have full access to what, in her view, is one of the best places in London. NRCPD no: 1009790

Image credit: Event in the Reading Room, Camilla Greenwell. Source: Wellcome Collection. Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0).

Know what’s Happening Next — before everyone else does.

Get App

Host or Publisher Wellcome