An extraordinary art collection

Outer Temple is supporting Headway East London by hosting an exhibition of artwork created by survivors of brain injury.

This one-night exhibition offers a unique opportunity to witness a specially commissioned collection of landscapes and abstracts, mapping the journey travelled by these artists from injury, through recovery, and into new life.

RSVP to support-us@headwayeastlondon.org or via 020 7749 7790.

Artist Profile

Jovan is one of the artists whose work will be on display on the night.

Jovan, a trainee teacher and talented young artist, was injured in an assault in 2007 aged 18. He survived against the odds but the injury to his brain impaired the physical strength and his ability to control his movements and speech. When he first came to Headway East London he was angry and frustrated. He refused to join in with the art activities; not wanting reminders of what he could no longer do. He hadn’t the strength to lift a pen, a brush, a pencil.

A new idea was hatched. Recruiting Jovan’s friends in the Young People’s Group, Headway East London staff devised a way of putting him back in control. The other members became his hands, taking direction from him in producing an original oil painting, an abstract of fields, rivers and plains. The photographs here show that process: Jovan directing verbally, the other group members sharing the canvas, everyone involved learning something about themselves and each other.

This work is the product of a unique collaboration between a group of young survivors and an innovative approach to empowering disabled artists.

News 9 Oct, 2013