The London Brain Project moves beyond anxiety

A new exhibition in London will bring together artists and scientists to explore anxiety and its effects. Beyond Anxiety will mark the final exhibition in a series held by the London Brain Project which aims to examine the brain through art.

The interactive exhibition will feature some of the science behind anxiety as well as art created by young people with anxiety problems, health professionals, scientists and artists. Funded by the Arts Council England, Beyond Anxiety follows in the footsteps of similar exhibitions by the group including Beyond my Brain which explored traumatic brain injury, and Beyond Tics.

Michelle Downes, director at London Brain Project and lecturer in developmental psychology at University College Dublin, explained: The theme of this project was inspired by our goal to address some misconceptions around anxiety disorders such as what anxiety is, what happens on a brain-based level, who experiences it, how treatment works, and the difference between feeling anxious and anxiety disorders. We wanted to use both scientific expertise and real life experiences combined to create an impactful art exhibition for the public in order to tackle the stigma attached to anxiety disorders.'

Held between Tuesday 6 February and Saturday 10 February the exhibition will also feature live and interactive events – all of which are free to attend. The first day of the exhibition will bring invited schools together to create spoken word and poetry pieces alongside Young People's Laureate for London, Caleb Femi. A private view of the exhibition, held on the first evening, will also give visitors chance to meet the collaborators involved with the exhibition and see artist Liz Atkin live-drawing as part of her Pouring Mountains series.

On Thursday 8 February the exhibition will also host a discussion about Anxiety, Social Media and Capitalism including speakers from Psychologists for Social Change and Cait Griffin – a researcher at the Blakemore Social Cognition Lab. On its final day the exhibition will feature a drop-in community day including informal talks, workshops, art and meditation to explore ways of living well.

- The exhibition runs between 11am and 6pm at the Menier Gallery in Southwark Street, London. Although the exhibition events are free to attend it may be wise to register on the websites below:

Book your place on the Private View evening on Tuesday 6 February between 6pm and 9pm.

Book a place on the Anxiety, Social Media and Capitalism discussion between 6.30pm and 9pm on Thursday 8 February.

For the Wellbeing and Resilience: Living with Anxiety within our Communities day, held from 12pm until 3pm see: https://tinyurl.com/ycg24lnp