A new display highlighting the plight of hundreds of people with learning difficulties unable to leave hospital is to open at the contemporary Ikon Gallery on Westside.
Birmingham artist Foka Wolf has created a new gallery installation called Why Are We Stuck in Hospital? which will be exhibited at Ikon in Oozells Square, Brindleyplace from March 7 to 19.
The basis of his new work, produced by Ikon Gallery, is an impossible maze, with no beginning or end.
Why Are We Stuck in Hospital? seeks to illustrates the invisibility of people with learning disabilities and autistic people in long-stay hospitals.
Linzi Stauvers, acting artistic director, education, at Ikon, said: “As we have come to expect from Foka Wolf, this new artwork is straight to the point.
“It challenges us to think for ourselves and act on behalf of our community. It’s also graphic, colourful and highly theatrical, shining a light on the creativity of the thousands of people incarcerated in hospital settings.”
Accompanying the installation is a series of posters to be displayed elsewhere in the city centre in a project conducted by the School of Social Policy at the University of Birmingham, in partnership with rights-based organisation Changing Our Lives.
The project raises awareness of the 2,000 people with learning disabilities and autistic people who live in hospital settings for long periods of time, often with no planned date to leave.
Jon Glasby, director of IMPACT (Improving Adult Care Together) and professor of health and social care at the University of Birmingham, said: “Some people might need a short spell in hospital in an absolute emergency, but no one should live in a hospital.
“We closed our previous asylums, but it’s a national scandal that so many people are still stuck in modern-day equivalents. This research and this exhibition try to amplify the voices of people with learning disabilities so that these are heard directly by the public.”
Alongside Foka Wolf’s installation, Ikon hosts a display by Changing Our Lives based on their publication Hospital to Home: Matthew’s Story (2022).
It relates to someone with autism called Matthew who spent 16 years locked in hospital settings after being sectioned at the age of 17. He now lives in his own home.
Jayne Leeson MBE, chief executive of Changing Our Lives, said: “We are proud to be working with Ikon and Foka Wolf to shine a spotlight on the plight of people with learning disabilities and autistic people who find themselves trapped in hospital.
“Although this is only a short exhibition, we hope that Foka Wolf’s following will continue to shine a light on this national scandal.”
The installation will be launched at Ikon on Tuesday 7 March followed by an evening of free community talks and creative workshops at The Exchange, the former municipal bank, in Centenary Square, from 6pm.
For further information and this and other exhibitions and events visit https://www.ikon-gallery.org
