JOURNEYS: THE HEALING ARTS

Saatchi Gallery partners with hospital charity CW+ to present their first ‘Arts in Health’ exhibition – Journeys: The Healing Arts

 Saatchi Gallery and CW+, the charity of Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, have partnered to present a first-of-its-kind ‘Arts in Health’ exhibition at the gallery. Journeys: The Healing Arts, is a selection of bespoke artworks from the CW+ art collection, commissioned to enhance the environment and improve patient outcomes at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital. This is the first time CW+ has exhibited artworks from its collection on this scale to a wider public within a gallery setting.

CW+’s award-winning ‘Arts in Health’ programme was established when Chelsea and Westminster Hospital was actually built in 1993, located just one mile from Saatchi Gallery. Art was integral to the design and bespoke artworks built into the hospital’s foundations. Since then, CW+’s pioneering ‘Arts in Health’ programme has evolved to combine visual and performing arts with live music and dance; participatory music, art and craft workshops; film screenings; innovative design and green spaces; as well as a collection of over 2,000 works of art and digital installations to transform and improve the hospital environment for patients, families, volunteers and staff.

Saatchi Gallery first partnered with CW+ in September 2021 when the gallery shared virtual access to the renowned exhibition ‘JR: Chronicles’. The hospital community could virtually visit the exhibition online and via patient bed-side screens as part of CW+’s online ‘Arts in Health’ programme, which was created in 2020 in response to the pandemic when the charity’s in-person participatory activities had to stop.

Journeys: The Healing Arts exhibits over 20 artists and explores the different communities and stories that make up Chelsea and Westminster Hospital. This unique exhibition explores the journey from traditional drawn artworks through to innovative digital and screen-based artworks, including a new commission created by musician and artist Brian Eno. Many of the drawn artworks capture life in the hospital during the pandemic and are a visual representation of the way the hospital and its communities changed so dramatically. The exhibition also explores the place that both these mediums have within the hospital community and displays art that reflects care, support and recovery.

Brian Eno, British musician and featured artist, says: “To be part of the CW+ exhibition at Saatchi Gallery is a great honour. For a number of years, I’ve worked with the CW+ team in creating works that provide a positive and calming environment, something that seems vital in a patient’s experience and recovery. My latest work, Midlands, aims to take patients on both a physical and emotional journey, to hopefully relieve some of the anxiety or pain they might be experiencing. It is fantastic to be exhibited in such a splendid gallery alongside so many other wonderful artworks all with a mutual aim of expediting healing through art.”

Laura Uccello, Director of Partnerships at Saatchi Gallery, says: “Working closely with CW+ has allowed Saatchi Gallery to share free access to contemporary art to their wide hospital community. We are delighted to be exhibiting ‘Journeys’ and sharing with our visitors the meaningful impact that the visual arts have on Chelsea and Westminster Hospital’s commissioned artists, patients, volunteers and staff members.”

Trystan Hawkins, Arts Director at CW+, says: “We are thrilled to be partnering with Saatchi Gallery to present this unique exhibition. Thanks to our generous supporters, we’re able to work with these incredible artists to transform the hospital experience and environment for our patients, their families and our hardworking staff. I am delighted that for the first time the wider community can now also enjoy these artworks and learn more about our innovative programme of work.”

For more information about Journeys: The Healing Arts, please visit:

https://www.saatchigallery.com/exhibition/journeys

The exhibition is free entry and will be on view at Saatchi Gallery in Galleries 1 and 2 on the Ground Floor.