From April 1st to May 20th, 2016, the Haida Gwaii Museum hosted a collaborative art show called SICK. The exhibit was created by a group of 11 Haida Gwaii locals drawn together by a shared interest in the link between creative expression and health. The collective met monthly for two years, with participants taking turns facilitating creative explorations of their personal illness journeys using drawing, meditation, movement and reflective writing. Slowly, a vision for an art exhibit took shape, driven by the wish to share the fruit of their collaborations and the desire to inspire others to join the conversation.
Sharing illness stories took courage. This exhibit was a gesture of trust in a small community’s capacity for mutual respect and compassion. SICK demonstrated how art can help us reclaim personal stories and make meaning out of difficult experiences. Far from stigmatizing the artists, the work they shared brought the community closer together, and made all feel less alone in facing the universal experience of illness.