A Creative Exploration of Self-Injury Through Time

A Creative Exploration of Self-Injury Through Time grew out of our 2024 theatre project, I Am Worthy, delivered in partnership with ACTA Community Theatre and the University of Reading. What began as a collaborative performance evolved into a powerful exhibition, one shaped by personal testimony, historical insight and creative courage.

At the heart of the exhibition are works submitted by members of the public in response to an open call for creative contributions. As part of the I Am Worthy support project, we invited people to share artwork, writing, poetry and music reflecting their experiences of self-harm. The invitation was simple: if you would like your voice to be part of this conversation, we will hold it with care.

The response was extraordinary. Submissions arrived from across the UK and beyond – deeply personal, thoughtful expressions in many different forms. With permission, these pieces became the foundation of the exhibition.

Alongside these public contributions, additional works were created by group members and our team, inspired by historical research from Dr Alanna Skuse, historian and lecturer at the University of Reading, who conceived and funded the original project. Some pieces respond directly to how self-harm has appeared across different periods in history; others were shaped by themes emerging from the creative submissions themselves. Together, the exhibition brings past and present into conversation, not to sensationalise, but to deepen understanding.

The exhibition was first shown alongside the I Am Worthy performance at ACTA Community Theatre in July 2024. Audiences were invited to move from stage to gallery space, continuing their reflections through visual art, poetry and sound.

Following the theatre run, the exhibition found a new home at Glenside Hospital Museum in Bristol. The move extended its reach, enabling it to contribute not only to public awareness but also to learning and professional development. Paramedics, medical students and healthcare professionals attending training at Glenside have engaged with the exhibition as part of their Continued Professional Development, encountering lived experience perspectives rarely centred in clinical education.

Originally scheduled to run for four months from May 2025, the exhibition has since been extended twice and will now continue into 2026, a reflection of the resonance it has found with visitors.

Throughout the exhibition, viewers are invited to participate in a simple but powerful act of reflection. They are asked to complete the sentence: “I am worthy of…” anonymously, on a note provided within the display. These responses, tender, hopeful, searching, form a quiet, evolving installation of their own.

This exhibition does not seek to provide answers. Instead, it creates space to witness, to reflect, and to consider how our understanding of self-harm is shaped by history, culture and lived experience. In doing so, it gently challenges stigma and invites a more compassionate conversation, one that recognises complexity, humanity and worth.