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Opening windows on pain

Nikki Brown, the Fundraising Manager for the Windows on Pain campaign gives us the background to this moving and powerful exhibition reports the South Sydney Herald of April 2009.

The Pain Management Research Institute, Sydney, is a leading world institute for research and treatment of severe persistent pain. Severe persistent pain is the type of pain that obstructs and constricts people’s lives, often to devastating effect for them and their families. At any time, a staggering 3.2 million Australians of working age have this degree of pain.

Although pervasive, persistent pain is a taboo subject shrouded in denial and aversion.  Invisibility limits the search for effective treatment. The Windows on Pain campaign opens “windows” that break through the taboo and attract wide interest and support. 

In 2008, the Institute began an innovative art show and auction. In that year it won the Fundraising Institute of Australia’s annual award for Best Special Event in Australia.  In 2009, 30 leading and emerging artists will interpret pain in painting, drawing, photography, sculpture, ceramics and installation and video works, taking pain beyond familiar stereotypes. A number of artists are working collaboratively with people with severe persistent pain.

The show will open at Carriageworks in Redfern. The grand opening at Carriageworks is on May 6 and is designed to present multiple faces of the experience of pain, taking advantage of the expansive industrial space.

For further information contact:

Nikki Brown, Fundraising Manager

Phone:  (02) 9926 6375

Email:  nmbrown@nsccahs.health.nsw.gov.au

www.windowsonpain.org

Source: South Sydney Herald April 2009 www.southsydneyherald.com.au