Questions with Saad Qureshi on the organ donor memorial
The Organ Donation Committee (Barts Health NHS Trust), Vital Arts, NHS Blood and Transplant and Barts Charity are delighted to announce that British artist Saad Qureshi has been commissioned to create an Organ Donor Memorial for display at the Royal London Hospital, Whitechapel.
The project emerges from a request by the Organ Donation Committee for a permanent artwork that would commemorate donors, as well as raise awareness of organ donation. Vital Arts is the charitably funded arts organisation that commissions artwork for Barts Health NHS Trust. After extensive research, Vital Arts proposed Qureshi, whose response to the brief was innovative and heartfelt.
Memory is one of the central themes running through Qureshi’s practice. Speaking about the project to honour organ donors, and the courageous support of their loved ones, Qureshi said:
‘I want to explore the notion of continuity: of memory over and beyond lifetime, and of the gift of donation, where a person gives an organ so that another can live, but that in doing so, a part of the donor’s body is offered a new lease of life… When we look at people, we see their outward appearance, which is extremely diverse across the world, but inside we are all flesh, blood and bone. What fundamentally distinguishes us is our memory, the events of our lives. The phenomenon of organ donation brings a new imaginative dimension to the notion of what it is to be alive.’
As part of the development of the work, Qureshi will spend time with patients, donors and their loved-ones, asking them to share significant moments in the lives of donors and organ recipients. The artist will use the themes of these stories as inspiration for his final work, intended to be unveiled during Organ Donation Week 2023.
The final work will be permanently sited at the Entrance Lobby to the Renal Unit of the Royal London Hospital, as a space of solace for bereaved families whose loved ones have donated organs—as well as a space for others to consider organ donation. The artwork will be accessible from within the building and also be outward facing, sited behind a glazed frontage, and therefore visible 24/7. The project is generously funded by Barts Charity.
Over 50,000 are currently alive in the UK today, thanks to receiving the precious gift of life from a donor. However, over 6,000 are still waiting and as recovery from the pandemic continues this number is expected to rise. The more people who register their support for donation, the more lives can be saved. Just one organ donor can save up to nine lives, or improve up to 50 lives if tissue is also donated.
Although the law regarding organ donation has changed, families are always consulted before donation proceeds. This means it is still crucial decisions are registered on the NHS Organ Donor Register, and friends and family are informed. Registration is fast and easy.
For more information or to register organ donation decisions, visit www.organdonation.org.uk, use the NHS app or call 0300 123 23 23. Users of the NHS app can also check or amend their decision.
About Saad Qureshi:
Saad Qureshi lives and works in London and Oxford. He received his BA in Fine Art from Oxford Brookes University in 2007 and an MFA in Painting from The Slade School of Fine Art, London, in 2010.
Recent solo exhibitions include Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Wakefield; Nature Morte Gallery, New Delhi; Aicon Gallery, New York; and Gazelli Art House, London. Group exhibitions include I’Institut des Cultures d’Islam, Paris; Museum Arnhem, Netherlands; Kunsthall 3,14, Bergen; Drawing Room, London; and White Project Gallery, Paris.
Qureshi has had public commissions at Oxford Brookes University, Oxford and Victoria, London and his work has been acquired by public collections including the Dipti Mathur Collection, California; The Farjam Foundation Collection, Dubai; the UNESCO Creative Cities Collection, Beijing; The Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, New Delhi; the Boston Consulting Group; and the Almarkhiya Gallery, Qatar as well as British and international private collections.
Qureshi was shortlisted for the 2021 SkyArts LANDMARKS public art commission. He has received two ACE awards; the Celeste Prize, Rome; the Royal Society of British Sculptors bursary award; the Red Mansion Foundation Prize; and he was shortlisted for the Lecturis Award, Amsterdam. He features in the 2020 Thames & Hudson book 100 Sculptors of Tomorrow.
www.saadqureshi.com | @saad_qureshi_studio
About Vital Arts:
Vital Arts is the charitably-funded arts organisation within Barts Health NHS Trust. Established in 1996, Vital Arts has an international reputation for innovative and ambitious art projects that support patients and staff, while raising the standard of art in hospitals – and public art in general. Vital Arts views hospitals as key civic spaces that are ideal to introduce new audiences to the transformative power of art.
About Barts Health NHS Trust:
With a turnover of £1.5 billion and a workforce of around 17,000, Barts Health is a leading healthcare provider in Britain and one of the largest NHS trusts in the country. The Trust’s five hospitals – St Bartholomew’s Hospital in the City, including the Barts Heart Centre, The Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel, Newham University Hospital in Plaistow, Whipps Cross University Hospital in Leytonstone and Mile End Hospital – deliver high quality compassionate care to the 2.5 million people of east London and beyond.
www.bartshealth.nhs.uk | @nhsbartshealth
About NHS Blood and Transplant:
NHS Blood and Transplant is a joint England and Wales Special Health Authority. NHS Blood and Transplant provide the blood donation service for England and the organ donation service for the UK. This includes managing the donation, storage and transplantation of blood, organs, tissues, bone marrow and stem cells and researching new treatments and processes. NHS Blood and Transplant is an essential part of the NHS, saving and improving lives through public donation.
About Barts Charity:
Barts Charity funds exceptional healthcare for the people of East London and beyond. It funds ground-breaking medical research, state-of-the-art equipment, and innovative healthcare projects which go above and beyond what the NHS can provide. Its work supports staff and patients at the five hospitals within Barts Health Trust, as well as clinicians and researchers at Queen Mary University London.