A Journey Through Creative Collaboration: from UCL East's Trellis to UCL Arbor art programmes

East London artist Briony Campbell took part in UCL East's Trellis programme and found the process so rewarding that she went on to apply for its sister project Arbor, which supports the ION-DRI programme - UCL's flagship project building a neuroscience centre at Grays Inn Road. 

Her latest project, Walking in Your Footsteps, working with neurologist Dr Natalie Ryan and members of the Familial Alzheimer Disease support group will be on display in Everything is Connected, a new exhibition at the Crafts Council 22 May - 3 June. 

A journey through creative collaboration: from Trellis to Arbor

In 2021, filmmaker and photographer Briony Campbell took part in Trellis - UCL East's knowledge exchange programme. Launched to bring together artists, researchers and local east London communities to co-create work together. 

Briony was part of Flow Unlocked, a creative autistic-led collaboration with autism researcher Georgia Pavlopoulou and neurodivergent artist Jon Adams. Together, they worked with autistic east Londoners to explore the importance of relationships, co-creating poetic and visual responses through photography, film, and drawing. The project celebrated the richness of autistic experiences and highlighted the need for safe, inclusive spaces where creativity and authenticity can thrive. 

Rooted in Georgia's research looking at relationships as the foundation of mental health for autistic and non-autistic people, the project focused on co-creation and redefining the autistic narrative from the perspective of lived experience.

"The experience of working with a researcher who believed so passionately in autistic-led research was a game changer for me. Georgia's enthusiasm for building personal connections through creative methodologies demonstrated that the traditional gap between researchers and their participants can be lessened." Briony says. 

Now in its fifth cycle, Trellis has continued to develop innovative and creative collaborations and by providing opportunities for researchers to connect with east London artists and communities.

For A Place of Our Making, recently on display at Marshgate, visitors were invited to engage in discussion on prosperity in east London and the design of public spaces with neurodivergent individuals. They were even able to shake hands with a 7-foot puppet with a robotic hand - prompting them to reflect on greetings and the idea of welcome. 

From Trellis to Arbor: a stepping stone

The programme's success in connecting UCL research to the local area led director of public art, Sam Wilkinson, and her team to set up Arbor in 2023 - this time focusing on another of UCL's major projects to build a world-class neuroscience centre at Grays Inn Road. 

She says, "Trellis has been key in setting up the new campus at UCL East and helping us understand and feel part of the rich and diverse community in east London. It has been a transformative experience for hundreds of staff - we wanted to apply what we’ve learnt to other areas of UCL. 

Trellis allowed researchers to build relationships with our neighbours in east London, Arbor has given people the opportunity to connect with people with lived experience of different neurological conditions. For some lab-based researchers, this is the first opportunity to meet people with the conditions that they are trying to cure."

For Briony, Arbor felt like a natural next step, "Trellis reminded me of the power of making space for under-represented voices and the co-creation process pushed my own creative practice into new realms. Arbor felt like a wonderful opportunity to continue nurturing that kind of trust, care and creativity."

Walking in Your Footsteps: exploring Familial Alzheimer's Disease (FAD)

For Briony's Arbor project Walking in your Footsteps, she has teamed up with Dr Natalie Ryan, a neurologist at the Dementia Research Centre at Queen Square Institute of Neurology to explore the lived experiences of Familial Alzheimer’s Disease (FAD)

This rare, inherited form of Alzheimer’s often begins in midlife and has a profound impact across generations. A person may be caring for a parent with symptoms and living with the uncertainty of not knowing whether they too carry the gene, or whether they may have passed it on.

Briony says, "This project is a way to honour the experiences of those living with FAD and those who care for them. During workshops ranging from collage to sand art, intimate conversations were prompted by creative activities.

Through sharing stories and making together, we built precious bonds in a supportive and inspiring environment. The involvement of the FAD support group has deeply influenced every part of the process."

In Everything is Connected - a new exhibition opening at the Crafts Council in London 22 May - 3 June, Briony will be sharing two artworks that reflect this experience of learning, sharing and making together. 

Maze is a film inspired by Tamara's (a participant) photo of her father’s maze drawing tradition.  

Briony says. "Throughout her childhood, Tamara’s dad would draw mazes for his kids on beach holidays. His maze offered an analogy for pathfinding in the face of FAD’s uncertainty, and the struggle against inevitable and shifting tides. The maze in the film, drawn by Tamara, brings joy, fades, is fought for, and ultimately slips away."

Red Lines is a series of photo-based artworks displayed in petri dishes. It aims to bring scientists and researchers closer to the people whose cells they study.

Briony explains. "'Red’ are the bloodlines that carry the disease as well as the love. ‘Red tape’ is the bureaucracy patients and carers must navigate to access support. ‘Red carpet’ is VIP status that families with FAD deserve in recognition of the contributions they make to Alzheimer's research."

The work invites visitors to reflect on the impact of genetically inherited disease, loss, memory and family roles and on the resilience found within shared experience. Red Lines is planned to be installed in the neuroscience centre as a public artwork when it opens in 2027, along with another new work created especially for the building.

Maze and Red Lines will appear in the exhibition alongside a range of works - all part of the ION-DRI public art programme - Arbor collaborations, as well as work from artists commissioned to create public artwork that respond to the groundbreaking research that is being carried out by UCL academic works for the centre. These include digital and video works, soundscapes, interactive installations, photography, painted wall works, lightboxes and sculpture.

Briony says, "I'm really looking forward to seeing how the other artists have reflected their collaborations, and especially to playing the Ebb and Flow game and listening to the I Hear You soundscape, that reflects on how it feels to have Parkinson’s. I expect that bringing all these stories and experiences together in one space will offer a really powerful encounter to visitors.“

Explore 'Everything Is Connected'