OVERCOMING THE INVISIBLE: Akanji Studio's Third Annual Exhibition Comes to BOXPARK This September
Every September, as Sickle Cell Awareness Month brings renewed attention to invisible illness, we turn to art and poetry to do what statistics alone cannot: make hidden pain visible.
This year, we're back with OVERCOMING THE INVISIBLE, our third consecutive annual exhibition exploring sickle cell disorder, sickle cell trait, chronic pain, and hidden disability through the lens of contemporary art and spoken word.
Who We Are
We're Akanji Studio, a Greater London based creative studio and Community Interest Company (C.I.C.) founded by Rizzy Akanji, using art and poetry to raise awareness around sickle cell and hidden disability. At our core is a simple belief: health equity starts with visibility. When conditions that don't "show" on the outside are rendered in colour, image and verse, the people living with them are finally seen.
Now in our third year, our annual exhibition has become a fixture for London's health advocacy and creative communities, a moment where art, medicine, and lived experience meet in the same room.
Inside OVERCOMING THE INVISIBLE
We've curated a collection of artists and poets whose work sits at the intersection of chronic illness, resilience, and identity. The exhibition doesn't limit itself to a single diagnosis — we hold space for sickle cell disorder, sickle cell trait, chronic pain, and hidden disability more broadly, reflecting how much overlap exists in the everyday experience of invisible illness.
Exhibition Launch Evening 📍 BOXPARK Shoreditch 📅 Thursday 3rd September 2026
Our launch evening brings together:
- A curated art display
- A wellness workshop
- Community conversation
- Spoken word performances
- Blood donation sign-ups with NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT)
The exhibition then runs throughout September across both BOXPARK Shoreditch and BOXPARK Croydon, alongside further events including a Community Day, a Panel Evening, and an invitation-only Sector Mixer for community organisation leaders.
Why It Matters
Sickle cell disorder remains one of the most under-recognised chronic conditions in the UK, disproportionately affecting Black communities and frequently misunderstood in clinical and social settings alike. Chronic pain and hidden disability more broadly carry a similar burden: the absence of visible symptoms often means an absence of belief, support, or accommodation.
By channelling these experiences through art and poetry, we create a different kind of entry point — one built on feeling rather than fact sheets. It's advocacy people can stand in front of, read, and carry with them.
Two Strands of Our Work
Our work moves on two tracks:
- Exhibitions, like OVERCOMING THE INVISIBLE, focused on awareness and health advocacy through creativity.
- Workshops, delivered at BOXPARK Croydon throughout September in partnership with OURPPLS, focused on opening creative career pathways for people from these communities.
Together, they reflect a studio as invested in representation as we are in opportunity.
Partners Supporting Our 2026 Activation
We're proud to deliver OVERCOMING THE INVISIBLE in partnership with:
- My Friend Jen — our founding partner and an award-winning sickle cell education organisation
- NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT)
- NIHR
- Vertex
- BOXPARK
- OURPPLS
Plan Your Visit
The exhibition is free and open to the public throughout September at BOXPARK Shoreditch and BOXPARK Croydon. Event link:
Follow us on Instagram and LinkedIn for exhibition updates, workshop dates, and behind-the-scenes previews as September approaches. @akanji.studio