Tommy’s National Centre for Preterm Birth Research
We have partnered with the newly launched Tommy’s National Centre for Preterm Birth Research and Imperial College London to run a series of participatory commissions over the next 3-5 years. These new artworks will eventually become part of the Birth Rites Collection.
The Commissions
Birth Rites Collection will facilitate 3-5 artists to collaborate with men and women in the community, up and down the UK, to explore important ideas connected with preterm birth.
The projects and resulting works will help to expand on the ground-breaking research that the team at Tommy’s and the five collaborating universities are carrying out.
If you are an artist / artist collective and are interested in getting involved in this project, please fill out a preliminary expression of interest. The deadline for initial expressions of interest is 30 April 2024.
A budget of £5400 is available for the first commission. Ten artists will be selected to develop their proposals from the initial expression of interest and a small fee will be paid for this.
We are keen to hear from artists of black and minority ethnic background, disabled, LGBTQ and female artists. We will be shortlisting 10 artists / artist collectives to develop their ideas into fully fledged proposals for new works.
The first commission will be developed in the Kent region. Future commissions will be in other areas in the UK.
Sonia and Florenca - portrait from the series ‘One Day Young’ by Jenny Lewis. Courtesy of the artist and Birth Rites Collection.
From Tommy’s National Centre for Preterm Birth Research:
Right now, an estimated 53,000 babies are born prematurely every year in the UK. That’s 6 babies every hour. While most premature babies survive, prematurity is the most significant cause of mortality in children under the age of 5. For those that do survive, there is a significant risk of long-term health problems, creating lifelong challenges.
At Tommy’s we believe there’s so much more we can do to prevent it happening, and to make sure every parent has the information and answers they need if their baby is born too soon. That’s why research is at the heart of what we do.
By understanding the causes and why some people are more likely to experience premature birth, we can develop new tools and treatments to help prevent it happening. Treatments like the abdominal stitch, which is already saving little lives, giving families the chance to take their baby home.
This is why we’re opening the first ever Tommy’s National Centre for Preterm Birth Research dedicated to finding the causes and treatments which save babies’ lives.
