Multi –Award Winning Laura I. Art Gallery is inviting you to a special talk with sculptor and activist artist, Minerva Amiss and prominent women guests who will be exploring the topic of womanhood and have a transparent conversation about the unspoken hardships associated with womxn, their healthcare and gender inequalities. The intention is to celebrate the discrepancies within medicine by glorifying the all too common everyday objects connected with the lived experience of being a womxn, that rarely has enough of a spotlight in conversation.

We understand we cannot visit galleries in these unprecedented times - which Is why this virtual event has been curated to open up opportunities for discourse online.

Please joins us for the inaugural of our second art exhibition of this year where artist Minerva Amiss will be talking about her new work in the latest exhibition “To Be A Womxn” hosted and organised by our gallery on Artsy.

This is an intimate, invitation only event, intended to foster a conversation about the many hidden challenges a woman is going through and celebrate and inspire women `s strength.

Amiss hopes that this exhibition will engage an intersectional audience to educate and help raise awareness about just how many womxn suffer because there has been key information missed at school, at doctors’ appointments, after treatment and most importantly, by our society making womxn feel embarrassed or unattractive about the lived experience of being a womxn and therefore removing opportunity for communication between peers. The themes that will be discussed will have effected someone you know, if they have not affected you directly.

We are excited to welcome Minerva Amiss and our special guests:

Minerva Amiss

Minerva Amiss is a London-based multidisciplinary artist and curator whose contemporary practice is about the intersection between art, disability and perception focusing on increasing awareness of chronic pain, invisible disabilities and the side effects of long-term palliative medication. In addition Minerva has an interest in communicating the queer experience and dealing with intimacy and anxiety.

Minerva has shown work in various exhibitions around London; the artist curated her own group show ‘XXXposed’ with 19 other artists in January 2019 at The Art Academy in Elephant and Castle. ‘Mr W et al’ was an exhibition dedicated to making art accessible and showing works from disabled artists. She has also performed live body printing at ‘Gender London’ (Bar 9294, Hackney Wick) and ‘We Grow’ (Grow, Tottenham, and showed various works at Karmarama and for Woke Women (EartH, Dalston) for LGBT history month in 2019. Showing sculpture, installations as well as performance pieces about invisible disabilities/chronic pain/pain medication.

Minerva’s show ‘To Be A Womxn’ will be available to view from 8th March - 28th March 2021 available to view on Artsy.

Sanchia Alasia BSc, MSc, Assoc CIPD, FCMI

Sanchia Alasia an award-winning specialist in equality diversity and Human Resources and has over 16 years’ experience of working in this field. She currently works part time as Head of the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion team at Brunel University and has previously worked at Queen Mary University.

She has a BSc in politics and sociology and an MSc in politics, policy and government. She is a member of the CIPD and a fellow of the Chartered Management Institute.

Sanchia is a public speaker and has spoken at conferences and forums across Europe as the former gender equality lead for the European Committee of the Regions.

Sanchia has won numerous awards including, being highly commended as a political figure in the Baton awards in 2020 and winner as outstanding public sector figure at the Precious awards in 2020. She was also named as one of 50 most inspirational Black women in the UK during Black history month in 2019.

Sanchia has strong specialist knowledge of conflict resolution in relation to bullying and harassment matters. She currently manages the dignity at work service for staff at Brunel University. This includes design and delivery of the dignity at work policy and general training for Brunel University as well as the management of the confidential dignity at work advisors.

Sanchia also design and deliver bespoke dignity at work sessions for departments or University’s to meet specific requirements that they may face. This can include feedback from poor results in the University annual staff survey or from a set of queries raised.

Sanchia is trained in mediation skills, which gives her the ability to dealt with several complex and sensitive cases to influence informal resolution outcomes where appropriate. Sanchia also delivers training on general diversity awareness.

Wunmi Oyewole - Wellness Practitioner, Self-care Advocate and Female Founder.

Wunmi Oyewole is a multi-award winning beauty entrepreneur and author, with a penchant for wellness, personal growth and community involvement. Drawing from her beauty experience of nurturing women, she went on to birth another vision of helping women to nurture their dreams and creative ambition. This culminated in her founding Radiant Ambitions CIC, a community organisation that empowers women to see possibilities, embrace opportunities and develop their confidence to live a life without barriers. Radiant Ambitions also supports women to level up into leadership roles through skills and talents management.

Social impact and influence have always been at the forefront of what Wunmi does even before she founded Radiant Ambitions CIC. At the heart of being a beauty professional, was the heart to give, support, inspire and empower other women within her local community and wider networks. Wunmi also uses self-care, wellness and personal development as a creative tool to build a positive self-image in women of all ages and graces.

Key Achievements and Awards:

- Winner of Inspirational Woman Awards 2017 - Business Category

- Winner of Wise Women Awards 2017: Business Category - for running a business that positively impacts the community.

- Business Woman of the Year 2017, REEBA Awards