Hidden faces, hidden stories

In this creative workshop you will create a drawing or poem of your own, inspired by the Pool of Bethesda (1726) painting which hangs in the North Wing at St Bartholomew's Hospital. The painting is believed to depict different kinds of illness and methods of care.

Pharmacist and Creative Health expert Maaya Modha-Patel will introduce you to the painting, and we will consider questions including, 'who had access to good quality healthcare in the past?' and 'what does being well look like?'.

We aim to stimulate thoughtful debate on factors such as wealth and social status, which were historically significant in access to care, and consider how inequality might still effect healthcare today.

You will be invited to represent your feelings, thoughts and reflections in a creative response such as poetry or drawing.

Materials provided will be:

• Coloured card
• Cartridge paper
• Fineliner pens
• Graphite pencils
• Pastels
• Calligraphy inks and brushes
• Coloured sharpies
• Colouring pencils
• Glue, scissors and collage papers

You are welcome to bring your own materials, with the exception of paints.

Maaya will lead the workshop and is an expereinced creative facilitator. She will be supported by the Barts Heritage engagement team who are also experienced in facilitation.

We hope that you'll share your individual experience of seeing the painting with a small group of peers and have a discussion, after which you will work on your own creative piece in response to the session discussion.

We welcome everyone with an interest in history, art and architecture, medical humanities, and the history of medicine, to come and try something new or develop your existing poetry or drawing skills.

About Maaya Modha-Patel

Maaya Modha-Patel is Senior Lecturer in Communication & Professional Skills, The Robin Brook Centre for Medical Education, Queen Mary Univeristy of London (QMUL).

Maaya trained as a pharmacist and currently works as an academic specialising in Clinical Communication, teaching medical students at QMUL.

She is passionate about Creative Health and has a Masters Degree in this discipline. Her research focused on evaluating the impact of a mindfulness course on a group of Black pregnant women, given the ethnic disparities in mental health outcomes in the UK during the perinatal period.

Maaya is a champion for social justice and amplifying voices from marginalised communities.

About Being Human Festival

This event is part of Being Human Festival, the UK’s national festival of the humanities, taking place 6 - 15 November 2025. Led by the School of Advanced Study, University of London, with generous support from Research England, in partnership with the Arts and Humanities Research Council and the British Academy.

For further information please see beinghumanfestival.org