A new exhibition coming to the Library of Birmingham explores the role of art in supporting health and care systems.

Based on Ikon Gallery’s collaborative research with visual artists, academic and charity partners, What are the odds? reflects a range of lived experiences from diversity in infant feeding to ageing and dying well.

The exhibition’s graphic identity – designed by Birmingham-based artist Foka Wolf – plays on a 1970s Game of Life TV show aesthetic, simulating a journey through the different institutions that define a life course.

Co-curated by Regan McDonald, Ikon Public Health Research Officer, and Linzi Stauvers, Ikon Artistic Director (Education), What are the odds? addresses public health and social care issues with a creative and communal response.

Photography is used by Ayesha Jones, Leave A Light In My Room (2023), Jaskirt Dhaliwal-Boora, Green Spaces (2024), and Vic Moyosola and Sadie Barnett, (Re)Coded (2024), to break down societal barriers and advocate for health justice in dialogue with communities.

In Why Are We Stuck in Hospital? (2023), Foka Wolf illustrates the invisibility of people with learning disabilities and/or autistic people in long-stay hospitals.

Diverse infant feeding practices are addressed through Feeding Chair (2022-ongoing), featuring new work from Milk & Blankets (2025), a project by Joanne Masding, Amelia Hawk and Ania Bas.

In Visible Bodies (2024), Sally Butcher presents performative text pieces that explore alternative meanings around the reproductive body in relation to infertility. The exhibition also showcases the work of Niki Gandy, Ikon Artist in Residence at HMP Birmingham (2025-26), who collaborates with prisoners to explore exposure to light, untangling the impact of incarceration on vitamin D and Circadian rhythms in Waiting for the Fold (2025).

Jenny Waldman, Director, Art Fund, says: “This exhibition from Ikon highlights the powerful role art can play in supporting health and wellbeing – something our recent research with King’s College London shows can benefit everyone. What are the odds? Ikon Creative Health is a brilliant example of how museums and galleries can address public health and social care issues with creativity – and I’m delighted we’ve been able to support it through our Reimagine grants.”

What are the Odds? Ikon Creative Health also features in the 26th International Conference on Integrated Care (Wed 13 Apr –Fri 15 Apr 2026), convened by the University of Birmingham, and Healing Arts Brum Week (Wed 22 Jun –Sun 26 Jun), organised by the Jameel Arts & Health Lab.

What are the Odds? Ikon Creative Health will be displayed at the Library of Birmingham Wed 21 Jan – Sat 27 Jun. Entry is free. You can find more information here.

Image credit: Foka Wolf, Why Are We Stuck in Hospital, taken by Tegen Kimbley