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Stories of Protest and Intimacy

, –
  • Free
  • Discussion
  • British Sign Language interpreted
  • British Sign Language interpreted (online)
  • Hearing loop
  • Speech-to-text
  • Speech-to-text (online)
  • Wheelchair accessible
A close up of an audience seated in the Forum at Wellcome Collection. An audience member is holding a notepad and pen and speaking.
Event in the Forum at Wellcome Collection, Steven Pocock. Source: Wellcome Collection. Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0).

What you’ll do

Join health researcher and poet Bakita Kasadha, curator Adam Rose, photographer Gideon Mendel, and advocate and activist Angelina Namiba for a panel discussion exploring stories of protest and intimacy in our new exhibition display, ‘Tenderness and Rage’.

From the UK’s AIDS epidemic in the 1980s and 1990s to global experiences of HIV today, they’ll discuss everyday acts of care and activists’ fights for dignity, rights and equitable access to treatment.

Adam will take us behind the scenes of the display, exploring the importance of sharing these stories today. Angelina will share insights from three decades of experience in the HIV sector, and her work as founder of 4M Network of Mentor Mothers living with HIV.

Gideon will reflect on two photographic projects at the heart of the display:

  • ‘The Ward’ documents the lives of patients on AIDS wards in 1990s London
  • ‘Through Positive Eyes’ shares the stories of people living with HIV worldwide today.

You’ll have the chance to ask questions after the panel discussion.

A chill-out space is available if you’d like to take a break from the activities to rest or relax. It will have low lighting, comfortable seating, cushions, mats and sensory aids such as ear defenders and toys.

Ticket holders for the in-venue event will have access to the display from 18:00 and a bar from 18:30, before the discussion starts at 19:00. The event will also be live-streamed and recorded – book an online ticket below to receive information on how to join us online.

Dates

, –

The Forum

In-venue tickets

Livestream event

Online tickets

Tickets via Eventbrite

Need to know

Location

We’ll be in the Forum. To get there, take the lift or stairs up to level 1 and then follow the signs through the ‘Being Human’ gallery.

Place not guaranteed

Booking a ticket for a free, in-person event does not guarantee you a place. You should aim to arrive 15 minutes before the event is scheduled to start to claim your place. If you do not arrive on time, your place may be given to someone on the waiting list.

Waiting list

If this event is fully booked, you may still be able to attend. We will operate a waiting list, which opens 30 minutes before this event starts. Arrive early, and we’ll give you a numbered ticket. If there are any unfilled places just before the start time, we will invite you to enter in order of ticket number.

British Sign Language interpreted

This event will have British Sign Language interpretation.

British Sign Language interpreted (online)

This event is British Sign Language interpreted. An interpreter will be embedded in the event livestream or visible on screen for online viewers.

Hearing loop

There will be a hearing loop at this event.

Speech-to-text

This event will be live-transcribed. The captions will be displayed on a screen in-venue.

Speech-to-text (online)

This event will be live-transcribed for online viewers. Online ticketholders will receive a link to view the captions in a separate window.

Wheelchair accessible

This event is wheelchair accessible, which means people in wheelchairs can access the location with relative ease.

For more information, please visit our Accessibility page. If you have any queries about accessibility, please email us at access@wellcomecollection.org or call

Our event terms and conditions

About your contributors

Bakita Kasadha

(she/her)
Facilitator

Bakita is a multi-award-winning health researcher, writer, speaker and poet. Her work explores how lived experience and stigmatised health conditions shape health research and public life. She joined the University of Oxford as a researcher on an HIV and infant feeding study that informed national HIV pregnancy guidelines, and is currently completing her PhD there. Bakita has a long-standing background in HIV advocacy, community engagement and public speaking. Her poem ‘Numbers Game: Our Silence Won’t Protect Us’ inspired the creation of a £9 million fund to prevent HIV cases and support people living with HIV.

Photograph of Adam Rose

Adam Rose

(he/they)
Speaker

Adam is an independent curator based in London whose practice centres on lived experiences of health, accessibility and social justice. In 2025 he co-curated ‘Zines Forever! DIY Publishing and Disability Justice’ at Wellcome Collection. He has also worked as assistant curator on Wellcome exhibitions ‘In Plain Sight’ (2022), ‘The Cult of Beauty’ (2023) and ‘Thirst: In Search of Freshwater’ (2025). He has led as a producer on multiple iterations of the exhibition access offer, working across audio description, British Sign Language video, multi-sensory artist commissions and wayfinding. He graduated from SOAS with a degree in Japanese and History in 2016 and completed an MA Apprenticeship in Curating from Teesside University in 2025. He is currently working on the exhibition ‘Tenderness and Rage’, opening at Wellcome Collection on 29 May 2026.

Photograph of Gideon Mendel

Gideon Mendel

(he/him)
Speaker

Gideon is a world-renowned photographer, artist and activist. He has captured the human experience behind some of the most significant issues facing his generation, from the struggle against apartheid in South Africa to the tragedy and hope of HIV/AIDS through to our global climate emergency. The ‘Tenderness and Rage’ display features his series, ‘The Ward’ (2017), and his collaborative global advocacy project, ‘Through Positive Eyes’ (2008–present).

Angelina Namiba

(she/her)
Speaker

Angelina has over 30 years of experience working in the HIV sector on different initiatives ranging from providing one-to-one support to people living with HIV, treatment advocacy, and managing service delivery to facilitating, promoting and advocating for the involvement of women living with HIV in forming & informing local and national strategy and policy. She is a founder member of the 4M Network of Mentor Mothers living with HIV, a programme working with mothers living with HIV to train them to support their peers in their pregnancy journey and for their professional development.

Photograph of the head and shoulders of a woman with short black hair with a blonde streak, leopard print top and leather jacket. She is looking and smiling directly at the camera.

Sharan Thind

British Sign Language interpreter

Sharan has worked as a Sign Language Interpreter for over 15 years, including 10 years with Wellcome Collection. Based in London, she takes a holistic approach to her work and enjoys bringing to life, through her interpretation, the experiences that Wellcome Collection offers for all to enjoy. NRCPD number: 1011797.

Rebekah Spencer

British Sign Language interpreter

Rebekah Spencer is a BSL interpreter.