After two years of preparation and four busy months, our Durham exhibition draws to a close this week. This post originally appeared on our Catch Your Breath website. Curator David Wright reflects… It is an often-observed phenomenon among museum curators … Read more…
Life of Breath collaborator Elspeth Penny writes about her experience facilitating a “Letter to my Breath” workshop at Barton Hill Settlement in Bristol as part of Fun Palaces 2018… It’s like a present when I’m invited to run a workshop, … Read more…
The Life of Breath team, like our colleagues at Breathe Oxford, recently responded to the proposal that defining chronic breathlessness as a syndrome might raise awareness of its impact on people’s lives. We stress that more consultation with ‘experts-by-experience’ (patients who experience … Read more…
Recently it was proposed that defining chronic breathlessness as a syndrome might raise awareness of its impact on people’s lives . Our collaborators at Breath Oxford responded. Their research explores the neuroscience of breathlessness, particularly the networks that generate perceptions. They … Read more…
This guest post, to mark Mesothelioma Awareness Day (26 September), is from the Mesothelioma Cancer Alliance. Most people probably don’t know what it looks like or what it is used for, but the word ‘asbestos’ can strike fear into the … Read more…
Life of Breath post-doctoral researcher Rebecca Oxley writes: ‘Breath Lab’ is designed as a living experiment to promote discussion around a central theme relating to breath, breathing and breathlessness. The aim is not to discuss key research findings, but rather … Read more…
‘It Felt Like Drowning’ is the winner of our recent Inspired musical composition competition. Entrants were invited to attend the Feel It Festival in November 2016 and take their inspiration from one of the events. The winner, Elan Higueras, … Read more…
This post was originally published by The Conversation. Anthropologist and Life of Breath team member Andrew Russell writes: It’s hard to think back to what English pubs and clubs were like before the law about smoke-free public places came into force … Read more…
On 1st July 2007 England banned smoking in enclosed public places. Although contentious at the time it has gone on to become one of the most popular and successful pieces of legislation ever. To mark the tenth anniversary of … Read more…
If you were invited to write a letter to your breath, what would you say? Bristol anthropologist Alice Malpass and letter-revivalist Elspeth Penny have been running workshops doing exactly that. Chatting to Sarah McLusky they explain what happens in … Read more…
The header image shows a viola, also called heartsease. Music therapist and writer Kate Binnie writes: I am in the hospital. Cardiology ward. My mother sits on the edge of the hospital bed, her swollen and shiny legs look as if … Read more…
Life of Breath PhD student Tina Williams writes: The 2017 Research Without Borders Festival showcase exhibition ran at Bristol’s Colston Hall on May 12th. I, along with ninety-nine other research students, took part in this engaging research exhibition, with the aim … Read more…
The header shows Ascent of Lunardi’s Balloon from St George’s Fields, London, 1788-90 by J. C. Ibbetson, which will be part of the Royal West of England Academy exhibition ‘Air: Visualising the Invisible in British Art 1768-2017’, as does this … Read more…
Artist Caroline Wright writes: Earlier this year, a two-day project called Space to Breathe took place at Somerset House in London, a building that is located in one of the most highly polluted areas of the city. Commissioned by the … Read more…
The header image shows ‘In the same breath’, a 2008 artwork by artist and glass-blower Kate Williams (borosilicate glass / 40 x 125 x 40 cm / courtesy of the artist / Photo © Yiannis Katsaris. See Kate Williams’s website … Read more…
Singing teacher Deborah Hudson writes: There I was, lying on a couch with a whole lot of acupuncture pins in my head when the idea dawned on me. I should write a book which would encourage even the shyest person … Read more…
The header image shows a representation of the three wise monkeys, see no evil, hear no evil and speak no evil. A parody of these monkeys (each with a different injury, bandaged or in a cast) can be found in … Read more…
The header photograph was taken by Paul Waine, and shows Bev Wears of the British Lung Foundation and Rebecca Oxley, post-doctoral researcher on the Life of Breath. Paul is a member of Breathe Easy Durham Dales, and has written a poem … Read more…
Tina Williams, PhD student on the Life of Breath project, writes a post prompted by the inaugural lecture of Prof. Jerry Nolan (audio recording now available), Honorary Professor of Resuscitation Medicine in the School of Clinical Sciences, University of Bristol: Loss. … Read more…
This is the fourth and final blog post in a series of responses to the British Lung Foundation‘s Battle for Breath report. Join us on Twitter to discuss the issues, Thursday 24 November 2016, 12:00GMT #breathreport. Ian Jarrold, the British Lung Foundation’s Head of Research, … Read more…
This is the second of a series of responses to the British Lung Foundation‘s Battle for Breath report. Join us on Twitter to discuss the issues, Thursday 24 November 2016, 12:00GMT #breathreport. Researcher Rebecca Oxley considers what insights anthropology can offer: The British Lung … Read more…
This is the first of a series of responses to the British Lung Foundation‘s Battle for Breath report. Join us on Twitter to discuss the issues, Thursday 24 November 2016, 12:00GMT #breathreport. Our principal investigator Prof Jane Macnaughton writes: Lung disease kills one … Read more…
Can e-cigarettes (also called electronic nicotine delivery systems or ENDS) help curb smoking or are they just a smoke screen allowing tobacco companies to keep people addicted to nicotine? And how should global policy makers proceed when uncertainty makes agreement impossible? In … Read more…