05/12/2025
As many of you know, 2nd December kicked off National Grief Awareness Week (2nd – 8th December 2025).
For many of us, grief is no stranger. However, here in the UK we tend to hold grief at arm’s length. The “Stiff upper lip” attitude that is intrinsically linked to British culture spills into the topic of death, disability, bereavement, loss and grief. So many of us struggle to open up or feel unprepared for conversations around this topic, for fear of upsetting others. So we hold things in and find it harder to process.
However, organisations such as good grief trust, Death Cafes and brighton death collective are trying to change that.
By placing more awareness and sharing knowledge and experience with the community, we can normalise conversations around grief and share the burden of loss together. This allows space for support and understanding to flourish, helping to transform the grief process into a less lonely place.
One lesser-known or talked about aspects of grief and loss is that experienced when losing, or realising, that your body does not work as it is ‘supposed to’ (according to societal norms or personal expectations).
This was the inspiration behind the work of Nu McAdam, a quadriplegic mouth-painting artist whose debut exhibition “Unspoken Sorrows,” (showing until 7th Dec Phoenix Art Space) was built around a simple 5 question interview and spans across 2 years and over 30 interviews with other disabled individuals.
Nu then used this as inspiration for the project work that you see displayed in the exhibition. Nu also experienced loss throughout the preparation for the project, as their old Studio space was closed down and they have experienced setbacks with new studio options too. However, Nu moved mountains to finish the planned works, and this resilience and hope is what Nu hopes visitors to the space will be inspired by and take forward.
Supported throughout the project by featured artist DeLiso, whose moving and thought provoking works of sculpture have also been a massive talking point so far for visitors to the space, and Duprez of Bathtub, Nu processed the grief of
losing his space whilst also completing the project just in time for the grand opening. It was important to Nu to share the space with other artists who otherwise would not have an opportunity to display their work publicly, as Nu feels strongly that the subject of grief through the lens of disability is such an important topic to bring to light.
By bringing together these unique perspectives, Brass Bathtub have established a quiet, safe and reflective space and invite everybody to join them Art Space
Please feel free to share your experience of grief and loss in the comments if you feel so moved, we would love to hear from you.
Alt: A blue background displays a line drawing of 2 people hugging from behind, there are some clouds in the sky and 3 hearts above the people.
Text reads; “Grief Awareness Week. Dec 2nd – Dec 8th 2025”
