Treasure Our Chests: When Art Becomes Advocacy and Healing

At the heart of creative expression lies the potential not only to delight the senses, but to spark awareness, facilitate healing and drive social change. October is internationally recognised as Breast cancer Awareness Month and  Kompin Artists, in collaboration with the Orange Foundation Sierra Leone, transformed their ‘Treasure Our Chests art exhibition’ into a powerful platform for education and support. Held at the Orange Foundation’s venue in Hill Station, Freetown, the exhibition enlisted colour, texture and story to elevate the conversation about breast cancer in Sierra Leone.

Why Breast Cancer?

October’s alignment with global breast-cancer awareness made the timing ideal for committing the exhibition to a cause. For the Kompin Artists, the choice of theme was deliberate: awareness is the first line of defence in any illness. The more people understand, the more empowered they are to act. Simultaneously, art offers a space where fears, stigmas and taboos may be addressed with sensitivity, courage and nuance , especially in societies where open conversations about women’s health may be constrained.

By choosing breast cancer as the central theme, the collective provided a non-judgmental space to release emotion, to break down cultural taboos, and to open conversations from multiple perspectives: the individual woman, the family, the community. This positions the exhibition not simply as an art show, but as an act of public health communication.

How Art Helps People Understand and Heal

As a platform, we are always keen to share that art does not merely reflect reality: it enables expression of the unsayable and can serve as a conduit for psychological, emotional and social healing. Research in oncology and art therapy supports this. A randomised controlled study found that art therapy sessions (1 hour/week) among women undergoing radiotherapy improved quality of life, physical health and psychological health; including body image and future-perspectives. PubMed

More recently, meta-analyses confirm the significant effect of art-based interventions on anxiety, depression and overall quality of life in breast-cancer populations. For example, one systematic review concluded that visual-art and music-based interventions consistently produced improvements in psychosocial well-being in survivors. PubMed

Another intervention study (the REPAT trial) demonstrated that art therapy improved emotional awareness and acceptance of emotion; core mechanisms believed to underlie the psychosocial benefit. Monash Research+1

Thus the Kompin Artists’ exhibition rests on a firm scientific foundation: using art not just as decoration, but as a therapeutic and educational channel.

Art is not only about it’s beauty but goes way beyond that. Art can help people to understand and heal as it helps people to visualize complex emotions and more. We wanted this exhibition to be a way of turning a frightening experience into something beautifully positive and inspiring. Ranya S Nirvan – President, Kompin Artist

Depicting Real Stories and Feelings

‘At Treasure Our Chests, each artwork was a narrative : a mirror of lived experience. Through intentional use of colour, symbolism and form, the artists conveyed the emotional contours of breast cancer:

• Darker palettes revealed fear, uncertainty, isolation.

• Bright and vibrant tones symbolised hope, survival, community support.

• Pink, the widely-adopted colour of breast-cancer awareness, became a thread of solidarity and beauty within adversity.

In one poignant piece by Hafsatu, a woman’s hand rests over her heart while a scar beneath blooms into floral imagery :a metaphor for transformation, resilience and rebirth.

The raw honesty of these works engages viewers not only visually, but emotionally; inviting them into the inner worlds of women and families touched by breast cancer in Sierra Leone.

By translating private journeys into public art, the exhibition opened a space where stigma can be challenged, and where the collective narrative shifts towards empowerment rather than silence.

Sustaining the Message and Support

Awareness campaigns cannot end when the exhibition doors close. In this spirit The Kompin Artists pledged a portion of proceeds from painting sales and auction revenue to the Sierra Leone Cancer Society to support breast-cancer education, screening and patient-care initiatives.

But the commitment goes further:

• The artworks will be shared via social-media channels and online galleries, extending their reach beyond the physical venue.

• The collective will participate in future events tied to breast-cancer awareness and broader health-education programming.

• They intend to use art exhibitions as recurring platforms for advocacy ;not one-off moments, but sustained engagements.

By embedding their message into ongoing community dialogue, the Kompin Artists ensure that the exhibition becomes a catalyst for enduring impact.

When Art Meets Purpose

In the words of theatre veteran Charlie Haffner:

“Art has the power to tell our stories, heal our communities, and drive progress.”

What the Kompin Artists accomplished with Treasure Our Chests is precisely that: art woven into advocacy, colour aligned with courage, creativity anchored in compassion.

When we stand before a painting that speaks of fear, hope or survival, we are not merely looking ; we are listening.

In that listening lies awareness. In that awareness lies change.
And in that change lies healing.