An initiative is being launched in Hackney to persuade members of black and ethnic minority communities to come forward as organ donors.
Clapton photojournalists Alex Pielak and Tilley Harris have started a project called “inexchange”, which aims to provoke more ethnic minority organ donations by encouraging people waiting for a transplant to share their story.
“It’s all very well doing a project on organ donation and putting it in a gallery but we thought how do we bring the project to people who actually need to see it?” said Mr Pielak.
Mobile billboards documenting the stories will tour Hackney in 2013 as a street exhibition in a bid to encourage more black and asian people to sign the organ donation register.
This issue is also highlighted by the NHS, whose website says: “While the need for donor organs is three to four times higher than among the general population, donation rates are relatively low among the Black and south-Asian communities, thus reducing the chance of a successful match being found.”
Mr Pielak said the duo are targeting areas of London where there are higher proportions of ethnic minorities to try and raise awareness of the problem.
Initial funding for the project came from the University of the Arts and it is also backed by Professor Gurch Randhawa, an organ donation expert. Professor Randhawa said: “The work will be of international relevance. Many countries are seeking to increase the profile of organ donation, specifically among different faith and ethnic communities.
“The US, Canada, Australia, France, the Netherlands, India and Pakistan are all grappling with this issue and would be keen to learn from this.”
