Neurodiversity Matters: Kai Syng Tan and Georgia Thom on creative practice

Qualitative researchers are increasingly turning to creative methods and methodologies to expand perspectives on health, healthcare, and divergent ways of being. In this episode Sohail speaks to Kai Syng Tan and Georgia Thom, both practising artists and researchers, about how neurodivergence and art work together to explore marginalised experiences of the world including trans life, neurodivergence, and their intersections, amid the resurgence of the far right.  

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About the guests

Georgia Thom:

First and foremost, I am a human artist. I am also writing a PhD thesis, under supervision from artist researchers Kai Syng Tan, Gordon Hon and Ian Dawson, on digital art practice through the lens of my own trans-neuro-queer identity. I am very interested in knowledge sharing and production, and have focused heavily on an actor-network theory interpretation of art making in my thesis research for its highlighting of intersections of people and objects. I am also an artist with a background in painting, sculpture, drawing, digital artwork, installation, performance, collective making and virtual worlds. https://groockstudio.wordpress.com/

Kai Syng Tan

Kai Syng Tan PhD PFHEA (@kaisyngtan, she/they) is a tentacular artist-academic-author- agitator. Their book Neuro-Futurism and Re-Imagining Leadership: An A-Z towards Collective Liberation (2024) introduces 26 love-led strategies to reframe ‘leadership’ as a trans- disciplinary, (co-)creative, diversified, decolonised, neuro-queered practice of change- and future-making. Networks founded includes the 480-member Neurodiversity In/& Creative Research Network. Their co-curation of a 4-day festival for Black History Month 2020 reached 18.4m people worldwide. A curatorial project Karama: Expressions of Resistance from Gaza with UK and Palestinian community leaders was praised as ‘moving’ and ‘fantastic’. Kai is Associate Professor in Arts and Cultural Leadership by day. www.kaisyngtan.com/artful