IN THE HOUSE OF MY FATHER

DONALD RODNEY

WHAT DO WE INHERIT FROM GENERATIONS PAST?

In the artist’s open hand is a sculpture made from sections of his own skin, removed during one of the many operations he underwent to combat sickle cell anaemia, a genetic disease, mainly affecting people of African, Caribbean, Middle Eastern, Eastern Mediterranean and Asian origin. Red blood cells develop into crescent shapes under certain conditions in those affected by sickle cell disease; these get stuck in blood vessels, causing pain, swelling, risk of infection and stroke.