11 January 2026
Her work features in London Art Fair 2026 through a charity partnership with Cancer Research UK
At London Art Fair 2026, sound-based practice and lived experience will be brought into focus through the fair’s official charity partnership with Cancer Research UK. As part of the initiative, the fair will present work by artists whose lives and practices have been shaped by cancer diagnoses, offering perspectives that connect personal experience with ongoing scientific research and care.
One of the featured artists is Helen Anahita Wilson, a composer, sound artist and pianist whose work spans composition, research and performance. Wilson’s practice brings together her studies in South Asian music with experimental approaches such as sonic life-writing, corporeal acoustemology, and developments in biophilic and interspecies music-making. In response to her treatment for HER2+ breast cancer, she has developed a collection of sound-based works that challenge standardised narratives around illness, using music as a means to reflect on the physical and emotional realities of treatment.
The presentation sits within the wider context of Cancer Research UK’s work over the past five decades, during which advances in research and clinical trials have played a central role in improving survival rates. Reflecting on this connection, Wilson has said: “My legacy, I hope, in my music is to try and improve the experience of treatment for others who are going through it now. I’m a living legacy of the work of Cancer Research UK. Trials and developments are part of the reason why I'm still here”.
Alongside her presence at the fair, Wilson has recently released a self-released nine-track album titled ‘Nightshade’, adding a further strand to her ongoing work across composition and sound art. Together, her contribution to London Art Fair 2026 positions sound as a medium through which questions of care, resilience and lived experience can be approached with nuance, restraint and attentiveness.
The charity programme also features visual artist Carole Ellis.
Also worth noting is Wednesday Late, London Art Fair’s after-hours evening session, which takes place on January 21, 2026 from 5-9 PM and offers a more relaxed and festive way to experience the fair, often featuring live music or DJ performances alongside art viewing.
London Art Fair runs from January 21-25 and tickets are available here.
