Rebel by Default: Power Bags and Participatory Research with Women Living with HIV

Dr Katharine Low (GKT School of Medical Education, Centre for Education), Dr Ella Parry-Davies (Department of English, Performance@King’s Network), Silvia Petretti (Positively UK) Michelle Bockor (Positively UK), Charity Nyirenda (Positively UK), Ellie Angus (Positively UK), Daniel McIlwraith aka Daisy Puller

Led by Dr Katharine Low (GKT School of Medical Education) and Dr Ella Parry-Davies (Department of English), Rebel by Default brought together King’s researchers and colleagues from Positively UK to co-create a participatory arts project with women living with HIV.

Through a series of co-facilitated workshops, participants designed and crafted symbolic “Power Bags” — textile artworks containing personal objects that reflected their identities, experiences, and aspirations. The project centred peer-led leadership, radical care, and creative expression, offering space for reflection, connection, and resistance across generations.

Highlights included a drag performance workshop with HIV activist Daisy Puller and a public exhibition at the Inigo Rooms in May 2024, featuring the Power Bags, written reflections, and soundscapes created during the workshops. The work has since been showcased at AIDS 2024 in Munich and BHIVA 2025, with plans underway for a digital archive and permanent home at Bishopsgate Institute.

Building on a long-term partnership between King’s and Positively UK, Rebel by Default amplifies the voices of women often excluded from research and healthcare conversations — using creative practice as a tool for visibility, agency, and change.

For full details of the project, please see the PDF case study below.

Rebel by Default: Power Bags and Participatory Research with Women Living with HIV – PDF Case Study