The ME/CFS Centre in Second Life launched an art exhibition on Wednesday May 12, 2010. The exhibition featured creative works in all forms authored by people with ME/CFS (myalgic encephalomyelitis/ chronic fatigue syndrome).

The exhibition is now a permanent feature of the Centre, and includes paintings, illustrations, line drawings, sculpture, digital art, poems, prose, book extracts and song lyrics. Every contributor has a story to tell.

The exhibition is spread throughout three floors of the Centre. Features include a gallery on the ground floor, an art installation called “Have a drink for ME” on level 2, and a “Day in the Life of ME” on the roof garden.

The exhibition was launched on International ME/CFS Awareness Day in order to promote awareness of this misunderstood, under-funded and under-researched illness. ME/CFS is a complex disease that affects multiple systems in the body, resulting in memory loss, confusion, orthostatic intolerance, post-exertional malaise and many other debilitating symptoms. Australian researchers have found that the level of disability of those with ME/CFS is greater than in heart attack, multiple sclerosis, type 2 diabetes and congestive heart failure.