'Fragments'. Uillinn: West Cork Arts Centre. 6 May to 27 June 2019.
Fragments is an arts for health residency. In Spring 2018, following the annual Arts + Health Check Up, Check In, a reflective practice and reading group was initiated at Uillinn. The group comprised of West Cork-based Sarah Ruttle and Charlotte Donovan, Galway-based Marielle MacLeman, and Glasgow-based Kirsty Stansfield – all visual artists with over 15 years experience of working in arts and health.
This group provided a supportive space for the individuals to reflect on their broad experience and explore pertinent questions relating to maintaining an artistic practice in health settings. The residency formed an important incubator period for the group – time to focus on critical reflection with peers, using dialogue, making and writing to explore participative and collaborative methodologies in Arts and Health – and a catalyst to generate the momentum needed for continuous exchange.
During the residency at Uillinn, the group explored ideas related to:
- autonomy, creativity and end of life
- place-making and place-based knowledge in hospital and community health contexts
- the interplay between participative and collaborative approaches in hospital and community health contexts
- authorship and visibility of the visual artist in Arts and Health and in the wider contemporary art world