News
Galway University Hospitals Arts Trust will be contributing to the Culture, Health & Wellbeing International Conference in Bristol, which is taking place from 19 – 21 June. Arts Director Margaret Flannery will take part in a round table discussion and there will be a presentation by visual artist Marielle MacLeman.
Drawing from the Trust’s work with older people in long-term care contexts, MacLeman will explore the interplay between ‘placed being’ and ‘human being’ in the presentation ‘The savage loves his native shore: Place and hi(story) in person-centred arts participation’. Told through interlinking patient narratives, the artist will reveal how storytelling and bookmaking have become important aspects of the Trust’s programme where older people are respected as insightful, valuable contributors to their communities.
Bookmaking has provided a platform to celebrate participants’ knowledge and has helped make ephemeral aspects of the arts programme more tangible. The abstract draws predominantly from MacLeman’s experiences in haemodialysis, centring on the indomitable bond between Jack and Dan and the making of The Birds of Ireland, a book written on the author’s premise that ‘a song always sounded better when you knew the story behind it’.
Registration for the conference ends at 5pm on 31 May.
For further information visit www.culturehealthwellbeing.org.uk
