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The forest that won't forget with four of the core group of 221+ members who supported project development. Photo credit: Eamon Ward.
The forest that won’t forget is a national public artwork dedicated to us, the women and families across Ireland who are affected by the failures of the CervicalCheck programme. But this is no ordinary artwork. The forest that won’t forget is a mature, native, Irish woodland. A living, breathing, growing, life-giving public artwork. An anti-monument, an eternal legacy that will outlive us all.
The 221+ Patient Support Group was established in July 2018 by Vicky Phelan and Stephen Teap to provide information, advice, and support to the women and families directly affected by failures in the CervicalCheck Screening Programme.
In 2011, Vicky was tested for cervical cancer as part of the CervicalCheck programme. Her smear test reported no abnormalities but it was inaccurate and Vicky was diagnosed with cancer in 2014.
Vicky brought a case against the HSE and Quest Laboratories claiming medical negligence and breach of duties for not informing her of the audit results. The case was settled in the High Court in April 2018 but Vicky bravely refused to sign a non-disclosure agreement. Hundreds more women were identified as having very similar experiences. Vicky Phelan died in November 2022.
Genesis of the artwork
A key request from 221+ members in the original strategic plan was to commission an artwork to memorialise the various losses they have experienced. 221+ Manager Ceara Martyn began researching suitable artists to work with members, and facilitate the process in a way that would creatively engage and empower members.
In 2021, artists Fiona Whelan and John Conway were commissioned by 221+ to lead a nationwide art project to respond to the complex lived experiences of women and families unjustly failed by the HSE’s CervicalCheck Screening Programme.
A core group of 221+ members led the development of the project and collaborated with the artists on a series of workshops and events in 2022 and 2023 as part of a series of 221+ regional members’ conferences.
Through mapping, sharing food, photography, printing, writing, performing and conversation, the ambition of this process was to nurture connectivity and solidarity between members, to explore and test appropriate art forms, to share and listen to lived experiences, and build understandings on the complexities of the CervicalCheck failure.
In response to emerging visual ideas and members’ desires and needs for a commemorative public work, the concept of a living artwork gained traction in the conversations. So too did the desire for a shared place to go, a place that would hold memories, and never forget this injustice that had been enacted on women across Ireland.
The project team subsequently contacted Hometree to find a suitable native woodland. In September 2024, the artists and 221+, in partnership with Hometree, launched the most ambitious and significant response from the project to date and titled it The forest that won’t forget.
The forest that won’t forget
A living, breathing public artwork, The forest that won’t forget is an anti-monument that publicly acknowledges a major historic injustice in women’s healthcare.
An ecologically rich 16-acre site located in County Clare, it functions as a physical and metaphorical place of unity, care and resistance. It is a place which recognises the truth and experiences of those affected, and commits to never forgetting.
It is a place for current and future generations. A place for remembering the past. A place for imagining the future. A place with an eternal legacy that will outlive us all.
Project Website: www.theforestthatwontforget.ie
221+ Website: https://221plus.ie/
The forest that won’t forget project is supported by the Irish Museum of Modern Art and by the National Museum of Ireland. It is funded by the Arts Council and by 221+.
