First Fortnight festival puts mental health in spotlight

Arts Week with Judy Murphy

Dance and creative workshops as well as an art exhibition, discussions and a musical evening are being held across Galway City and County this month as part of First Fortnight, Ireland’s mental health arts and culture festival, which is now in its 10th year.

A community, collaborative art exhibition, Alone in the Crowd, will be on display at the city’s Town Hall Theatre, until Friday, January 31. It has been created by Art in Mind, a non-profit organisation that helps communities to discover the mental health benefits that occur when people make art together.

Dance takes centre stage this Saturday, when the Galway Dance Project and Dance Ireland will host a dance workshop focusing on wellbeing. It will be given by Italian dancer Marika Rizzi who gives regular workshops throughout Europe, integrating principles from traditional Chinese medicine. It will take place in the city’s St Nicholas’s Parochial School, Waterside, from 11am-1pm, costing €10.

The acclaimed 2018 documentary Irene’s Ghost, which follows a son’s quest to learn about the mother he never knew, will be screened at the city’s Town Hall Theatre next Monday, January 13, at 8pm. Iain Cunningham was three when his mother Irene died, apparently after falling into a coma. His father never spoke about Irene’s death and his family’s silence about her life meant the only place where she lived on was in Iain’s imagination.  When he became an adult and had his own child, Ian was driven to discover the truth about his mother’s life and death, and pieced together fragments of the past to uncover a long-held family secret. Irene’s Ghost explores memory and mental health as it rebuilds a lost life. The rating is PG and tickets are €10/8 from tht.ie, 091-569777 and at the box office.

Ballinasloe Library is the venue for Perceptions, a creative workshop for adults that’s being held next Tuesday, January 14, at 11am. Hosted by city-based arts group Red Door Studio, Perceptions will explore the way people see things at different times of their lives and how this shapes experiences.  This workshop is facilitated by art therapists and materials will be provided. It’s free and all are welcome, but space is limited so booking is essential.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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