GALLERY: Inside Out expo reflects lives of extraordinary local people
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LEFT Lorna O’Gara, Camillus Egerton, Marty Monaghan and Kathleen O’Brien at Thursday’s launch.Image 2 of 12
Carmel Hoy and Lorrie Dawson at the Inside Out exhibition launch on Thursday afternoon.Image 3 of 12
Jack Gaudet performed at the opening.Image 4 of 12
Mary Costa and Ollie Mills at the courtyard.Image 5 of 12
Anne Naughton (older person’s services manager Longford/Westmeath), Breege Donoghue (older person’s services general manager, HSE) and Pauline Corcoran (rehab unit manager, St Mary’s).Image 6 of 12
Emma O’Brien with her photograph of Carmel English and Josephine Dowd.Image 7 of 12
Mary Geraghty with Lucy Tormey (artist in residence and exhibition coordinator).Image 8 of 12
Margaret Slevin (ward attendant) and Joseph Ward.Image 9 of 12
Pat Kiernan and Francis Conway at Cluain Lir.Image 10 of 12
Mary Hamill. Michelle Hogan and Josephine Dowd at the photo exhibition.Image 11 of 12
Carmel English and Mary Finn (OT assistant).Image 12 of 12
Emma Rooney, (HCA), James Yeates and Shirley Quinn (interim director of nursing).A project titled Inside Out is a collaboration with the residents of Cluain Lir Community Nursing unit, clients of the associated daycare facility and artists Emma O’Brien and Lucy Tormey.
Creative Westmeath facilitated more than 40 creative projects and communities across the county, and Inside Out opened last Thursday in the Cluain Lir unit (it runs till December 21). It is a photographic project that reflects the ins and outs of life in a community nursing care facility.
The project evolved through conversations with residents and clients about the lives they have lived, their colourful stories and histories and about how life in care affects their ability to remain connected to their communities.
The photographs and the exhibition speak of a cross section of people who either reside or attend the services are Cluain Lir. The men and women shared glimpses into their lives through their activities, interests and personal belongings.
Every individual has a story to tell; among the group are a Morse code operator who has carried the four-leaf clover she found as a girl in her purse for 70 years; Ireland’s first qualified female scuba diver; the man who designed the processional cross for the Pope’s visit in 1979.
There are military heroes, avid readers, musicians, singers, champion boxers, county footballers, hairdressers, lifelong Pioneers, lifelong friends, craftsmen, business people and characters from the town, who have disappeared from the streets but are still here to tell their stories.
During conversations, residents and daycare clients speak about a wish to be heard, for their ideas to be taken into account, and that their stories not go on untold.
The exhibition aims to touch on those stories in a way that is respectful and mindful of the dignity of everyone involved.
Inside Out is the first exhibition of its kind but there is much to build on. Cluain Lir wish to develop the exhibition, adding to and curating it in 2024 to take it further into the community, utilising it as a way to connect with the wider community by taking it to other spaces and venues.
Special thanks to activity coordinators Karina Brown and Ruth Donahue and to Isobel, Laura and Michelle in daycare for their input and support.