Cloudlands National Tour by Helium Arts
Exploring the Creative Lives of Teenagers in Hospital
The Cloudlands National Tour by Helium Arts invites audiences into the creative lives of teenagers in hospital. Themes of alternate realities, escape and hidden stories are revealed through two distinct pieces of artwork, developed by artists Rachel Tynan and Eszter Némethi with teenagers in Temple Street Children’s University Hospital and Cork University Hospital. Cloudlands is touring to arts venues and hospitals across Ireland in 2016 and will open to the public at Galway Arts Centre on 4th March.
The ‘Titans’, developed by artist Rachel Tynan and teenagers in Temple Street, is an interactive installation formed through a family of beautiful wooden figures. As the figures are moved into different combinations, they reveal sound recordings of the teenagers’ stories. From a Star Lady who heals, to a transforming cheeky Faun, the ‘Titans’ uncover another world that sheds light on the characters and their lives. The ‘Titans’ will tour to arts venues.
‘Radio/Silence’, developed by artist Eszter Némethi and teenagers in Cork University Hospital, is an interactive radio game that alters the hospital environment for the listener. Using mobile phones, listeners can help the characters save the world from an evil doctor intent on spreading silence. This piece will tour to teenagers in hospital and will also be available to access through participating galleries in documentary form.
‘In Cloudlands I’ve kind of learnt that you don’t have to be just one person,
you could be anything.’ – 14 year old participant on the Cloudlands project
The Cloudlands project was developed by Helium Arts, the children’s arts and health organisation, as an artist residency programme connecting artists with teenagers in hospital through collaborative projects. Running since 2013, the project has been specifically designed for teenagers who have to endure long hospital stays, often in wards with much younger children and with little creative stimulation. Through the Cloudlands tour, new audiences both within and beyond the hospital will discover the imaginative worlds of teenagers in hospital.
The Cloudlands National Tour runs from March to June 2016 in arts venues and hospitals in Galway, Waterford, Cork and Dublin. Cloudlands will be accompanied by a series of free events for artists, schools and medical students at participating arts venues. For tour information visit www.helium.ie
2016 PUBLIC TOUR DATES
Galway Galway Arts Centre 4 – 19 March 2016
Waterford Garter Lane Arts Centre 31 March – 9 April 2016
Cork The Atrium, Cork City Hall 22 – 28 April 2016
Dublin ArtBox Gallery 19 May- 2 June 2016
Helene Hugel, Artistic Director of Helium Arts, said: ‘Helium Arts’ National Cloudlands Tour highlights the inspired work that can emerge when teenagers collaborate with an artist in hospital. The essence of the Cloudlands project is to provide teens in hospital with a voice and a place to be away from their illness and medical routines, a place where they can be a teenager.’
Artist Rachel Tynan said: ‘It was important to the teenagers that their stories reached beyond the walls of the hospital, that people outside of the hospital world learned about their work. The stories describe moments of magic, of transformation and escape. These stories are housed in the beautiful simple forms of the wooden Titans that were created for us by the Dublin Woodturners. We invite the viewers to get a slice of what Cloudlands is like, to move the Titans, to discover their secrets and to create their own stories.’
Artist Eszter Némethi said: ‘Radio/Silence is an amalgamation of stories and game ideas, suggestions, plots and characters gathered during my residency at CUH. I mostly worked with each young person once and my role was to try weave together the stories, propose ideas and create a daisy chain-like process where everyone could add, transform or, if they liked, ignore my proposal and go in a totally different direction. Working physically in a hospital also had a mark on all the stories because reimagining the room, the ward or using the space was often the starting point, giving the young people the freedom to invent but also a fixed and shared context that helped to knit everything together.’
Anne Olney, Play Specialist at Cork University Hospital, said: ‘Teenagers in particular tend to become very bored while in hospital but working on the Cloudlands project gives them a focus and takes their minds off their condition/treatment. The teenage patients love working with Eszter and as one patient remarked “I love when Eszter is here, she is so cool!”’
The Cloudlands National Tour will be launched in Galway Arts Centre on Friday 4 March 2016 at 6pm and all are welcome. The exhibition will continue there until 19 March 2016. For further information see www.galwayartscentre.ie
The Cloudlands National Tour is funded by an Arts Council of Ireland Touring and Dissemination of Work Award.
/ENDS
NOTE TO EDITOR
Photographs available on request.
View Cloudlands by filmmaker Siobhan Perry, screening at arts venues throughout the tour: https://youtu.be/5ndYY5PfXZY
Rachel Tynan graduated from the National College of Art and Design (BA Art and Design Education) in 2009. She recently completed her Masters in Design, examining the effects illness has on the human body through textile, sculpture and body art. She exhibited Soar Saor as part of The Ark’s Awakening Curiosity exhibition (2012) and her solo exhibition Cut Throat at The LAB (2012) pushed her work beyond the fixed manifestations of installation with an explorative dance performance which further explored the experience of living with an illness. www.racheltynan.ie
Eszter Némethi is a theatre maker and holds a BA in Drama and Theatre Studies from UCC. She has a special interest in collaborative performance making in various contexts. Her work centres on “real” non-actor performers and collaborators, strongly defined spaces and a special attention to the audience’s experience and engagement. Over the past year, Eszter has been exploring the use of game-mechanics and interactivity in her work. Eszter is the artistic director of Makeshift Ensemble and director of the company’s productions to date, Exit Strategy (2013), No One Can Hear You In There (2012) and Osteoporosis (2011). She is also curator of the multi-disciplinary arts event Quarter. www.makeshiftensemble.com
Helium Arts is a children’s arts and health organisation transforming the healthcare experience of young people and those who care for them through art, imagination and play. Established in 2009, Helium’s creative projects take place in hospitals, health centres, and community settings across Ireland. www.helium.ie
FOR MEDIA INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:
Emma Eager, Communications Officer, Helium Arts
