The First Fortnight Mental Health Art and Culture Festival 2020 kicks off on 2 January, and the programme promises a number of exciting events across the first two weeks of 2020 in 17 counties around Ireland.
The festival seeks to bring thought-provoking and conversation-inducing art to a wide audience across the country and through this, aims to challenge mental health prejudice and stigma. With this year’s events exploring themes including loneliness, isolation and community, read some our highlights from the festival below. You can also view the full programme on the festival’s website here.
The National Collection Through the Lens of Mental Health Digital Trail
A digital trail of the works in the museum that highlights the relationship between key works and issues related to mental health.
Presented by the National Gallery of Ireland.
As part of the collaboration with First Fortnight, the National Gallery of Ireland has curated a special digital trail of works drawn from the permanent collection. The trail highlights the relationship between key works and issues related to mental health. The works will be accessible in the form of a mapped tour on the Gallery’s website, for the duration of First Fortnight. This allows visitors to discover the works and offers them an additional perspective on the Gallery’s collection.
Also featuring pop-up talks.
This event is free. For more information, click here. For information on pop-up talks, click here.
Admin by Oisín McKenna
First Fortnight brings this award-winning piece of theatre to Smock Alley for five nights.
Oisín left Dublin to pursue his dream of becoming socially mobile. Now, he is having an existential crisis in the canned goods aisle at Aldi, trying to remember his mindfulness techniques. Exploring the relationship between class, capitalism and health, this show is about being poor, precarious and lonely, and adding items to your Watched List on eBay in the hopes of feeling better.
Tickets are €15/13, running from Tuesday 7 January to Saturday 11 January in Smock Alley Theatre, Dublin. For more information and to book online, click here.
Mental Health Uploaded
A panel discussion on technology’s potential benefits for mental health, along with its current risks for mental health and how they can be reduced.
In recent decades developments in technology have changed how we live our lives, impacting almost every aspect of modern living in a relatively short period of time. Use of technologies, such as the internet, Apps and social media are often blamed for an increase in mental health issues. Yet technology also has the potential to help mental health. How do you cultivate the tech opportunities while also reducing the tech risks in an ever changing and developing industry?
16 January @ 16:00 in Tangent, Trinity Business School, Dublin 2. Registration is free but booking is essential. For more information and to book online, click here.
Madlove: A Designer Asylum Workshop
A creative-thinking exercise to explore the possibilities of mental health care – from the idealistic to the truly imaginative, while exploring how to best communicate these ideas to others.
Meet artist James, who is passionate about changing how people see and experience mental health. Join him for a creative workshop to explore what mental health care could be without the limitations of physics or money! From simple ideas to impossible dreams, this workshop will be a safe space to express your creative thoughts and learn new ways of communicating them to others. A chance for experts by experience and professionals to learn from each other and try out some creative thinking exercises. A fun and relaxed workshop, where everyone is treated as an expert and an artist.
16 January @ 11:00, Mermaid Arts Centre, Bray, Wicklow and 17 January @ 14:00, Presentation Arts Centre, Convent Road, Enniscorthy, Wexford. For more information, click here.
Youth Mental Health: A Community Conversation
Two short presentations and an expert panel on the innovations in Youth Mental Health services and the challenges that lie ahead.
9 January @ 18:00, Perys Hotel, Glentworth St, Limerick. Registration is free but booking is required. For more information and to book online via email, click here.
Therapy Sessions Dublin
Two nights of music and spoken word returns for the First Fortnight festival.
Therapy Sessions, a beloved staple of the festival, with its eclectic nights of music and spoken word returns! Acclaimed spoken word poet Stephen James Smith returns to MC and programme the spoken word element. Special guest music curators include HamsandwicH, well known for their incendiary live performances so who better to programme the music selection for this year for the Jan 10th show while the ever excellent Mango X Mathman return to the festival to curate the Jan 17th show! With their recent (and critically-acclaimed) debut album ‘Casual Work’ a strong contender for Irish album of the year, you know the music selection is in safe hands.
Tickets are €10, running from 10 & 17 January @ 20:00, Workman’s Club, Dublin. For more information and to book online, click here.
