Launch of “A Swallow’s Tale in a Thousand Skies” Exhibition by dialysis patients and staff from Merlin Park University Hospital at Galway Arts Centre

On August 12 an exhibition titled “A Swallow’s Tale in a Thousand Skies” opens in the Galway Arts Centre. The exhibition is the highlight of an art project which celebrates a year in dialysis at Merlin Park University Hospital and is open to the public from 10.00am to 5.30pm, Monday to Friday and from 10.00am - 2.00pm on Saturdays until 31 August.
 
In 2012 the Arts Council awarded Galway University Hospitals Arts Trust an Arts Participation Project Award for visual artist Marielle MacLeman to work with dialysis patients and staff at the hospital.
 
The exhibition and accompanying book, called “The Magician and the Swallow’s Tale”, showcase a selection of beautiful artworks, designs for crockery and fabric, gardening tips, songs and stories of Connemara, as well as insights into the anglers’ art of fly-tying.
 
Margaret Flannery, Arts Director, Galway University Hospitals Arts Trust commented, “In the book, patients and staff are portrayed as something other than the daily roles they play on a dialysis unit. Their interlinking stories are woven together through dialogue, artwork and characters including ‘The Woman who Painted Western Shores’, ‘The Cake Decorator’, ‘The Box Player’ and ‘The Woman who Dressed Dialysis’. Parts of the book have been translated into Irish by patients and staff.
 
“The project was a year-long programme of creative interventions which sought to physically enhance the clinical environment and to celebrate the ephemeral things that humanise it. Above all, participative workshops offered patients more positive, productive experiences during dialysis. The feedback from participants was overwhelming and I think this is portrayed in the book and exhibition”.
 
The project is generously supported by The Arts Council, Galway University Hospitals, Galway University Hospitals Arts Trust, Galway Arts Centre, the Irish Kidney Association, Galway City Council and Galway County Council.
 
Further information from Galway University Hospitals Arts Trust at +353 (0)91 544979 or Margaret.Flannery@hse.ie.
 
Photo Caption:
At the launch of the exhibition “A Swallow’s Tale in a Thousand Skies” at the Galway Arts Centre on Saturday 10 August, from left: Margaret Flannery, Arts Director, Galway University Hospitals Arts Trust; Siobhan Connolly who contributed to the exhibition and accompanying book; and Ann Cosgrove, General Manager of Galway University Hospitals. The exhibition is the highlight of an art project which celebrates a year in dialysis at Merlin Park University Hospital. The exhibition is free and open to the public from 10.00am to 5.30pm, Monday to Friday and from 10.00am - 2.00pm on Saturdays until 31 August.