The McManus: Dundee's Art Gallery & Museum has released a film artwork to celebrate the project Latent talent, which has been produced in partnership with Tayside Healthcare Arts Trust’s ST/ART Project. Taking inspiration from the temporary exhibition Hidden Histories and the theme of generosity, the project focuses on shining a light towards the personal stories and lived experiences of artists living with a long-term health condition.
In collaboration with the museum’s Creative Learning Team and the online exhibition Fruits of the Spirit, developed by the National Gallery in London, ST/ART group participants have explored a pairing of two paintings, Dundee’s ‘Two Auld Wifies’ by Robert Stenberg and ‘The Arnolfini Portrait’ by Jan Van Eyck, and explored ideas around generosity, the sharing of stories, personal histories and gallery representation.
Working with Lead Artists Sandra Ireland and David Scott, with Kim Galligan from The McManus Creative Learning Team, the created film artwork is comprised of nine stories which form a contemporary blend of creative writing, visual art works, personal photographs and found images.
Kim Galligan, Learning & Engagement Assistant said
“It’s been wonderful to see the journeys of our participants throughout this project; from uncovering the hidden narratives within our exhibition Hidden Histories and the links between the two paired paintings Two Auld Wifies and The Arnolfini Portrait and most significantly, the stories shared by our participants about their own lives and lived experiences through their artwork. Empowering people through projects link this, through informal, hands-on learning and making, is central to our approach and we want people to feel part of the museum and to be able to tell their own stories.”
Chris Kelly THAT Projects Coordinator said about the programme
“Working with people with significant health conditions, we generally focus on what creative processes people can manage and how they can enjoy and learn while doing it. In this programme, however, we intentionally changed focus and asked them to share something more personal with us, to reveal something of their back-story, but in a way that they felt was both comfortable and creative. The results are fascinating and informative as well as uniquely personal and quite poignant.”
Siobhán Jolley, Howard and Roberta Ahmanson Research Fellow in Art and Religion at the National Gallery said
“From the small seed planted by our Fruits of the Spirit partnership, THAT have produced an incredible sequence of work that is at once deeply moving, life-affirming and profound. The generosity they have shown in sharing of themselves is exactly the spirit of the broader project. To see these complex self-portraits, inspired by two very different portraits (of the Arnolfinis and the Auld Wifies) and to meet the artists is a wonderful reminder of the power of art and community.”
The piece is available to view on the Leisure & Culture Dundee YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPejJtNMggM