First Fortnight in partnership with IACAT

This exhibition is an evocative response to the homelessness crisis in Ireland.

Creative Arts Therapists from First Fortnight’s Centre for Creative Arts Therapies worked together to highlight some of the issues facing the client group that we work with, namely children, teenagers, and adults experiencing or at risk of homelessness.

Our Therapists led workshops for key workers and social workers from partner organisations who support individuals experiencing homelessness. Through art we delved into the mental health of support workers as they hold space for the people they accompany through difficult and sometimes chaotic situations. The insights gathered culminated in an impactful exhibition now at Smock Alley Theatre, featuring cement and plaster houses representing all those homeless in Ireland. Alongside the housing installation are artworks produced by support workers expressing their experience of the homeless sector.

FREE ADMISSION

About The Company
First Fortnight is a charity that challenges mental health stigma through arts and cultural action. First Fortnight hosts an annual mental health, arts and culture festival throughout January, throughout Ireland. The festival celebrates the arts as a powerful catalyst for sparking unscripted conversations around mental ill health and serves to challenge the stigma associated with mental ill-health. The festival aspires to make the beginning of each year synonymous with mental health awareness, actively challenging societal prejudices, and eradicating the pervasive stigma surrounding mental health.

Formed in 1986, IACAT is the accrediting body of Creative Arts Therapists in Ireland and oversees the development and training of single modality MA courses in Art Therapy, Dance Movement Therapy, Dramatherapy and Music Therapy. IACAT offers CPD training to members and open days for the public to learn more about what Creative Arts Therapies is about.