Galway audiences will have a rare opportunity to experience a film piece held in the Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA) National Collection this week and engage in discussion around dementia care and Ireland’s new capacity legislation as World Alzheimer’s Month continues.
The public engagement event featuring a screening of the provocative and moving artwork Yes, But Do You Care? by acclaimed multidisciplinary visual artist Marie Brett is presented by Saolta Arts and takes place in University Hospital Galway this Wednesday September 24th from 3.30pm – 4.30pm.
This free admission, afternoon event is part of five-day series of public foyer and internal staff screening events at University Hospital Galway, and forms part of a wider national tour of the artist’s work designed to spark vital conversations about care, capacity, humanity, and legislation in Ireland today.
Yes, But Do You Care? is a compelling and ambitious audio-visual artwork that reimagines family caregiving, the ethics of autonomy, and the implications of Ireland’s new capacity legislation. It explores the human right to make a ‘bad’ decision and the complex emotional terrain of caregiving.
The artwork, now held in the National Collection at the Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA), offers a rich visual and sound collage. Imagery includes surreal and tender scenes: a muscle-man bravado in a kitchen, a man spinning wildly in tall grass and dancing under high-rise flats. The soundtrack mixes tango and waltz rhythms with powerful real-life audio testimonies and legal language, creating a haunting yet humanising experience.
Created by Marie Brett in collaboration with renowned choreographer and dancer Philip Connaughton, members of the Dementia Carers Campaign Network (supported by The Alzheimer Society of Ireland), and advisors in law, advocacy, and human rights, the piece fuses art with real-life experience.
The Wednesday afternoon public event includes a staff discussion and Q&A session with the artist herself from 1pm-2pm. The public screening from 3.30pm – 4.30pm offers audiences an opportunity to informally learn about the creative process, the research behind the project, and the personal stories that shaped the work. To attend the public screening please email saoltaarts@hse.ie for screening location details.
Saolta Arts delivers the west of Ireland’s leading Arts and Health programme as a means of improving the hospital experience for patients, staff and visitors.
The film screening and staff discussion aim to open up critical new conversations around Ireland’s legislative and social landscape, especially in relation to dementia care, carer capacity, and autonomy.
Ireland is currently undergoing a major shift in how it legally defines and supports decision-making capacity and family caregiving. As such, Yes, But Do You Care? lands at a vital moment. By combining emotive artistic expression with rigorous legal and social commentary, the event aims to not only engage but challenge its audience to reflect on the systems, policies, and personal experiences shaping care today.
Speaking about the project, Marie Brett said:
“It’s a privilege to get to make artwork responding to such personal and life-changing individual experiences. The family carers I worked with were so stellar in their bravery, and I’ll never forget them describing a silent scream while I was researching Ireland’s new capacity legislation and how it would affect family carers.”
“The challenge then for an artist is to honour the truth of those stories and reimagine a creative piece that’s both artistically ambitious and ethically sound. It’s fantastic that the art piece is now in IMMA’s collection for generations to come, and I’m really looking forward to meeting visitors and sharing some behind-the-scenes stories at the screening events.”
Whether you’re a healthcare professional, artist, advocate, carer, or member of the public with an interest in the human condition and social justice, the afternoon promises a moving and thought-provoking experience.
Art world professionals and carers have described the audio-visual pieces as: “
Extraordinary, compelling, brave, authentic,” Avril Easton (former) Alzheimer Society of Ireland.
“an incredible piece of work, tender, beautiful and emotive. Just stunning.” Áine Crowley, CREATE
“A complex and poignantly beautiful film,” Helen O’Donoghue, (former) IRISH MUSEUM OF MODERN ART
“I found the process incredibly cathartic and it released a lot of inner feelings, and I was sceptical at first. I think it’s a fantastic piece of work, it’s really poignant,” Raymond Cregan (former) Vice Chair of the DEMENTIA CARERS CAMPAIGN NETWORK
This event is part of a wider national tour titled Yes, But?, led by Marie Brett and supported by a range of arts, community, and healthcare organisations, with principal funding from The Arts Council / An Chomhairle Ealaíon.
Admission is free to all the film screenings.
To attend the public discussion event, please email saoltaarts@hse.ie
Image credit: Marie Brett