A new art exhibition will tour the country this May to mark Death Awareness Week Scotland. The exhibition is the result of a partnership between award-winning Glasgow-based artist photographer Colin Gray, and the Scottish Partnership for Palliative Care (SPPC).
Based on a concept and interviews by SPPC the exhibition features a series of photo portraits and wisdom from people from all walks of life who have cared for someone who is dying or has been bereaved.
As well as including conventional roles like doctors and nurses, the exhibition includes some more surprising roles including a taxi driver, a teacher and a funeral director. The exhibition aims to show that care and support comes in many guises and is needed by many different people.
Mark Hazelwood, Chief Executive of the Scottish Partnership for Palliative Care said:
“We all know that ‘it takes a village’ to raise a child, but what is less well recognised that it also ‘takes a village’ to support someone who is dying, and their family.
“Whether it is looking after an aging parent, working as a nurse, or cooking a meal for a bereaved neighbour, every day people help each other through the difficult times that can come with death, dying, loss and care. We wanted to show that ordinary people do amazing things when it comes to looking after the people around them. ”
The exhibition is being launched as part of Death Awareness Week Scotland (9-15 May 2016), which aims to raise awareness of the positive benefits of planning ahead for death and dying. The week has been organised by Scottish alliance Good Life, Good Death, Good Grief as part of its ongoing work to promote more openness about death, dying and bereavement in Scotland. 22 venues across the country will showcase the exhibition, including local venues.
Entitled ‘It Takes a Village’, the exhibition is a project by artist, photographer and film maker Colin Gray and SPPC. Gray’s previous work includes ‘The Parents’, a series of photographs about the photographer’s relationship with his parents and theirs with each other over a period of two decades. A follow up exhibition and book ‘In Sickness and in Health’ documented his parents’ deterioration in health and ultimately his mothers’ death.
Colin Gray said:
“The new exhibition explores similar themes to those in my earlier work - love, loss, mortality. This time however the pictures are of many different people, none of whom I had met before. The pictures are accompanied by each person’s own words about what they have experienced and the insights that those experiences bring.”
The exhibition features photographs and stories from a range of viewpoints, including a son who looked after his mother for five years with dementia, a teacher in a secondary school, a children’s palliative care nurse, and a taxi driver. Claire Linton, who was in her mid-20s when she looked after her father as he was dying of cancer, was interviewed and photographed for the exhibition:
“That six months I was home with my Dad before he died were the best and worst of my life. It was a privilege to be his daughter. If you love someone when they are vulnerable and have nothing to offer then you have accomplished true love.
“I think it is so true that ‘it takes a village’ to look after someone who is dying. The number of people who really became involved when my dad was ill was amazing. The waitresses in our cafe, the people working in the chemist, the bookies, the doctors, nurses, neighbours, friends and family. It's so true. I’m so pleased to be part of an exhibition celebrating that – my Dad would have loved it.”
A full list of exhibition venues is available here: It Takes a Village Exhibition Venues
An online version of the exhibition is available to view here: It Takes a Village
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