First Fortnight Festival announces the 2022 program

During the first two weeks of January, the annual First Fortnight Mental Health Art & Culture Festival creates a space where one can challenge mental health stigma through art and conversational art.

First Fortnight 2022 begins Sunday, January 2, and runs through Sunday, January 16, welcoming an eclectic array of contestants and contributors, including poet Stephen James Smith, violinist and composer Colm Mac Con Iomaire, author and champion Ruairí McKiernan, Boyzone star Mikey Graham, Irish Book Awards nominee Ann Ingle and author, author and presenter Stephanie Preissner, to name just a few, with events taking place across eleven Irish counties, both online and in person.

Colm Mac Con Iomaire

“The last two years have opened up the conversation about mental health in new ways,” says incoming First Fortnight CEO Maria Fleming, “and there is a welcome awareness of all our fragility and our resilience when it comes to our own mental health. crucial question for First Fortnight, however, is how the conversation has changed, if at all, in relation to the stigma of mental ill health.Are we more open now to discuss anxiety and well-being? Does our comfort level extend to an openness to discuss depression, bipolar, schizophrenia or OCD? “

This year’s FF program includes a number of firsts; Embody sees choreographer and curator artist Tobi Omoteso collaborate with filmmaker Stephen Hall to create a dance film shot in Limerick that seeks to explore the embodiment and physical representation of music, spoken words and rap through the form of dance, while What if Britney Spears was Irish? is a timely panel discussion exploring the Irish version of the Conservatorship and the historic changes to come in 2022.

From ‘Breaking The Bubble’ by Rory Draper

Elsewhere, Breaking The Bubble, an exhibition of works by artist Rory Draper, will be shown at the Presentations Arts Center, Enniscorthy. while BELL, an evening of music and spoken word, presented in collaboration with HSE: the BELL model for mental health recovery stands for; Connectedness, Hope, Identity, Meaning and Purpose and Empowerment, and the event welcomes the Balbriggan Gospel Choir, who are making their First Fortnight debut.

A number of the festival’s regular events return to the start, including Therapy sessions, drills with Jim Carroll (in conversation with Boyzones Mikey Graham), The art of anxiety with Nadine O’Regan and The Dublin Story Slam with comedian Colm O’Regan, along with film events in collaboration with the Irish Film Institute (IFI) and Alliance Francaise.

Mikey Graham

“When First Fortnight reopens,” says Maria Fleming, “is it time to reconnect and time to decide, do we continue where we left off, or has the conversation continued since we all last met in person? We think That the conversation has progressed since we all last met; but there is so much more to do and we are ready to take up the challenge. “

OPEN, First Fortnight Mental Health Art & Culture Festival 2022, runs from Sunday 2 January to Sunday 16 January – read more here.