Artistic Research
Research and development of a social engaged art practice using installation art as a vehicle for dialogue.
The projects below are part of my artistic research for the international Masters Artist Educator programme of ArtEZ, Arnhem. (the Netherlands)
Project: A visualization of Multiple Sclerosis 2019
EN: My latest collaborative art project is about sharing personal stories about the chronic illness MS. Core is the question; How does MS influence your life? and your identity? Together with three participants who also have MS, I explored this question by creating an art installation together around our personal experiences.
NL: Mijn nieuwste project 'Een verbeelding van Multiple Sclerosis' gaat over het delen en onderzoeken van persoonlijke ervaringen en verhalen van de ziekte Multiple Sclerosis.
Iris Jousma
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A collaborative art project in the context of post-conflict Northern Ireland, Derry-Londonderry
During an intense four-week artist residency at the Playhouse in Derry-Londonderry, I focused on creating a safe space for sharing personal stories through a collaborative art practice in the context of post-conflict Northern Ireland.
The project started with two weeks of intensive and inspiring lectures around the conflict, post-conflict Northern Ireland, conflict transformation, borders, interfaces and peace building, and the significant place that art can take in this context.
Through this I see a power in art to offer a space for imagination, play and storytelling. Through creating together, a safe space can be established for sharing personal stories. A place for listening and growing an understanding for multiple perspectives , by growing awareness of our personal histories and how we relate to each other.
Collaboration with Anne Walker, Good Friday, 2019
A collaborative art practice: Sharing personal stories using found and natural materials.
Created and exhibited at the Playhouse, Derry-Londonderry
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A safe space for sharing personal stories - Derry-Londonderry, Northern Ireland
A collaboration with Anne Walker (2019)
During a four-week residency at the Playhouse Derry, I was very fortunate to encounter people who dedicated their lives for peace building and conflict transformation through community work and art. These practices are essential in post-conflict Northern Ireland, especially today, when times are uncertain with Brexit and elections laying ahead.
The present tensions became very clear to me when a journalist was killed by the New IRA on Thursday April 18th.
One day later, Good Friday, April 19, Anne participated in my art project around sharing personal stories. Her story is about her work as a peace builder, her personal history and the impact of the events that found place in Derry-Londonderry the night before.
Through our collaboration, Anne performed her personal story with a red cloth, a material that resonated with her thoughts and feelings. Together we created a small installation with natural and found materials in which the assemblage of materials became a metaphor of her life and work connecting with Derry-Londonderry.
A collaboration with Eamonn O'Donnel (2019)
Eamonn participated in a small project around mapping stories as well a few days before we created a small art installation together. (see pictures below)
Eamonn is active in a multiple of community activities such as youth work in which he hopes to contribute to the peace building process in Northern Ireland.
Through our collaboration he shared his personal story around his connection with the land, Ireland and family history while working with the soil from the Derry Playhouse courtyard.
A second story he shared around leafs was about the demolishing of the shirt-factories in Derry-Londonderry. The buildings relate to the history of his family and DLD. Although his effort to protest couldn't prevent the demolishing of the factory where his family had worked, he was able to stop the breaking down of other factories in the area, which are now recognized as cultural heritage.
Both collaborations were documented on film.
* This artist residency was facilitated by the Playhouse Derry-Londonderry and was part of the site specific college of the international Master Artist Educator, ArtEZ
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Collaboration with Eamonn O'Donnel, Good Friday, 2019
A collaborative art practice: Sharing personal stories using found and natural materials.
Created and exhibited at the Playhouse, Derry-Londonderry
Collaborative family project: Identity relating to place and time (2018)
temporary installation, natural and collected materials, Created in Lelystad, exhibited in Arnhem in the studio for the international Master Artist Educator
Identity project - a family collaboration, the Netherlands, 2018
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Identity relating to place and time - Lelystad and Arnhem, the Netherlands
A collaborative art project: The installation above resulted from a collaborative practice with my family. It is a 'trace', a visual representation of an in-dept process in which we as a family explored together how we relate to each other, and how we relate to the places we were and are connected with.
I invited my family (parents and grandmother) to engage in my artistic research on identity.
My grandmother (1926) is the oldest living reference of my family. By looking into our family history relating to the places we lived, raised awareness of my roots. Through installation art we connected our identities together. It opened doors for conversations that otherwise less likely would have happened.
Through this collaboration I learned what it means to belong to a ‘Polder’-culture and how this influenced me. By understanding my ‘family-language’ more clearly I learn how to shift from safe space to personal space in my professional artist educator role.
Using installation art as the third term, the essential mediation for sharing and learning together can create that safe space in which beautiful things can happen.
The practice covered three phases: Mapping places, uncovering of our life-structures, and connecting our identities with each other.
A film was made to document the collaboration process. For privacy reasons and protection of the personal stories that were shared this film stays unpublished.
* This project is part of my artistic research for the international Masters Artist Educator
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