Lived Lives: From Tory Island to Swift’s Asylum (360G-Wellcome-208947_Z_17_Z)

Suicide is the leading cause of death of young adults in Ireland and the UK, cloaked in stigma and shame. The durational arts-science collaborative model, Lived Lives addresses the stigma of suicide in a safe space through restoring identity of the deceased and acknowledging loss in a non-judgmental and compassionate setting. The voices of marginalized rural communities and psychiatric communities’ are often discounted around suicide. This proposal aims to bring Lived Lives to the border communities of Donegal, Leitrim and Tory Island, on the western tip of Europe, at a time of social, economic, and political uncertainty impacting mental health. In a progressive step towards addressing stigma, Lived Lives will then be installed within St Patrick’s University Hospital Dublin, Ireland’s oldest psychiatric institution, established following a donation from Johnathan Swift (1746). This project will address stigma in apposite communities, through co-collaboration, engagement, dialogue and action. The interactive lectures, mediated exhibitions and an international interdisciplinary symposium of artists, scientists and communities will engage the public around suicide with transformative impacts within these communities. Dissemination will inspire arts-science collaborations around sensitive topics that deal with feelings of loss, and where identity and validation are overlooked or eclipsed by the silence of stigma.