The Silent Community
The Silent Community is a project which evolved from ongoing research into suicide in modern Ireland by textile artist Seamus McGuinness.
McGuinness is the first Ad Astra Scholar in Suicide Studies at University College Dublin. The scholarship presented the opportunity to develop research and new knowledge around young male suicide in contemporary Ireland. A roundtable forum was held in 2006 in association with the Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health Research at St.Vincent's Hospital/UCD in order to explore the complexities of art practice in context.
21g by Seamus McGuinness at Dublin Castle, 2008
In 2008 McGuinness presented 21g at Dublin City Castle. Twenty one grammes is considered by some to be the mythical weight of the human soul. The art work 21g (2004) consists of a shirt fragement, each weighing exactly 21g, for each life lost in the republic of Ireland in 2004. The art practice is an intergral part of the Suicide in Ireland Survey which aims to go beyond current knowledge related to suicide and its prevention. The 2008 showing of 21g included new work on female suicide in Ireland.
With support from Turning the Tide of Suicide and St.Vincent's Hospital/UCD.
For information on Turning the Tide of Suicide, please visit their website: http://www.3ts.ie/index.htm
