Award winning artist Marie Brett is bringing her acclaimed film Yes, But Do You Care? to Uillin West Cork Arts Centre in Skibbereen on October 14th.
Yes, But Do You Care? is a compelling audio-visual art piece that creatively explores dementia care and human rights through a blend of real-life testimonies, dance, and visual storytelling.
Created with choreographer Philip Connaughton, the Dementia Carers Campaign Network, legal and advocacy experts, the work challenges audiences to reflect on the ethics of family caregiving, human rights and Ireland’s new capacity legislation.
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Held in the Irish Museum of Modern Art’s National Art Collection, this evocative art piece explores the human right to make a’ bad’ decision through a rich visual and sound collage. Imagery includes surreal and tender scenes: a muscle-man bravado in a kitchen, a man spinning wildly in tall grass and dancing under high-rise flats. The soundtrack mixes tango and waltz rhythms with powerful real-life audio testimonies and legal language, creating a haunting yet humanising experience.
The afternoon event includes a discussion and Q&A session with the artist herself and guest speaker Dr Sheelagh Broderick, HSE S/W Senior Health Promotion and Improvement Officer, hosted by Justine Foster, Uillin West Cork Arts Centre Programme Manager.
The film screening and conversation event takes place from 1pm - 3pm as part of the West Cork Feel Good Festival and forms part of a wider national tour of the artist’s work designed to spark vital conversations about care, capacity, humanity, and legislation in Ireland today.
By combining emotive artistic expression with rigorous legal and social commentary, the event aims to not only engage but challenge its audience to reflect on the systems, policies, and personal experiences shaping care today.
Speaking about the project, Marie Brett said:
“It's a privilege to get to make artwork responding to such personal and life-changing individual experiences. The family carers I worked with were so stellar in their bravery, and I'll never forget them describing a silent scream while I was researching Ireland’s new capacity legislation and how it would affect family carers.”
“The challenge then for an artist is to honour the truth of those stories and reimagine a creative piece that's both artistically ambitious and ethically sound. It's fantastic that the art piece is now in IMMA’s collection for generations to come, and I'm really looking forward to meeting visitors and sharing some behind-the-scenes stories at the screening events.”
Whether you're a healthcare professional, artist, advocate, carer, or member of the public with an interest in the human condition and social justice, the afternoon promises a moving and thought-provoking experience.
Art world professionals and carers have described the audio-visual pieces as: “Extraordinary, compelling, brave, authentic," Avril Easton (former) Alzheimer Society of Ireland.
"an incredible piece of work, tender, beautiful and emotive. Just stunning." Áine Crowley, CREATE
"A complex and poignantly beautiful film," Helen O’Donoghue, (former) IRISH MUSEUM OF MODERN ART
"I found the process incredibly cathartic and it released a lot of inner feelings, and I was sceptical at first. I think it’s a fantastic piece of work, it’s really poignant," Raymond Cregan (former) Vice Chair of the DEMENTIA CARERS CAMPAIGN NETWORK
The film screening and discussion event is free to attend but online booking is essential: https://
