Positive in Prison: HIV stories from a Dublin Jail

Positive in Prison: HIV stories from a Dublin Jail is a series of two events organised by Dr Janet Weston (London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine).

Associated with the the Wellcome Trust project Prisoners, Medical Care, and Entitlement to Health in England and Ireland, these will take place in late 2017 in London and Dublin.

Overview

The 1980s HIV/AIDS crisis may be recent history, but the experiences of those who lived through it are rapidly disappearing from the public mind. To reintroduce one specific collection of experiences, from the HIV/AIDS separation unit in Dublin’s largest prison, we’ve created a podcast with partners Digital Drama based on oral histories and archival research, and you’re invited to join us for a roundtable and drinks reception to mark its launch. Come to hear extracts and to discuss this history and the process of retelling it with Dr Janet Weston and the creative team at the following dates and venues below.

 

• 22 November, London as part of Being Human: A Festival of the Humanities. Location: London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, Keppel Street, London WC1E 7HT. The event is free however booking is required. Please book at the following link. https://beinghumanfestival.org/event/positive-in-prison-hiv-stories-from-a-dublin-jail/

• 1 December, Dublin to mark World AIDS Day. Location: Royal College of Physicians of Ireland, 6 Kildare Street, Dublin 2. The event is free to attend however registration is required: please email janet.weston@lshtm.ac.uk

Read more about the AIDS / HIV crisis in Mountjoy in the 1980s at a blog by Dr Janet Weston on the Nursing Clio website https://nursingclio.org/2017/10/11/the-second-sentence-aids-in-dublins-mountjoy-prison

The Trial

‘The Trial’ is the working title for a new visual art project due for public exhibition in April 2018. It will focus on health and welfare provision in prisons, and access to healthcare after release from prison in Ireland. This project is funded by the Arts Council of Ireland under the Arts Participation Project Award scheme. The project will be led by Dr Sinead McCann, Visual Artist, who made the successful application as part of her role in UCD as Public Engagement Officer on the ‘Prisoners, Medical Care and Entitlement to Health in England and Ireland, 1850-2000’ research project. McCann will work collaboratively with historian Dr Holly Dunbar (UCD CHOMI), film-maker Mary Caffrey, participants from the Bridge Project (a community-based organisation providing training and support programmes for high risk violent ex-offenders in the greater Dublin area). In April 2018, the team will produce a visual arts installation for public exhibition in Kilmainham Gaol Museum’s Old Court Room … [Read more …]

Health Inside: Thinking about Prisoners’ Right to Healthcare

‘Health Inside: Thinking About Prisoners’ Right to Healthcare’ is a new public art project due for exhibition in June 2018, which will focus on health and welfare provision in Irish and English prisons. ‘Health Inside’ is funded by the Arts Council of Ireland as part of the Open Call programme. The Open Call programme funds one off ambitious artistic projects by some of Ireland’s leading artists and arts organisations. The art project will be led by Dr Sinead McCann, Visual Artist … [Read more …]

Disorder Contained: Theatre Production

A major public engagement activity for the Wellcome Trust funded project Prisoners, Medical Care and Entitlement to Health in England and Ireland 1850-2000, Disorder Contained: A theatrical examination of madness, prison and solitary confinement draws on the work Associate Professor Catherine Cox (UCD) and Professor Hilary Marland (Warwick) and creates the final part of The Asylum Trilogy exploring various aspects of the history of mental health. … [Read more …]

Open Call: Arts Commission

Prisoners, Medical Care and Entitlement to Health in England and Ireland 1850-2000 is looking for an expert partner(s) with whom to generate an Arts project(s) that will primarily work with prisoners within the English prison system, but might also touch upon prisoners’ families and ex-prisoners post-release. The selected partner(s) will work with Professor Hilary Marland’s team at the Centre for the History of Medicine at the University of Warwick … [Read more …]