Jason Ward reviews an event that took place at The Working Artists Studio in Ballydehob as part of the West Cork Feel Good Festival
Everyone knows that live entertainment lifts the heart and nourishes the soul. Sharing a space with others while absorbing and enjoying lyrical, musical or dramatic skills is an experience as old as homo sapiens, the power of which should never be underestimated or forgotten.
The funny thing is, we’ve all known this for as long as we can remember. We’ve all had that buzz that keeps us awake with a song running through our head after a really good gig, we have felt uplifted by a night of storytelling, and we have all come out of a West End musical crying because…because “it was so beautiful.” (Or maybe that’s just me.)
The tangible benefits to mental health from experiencing the arts are now being taken more seriously, which is the basis for the wonderful West Cork Feel Good Festival, which ran throughout October this year all over our area. The festival brought people together to enjoy the arts and to be able to discuss mental health in a positive and supported environment.
To enjoy the festival, I popped down to one of my favourite West Cork venues; Working Artist Studios in Ballydehob, which is run by Marie Cullen and Paul Ó Colmàin, who are artists, creatives and incredible curators of experiences from art shows to Irish lessons. Visiting their gallery has become a way for me to refresh my mind from an extremely busy job.
For the West Cork Feel Good Festival, however, the couple had curated a kind of variety show. Not in the old-fashioned sense of two singers, some showgirls and a comedian, but in the sense of sharing a variety of reflections on the beauty of the human condition that opened minds to diversity while, simultaneously, demonstrating just how alike we all are. There was music, poetry and stories all shared in a warm-hearted spirit.
We sat in the front room gallery on a bright Saturday afternoon. Pieces of old machines and industrial detritus refashioned into fantastical art by John McGeoch stood, hung, and were suspended all around us. Outside, pedestrians peered in through the window that was gently misting over with condensation, young men drove their cars with booming exhausts down the hill and, every so often, a tractor or truck would roar up towards Schull sending vibrations through the whole building.
But inside it was a world apart. The event might have been postponed a few weeks and might not have been what Pol and Marie had originally conceived but it was vital and engaging just the same. Pol hosted the event and sung his own songs in English and Gaelige. He sung about ‘the blues’ and how it can arrive like an unwanted visitor. A sensation any of us who have hosted this feeling could relate to. The sentiment was familiar but there was a sense of sharing a burden, and being in the same room as others who experience something similar made that weight feel a little lighter.
There were surprises in the line-up as well. Just down the hill from the Working Artists Studio, almost opposite Levis’, is the now legendary Ballydehob eatery, Budds. Head Chef and owner Jamie Budd is not just a wonderful restauranteur, but also a poet, who writes with a striking clarity and honesty about his life and emotions. Jamie’s authenticity was magnified by the fact that he needed to get back to the restaurant right after he had finished.
Artist John McGeoch brought humour, song and stories to the event. It was as if he was presenting another facet of the art that surrounded him with the same sense of show and fun. Laughing at life and ourselves is also a great way to pull away from the shadow of the black dog.
Proof that art is a universal language came with Lisa Quartey who describes herself as a ‘fool from Sweden singing Irish songs.’ Lisa lives in West Cork and has absorbed a passion for traditional Irish ballads, which she performs with an Indian Shruti box – which is similar to the harmonium or squeeze box. I was fascinated at this cross pollination of Scandinavian melancholy, Celtic harmony and Indian instrumentation which, on paper, should not work but, in fact created a beautiful and ethereal sound that seemed to float around the gallery. In the words of another song, it ‘took us away from the squalor of the real world.’
Jamie McCarthy-Fisher gave up a media career in London to move to West Cork where he eventually took over his father-in-law’s business; The Wild Goose Studio in Kinsale, which also supports Pol’s Into The Mythic podcast that goes deep into Irish myths and fables. Jamie’s poetry was again honest and open with some intriguing imagery. It cannot be easy to be simultaneously a successful creative entrepreneur, a father (Jamie was supported by his children), and a transparent poet. His appearance makes us question our views on appearance; confidence can be a learned mannerism, and success does not insulate anyone from doubts and worse.
The theme of this year’s West Cork Feel Good Festival was Connection. And as the World Health Organisation recently highlighted, engagement with arts and creativity helps us to connect with each other and ourselves. This event was about more than showing us that we are not alone (although that sentiment was also present), it was about connecting the audience with different creative perspectives on mental health.
Art is not ‘a one-size fits all’ experience and the way that each of us enjoys and engages with art will be unique. Similarly, our mental health is a personal and even personalised state which this beautifully curated event demonstrated and celebrated.
With the Winter holiday season wrapping its arms around us, it is timely to remember that when we come together with others, not everyone will be enjoying the festivities in the same way.
