Relationship Map at Middlesex University



Our exhibition map

Tomorrow (20th May) come and join us at Midday in the Rickett Quadrangle at Middlesex University, Hendon, UK as we launch our Relationship Map as part of the MDX Let's Talk event for Mental Health Awareness Week 2016. We'll be joined by Kevin Acott who has worked on several projects with us as well as being Director of Programmes and Senior Lecturer (Mental Health) at Middx Uni.

Relationship Map (detail)

The Relationship Map is an artwork which charts how different people make connections and relationships between fundamental concepts - like Mum/Dad, Me/You and Heart/Mind. It is inspired by the map and tube lines of the London Underground. The map features submissions from 50 contributors who charted how they felt about each of the concepts.

MDX Let's Talk is a Middlesex University initiative which aims to raise awareness of mental health/illness through collaborative working of University staff, students, public and local/national agencies. Through this we hope to raise awareness of mental health and signpost to any relevant services for support if needed.

Contributors include Tamara Jelača, Iain Inglis, Peter Turton, Peter S Smith, Liz Dolan, Harvey Wells, Dean Reddick, Jerome, PD, Natalie Low, Jill Hedges, Effie Aye-Maung-Hider, Alban Low, Steve Cohen, Ruth Dalton, Kevin Acott, Katie Stone, NAA, David, Colin, Seamus, Amin, Bryan Benge, Sarah Dewing, Tom, Pam, Mehmet, Arnand, Imran, Wayne Sleeth, Tanya Kreisky, Stuart Crewes, AS, Eddie, Julie Reay, Tracy Ferriss, Helen Reddick, Sammy, Dawn Duncan, Melanie Woodcock, Peter T, Robert Good, Jo Lansdown and 7 anonymous submissions.

You can buy the Relationship Map on Amazon for £2 (+ Postage and Packing). It folds out into a wonderful A3 poster and is full of interesting coincidences and meaning as you chart your way across its routes. The map is published by Sampson Low Ltd and a copy is kept in the British Library and the other 5 deposit libraries of the UK.

AL.

Art of Caring 2016

 

Last Thursday, 12th May, we celebrated International Nurses Day 2016 in our own heartfelt way. This is the second year of the Art of Caring and it was even bigger and better than last year's exhibition. This year we exhibited 330 postcard sized artworks and poems from over 180 artists who sent us their work from around the world.

Eskild Beck and Alban Low

The launch party saw several artists come from far flung places including Eskild Beck from Denmark and CollectConnect favourite Melanie Ezra from Swansea. It was a glorious early summer's day in Kingston-upon-Thames and the streets outside teemed with a suburban buzz. Inside, the refreshments flowed feely and it was not only a good opportunity to delve deeper into our thought provoking selection but also to meet old and new friends alike. Photographer Bill Mudge was in attendance and you can see his full portfolio of photos HERE.

Thanks to everyone who came and exhibited their work, we couldn't have done it without you. Thank you to all at Kingston University and St Georges, University of London who have supported us both financially and with their time and expertise, especially Dr Julia Gale, Karen Norman, Paul Newcombe and Carmel Blackie. Also the hanging committee of Paul Newcombe, Nikki Yun and Bryan Benge who got all 330 postcards on the Rose Theatre walls.

The exhibition is open until the 24th May 2016 in the upper circle bar/foyer gallery at the Rose Theatre, Kingston-upon-Thames, so go and see it.

Don't forget our main event on the 23rd May 2016 in the main auditorium that includes poetry, performance and insights into the Nursing profession. If you don't know what to expect then watch last year's performance here.

Launch Party - Art of Caring 2016

Celebrate International Nurses Day with us on the 12th May 2016 at the Rose Theatre, Kingston-upon-Thames, KT1 1HL. We are exhibiting the work of over 180 authors and artists in the fabulous   Art of Caring exhibition. The Launch Party is from 4-6pm and features more than 330 poetic and artistic postcards from all over the world, and we welcome everyone who would like to join us on this special day.

The Art of Caring is an inclusive exhibition that showcases a diverse range of talents, giving us an insight to the world of Caring and Care. Resilience is our special theme this year and is inspired by the International Council of Nurses worldwide celebration for 2016: Nurses: A Force for Change: Improving health systems' resilience.

The exhibition will be open from the 12th - 24th May 2016,  10am-6pm daily on the Upper Gallery floors at the Rose Theatre. There are refreshment available downstairs in The Rose Café.

AL.


 

Relationship Map Exhibition 20th May

We have a new date for our Relationship Map exhibition in the Rickett Quadrangle at Middlesex University, Hendon. We will now be opening it at Noon on Friday 20th May 2016. More details to follow.

AL.

Relationship Map - Mental Health Awareness Week 16-22 May 2016

Relationship Maps – where do you stop on your journey?

Organised by CollectConnect artists' group, hosted by Middlesex University, as part of Mental Health Awareness Week.

Relationship Maps is an artwork which charts how different people make connections and relationships between fundamental concepts - like Mum/Dad, Me/You and Heart/Mind. It is inspired by the map and tube lines of the London Underground.

On Friday 20th May 2016 we will be exhibiting our final Relationship Map in the Rickett Quadrangle at Middlesex University (in Hendon). We are also publishing an A3 version of the map.

And we need you to complete our Relationship Map.

We have eleven “lines” in our relationship map, each starting and finishing with people, places or things that you might have a relationship with:

Mum to Dad	Start to Finish
Cradle to Grave	Love to Loss
Home to Away	Me to You
Cat to Dog	Faith to Doubt
Dover to Calais	Heart to Mind
Tears to Laughter

There are three blank “stops” for each line. We want you to fill in the blank stops for as many lines as you want, which best sum up how you connect the concepts. Write a title or name (no longer than 4 words) that describes each stop on your journey. For example: what does it feel like to be in the middle between Cradle and Grave, or closer to Cradle, or closer to Grave. You could write something like: Cradle – Carved Heart Rocks – Man Called Horse Junction – Quite Quiet – Grave.

To enter:

1. The deadline for entries is April 30th 2016.
2. Send us the names of your stops in one sentence like this:Cradle – Carved Heart Rocks – Man Called Horse Junction – Quite Quiet – Grave
3. Please include your name and location, so we can include your name in the overall list of artists on each copy of the map. (You won't be able to identify individual authors of each stop though.)
4. Send entries to Alban Low at collectconnect4@gmail.com or tweet them to @collectconnect4. Middlesex University students can also send entries on a postcard to Kevin Acott, Director of Programmes and Senior Lecturer (Mental Health) or email him at K.Acott@mdx.ac.uk

Further contacts: Mental Health Awareness Week is organised by the Mental Health Foundation (www.mentalhealth.org.uk). Relationship Maps is organised by artists group CollectConnect (www.collectconnect.blogspot.com). The map will be published by Sampson Low Ltd (www.sampsonlow.com)

 

Submissions closed Art of Caring 2016

Thank you to everyone who entered the Art of Caring this year. We've has a fantastic response full of talented artwork and generosity of spirit. More details will be appearing here in the next few days but I'm happy to announce we have 184 artists exhibiting 329 artworks and poems with us this year.

Praying with Mrs. Cooper
by The Rev. Robin Pfaff

This year's crop include 3 artworks from The Rev. Robin Pfaff, he told us about his motivation to get involved, "As a hospital chaplain I often meet people at a time of intense change, but these encounters usually show me something of the indomitable human spirit. Healthcare professionals, however, who are regularly exposed to highly traumatic situations need to find their own way of coping and build up a resilience that is both sturdy as well as tender. Talking about what we do and see can be extremely difficult, as we all have a tendency to avoid emotional pain."

AL.

 
 

The Empowering Melanie Ezra



Art of Caring 2016 - Melanie Ezra

The first entries have started to arrive at the Art Of Caring this year. We would like to shine our modest spotlight on some of the artists who dedicate their time to art and make our exhibitions such a success.

Melanie Ezra (left) and Rose Davies (right)

We've exhibited the work of Melanie Ezra since our magnet Rarities exhibition along the Hastings and St Leonards' seafront in 2011. She is not only a regular contributor but also supports a network of international artists who use her as a conduit to the UK art scene. Ezra continues to be the poster girl for the Swansea art world, her photography based work is often spliced and cut using her trusty scalpel but inside you can still find the beauty of the Gower Peninsula. Last year she published a map, Swansea: On the Map: An Artist's Walk with Rose Davies that continues to this day to be a bestseller for publishers Sampson Low Ltd.

Unfortunately last year Melanie Ezra wasn't able to submit her work to the Art Of Caring so we are very pleased to welcome her into the fold in 2016. Ezra's Art of Caring artworks are based on photographs taken during her mindful photography workshops. The workshops explore self-improvement and empowerment through the use of the camera. They are often delivered through community organisations to aid people who have suffered life-changing events. She works with blind charities, drugs agencies, and other community and hospital based groups. Ezra's participants have shown great resilience in overcoming their problems and her workshops often inspire them to learn other new skills and tackle other obstacles in their lives from a new position of strength.

From left to right: Céline Pellerin,

Esperanza Tielbaard, Melanie Ezra in Manhattan, 2014

 (Photograph: Esperanza Tielbaard)

I and others from CollectConnect have written before about Melanie Ezra and her personal resilience in the Art world. No distance is too great to traverse so that she can meet and help fellow artists, or share her artwork with the public. It has been truly inspiring to watch her work spread throughout he world and feel the glow from her growing reputation.

If you would like to submit your artwork to the Art Of Caring this year then visit the Submit page of this website.

AL.

Art of Caring Submissions Open 2016

Now more than ever we have to celebrate and support the nurses and carers who make such a difference to our lives. Please join the Art of Caring exhibition this year by submitting your artwork on the theme of Caring or Care. It is Free to enter and very straight forward to get involved. Just send up to 3 jpeg images in an A6 size to collectconnect4@gmail.com



Rumen Deshev at the
Art of Caring 2015

You'll receive a confirmation email within 7 days with your catalogue/exhibition numbers. Before the exhibition we will print 2 postcards of each of your artworks. One copy will be sent to you and the other will be exhibited in the Upper Circle Gallery, The Rose Theatre, Kingston-upon-Thames, UK from the 12th to 24th May 2016.

2015 presentation

Like last year we'll be opening the exhibition with a private view on International Nurses Day, Thursday 12th May 2016. So please put it in your diary and come along.
If you would like to see some of last year's submissions and exhibition then have a look in this album of photos - 2015 Art of Caring Images.

This year we've been asked to exhibit a selection of the work at the Arts Project exhibition space in St Pancras Hospital from July - October 2016.
For the full details about how to submit your work visit our SUBMIT page.
Deadline for submissions is Thursday 31st March 2016.
(We may close early if all 250 exhibition spaces are filled)

Alban Low, Bryan Benge, Dean Reddick and Stuart Simler

Bill Mudge wins Wandle Photo Awards

Bill Mudge - Feeding the Birds (detail)

Last night Bill Mudge won first prize in the Wandle Valley Photographic Competition 2015. The awards ceremony was conducted at Bedzed, the UK's first and largest zero energy housing development and hosted by Sue Morgan, CEO of Wandle Valley Regional Park Trust.

Dan Mitchell from Cubiquity and Bill Mudge

The competition received over 200 entries and Bill not only secured top spot with his photo Misty Mitcham Morning but also a winning entry in the Wandle Folk Category for Feeding the Birds.

The photos originated from an exhibition and map project that Bill undertook for CollectConnnect earlier this year. He mapped a beautiful walk along the River Wandle's green corridor in South London. Along its route he teases us with his photos, making the map itself a thing of beauty and fascination. Learn more about Bill Mudge's Wandling here.

Congratulations to Bill from us all at CollectConnect.

AL.