Belfast International Festival of Performance Art, Belfast

Mar 2023

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It was a privilege to be included in the impressive line up of international performance artists invited to make work for BIFPA 23. 

Menopause Makeover took place in the foyer of Ulster University and the Glass Box Gallery. The audience was invited to listen to my conversation with my grandmother Molly Brown, a staff nurse who died when I was 2 years old. I spoke to her about different symptoms of the menopause and how they affect women going about their day to day activities. With each symptom discussed, I add another layer of make up, added the symptom to the mirror, made a change to the outfit and posed for a selfie. The make up and clothes, prints and actions carried autobiographical stories and made connections with many of the  those that followed the conversation. The descriptions of symptoms covered the more commonly known and discussed effects the menopause can have as well as less well know and often missed or misdiagnosed issues. 

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Performance duration: 1.5 hours

Documentation: Sandra Johnston, Elaine McGinn, Rainer Pagel

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