Interrupted (Journeys): Collaborative installation, Roe Valley Arts Centre, Limavady, NI

INTERRUPTED JOURNEYS is a collaborative installation that draws on a lesser-known narrative of endurance and transnational connection rooted in Limavady in the early twentieth century. The work is informed by the experiences of the Ross Sea party, part of Sir Ernest Shackleton’s Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition, who were stranded on Antarctic ice for 199 days before being rescued in 1917 by the refitted vessel Aurora. This historical account foregrounds connections to Limavady, including William Ferguson Massey, who authorised the rescue mission, and Edgar Wilson Smith, a crew member aboard the Aurora. Their roles in this episode of survival and perseverance provide the conceptual foundation for the installation.

Developed through a participatory, practice-based methodology, the work was co-created with participants from Brain Injury Matters NI. Through the collective making of an intricate installation of origami whales, the project translates this historical narrative into a contemporary exploration of disruption, resilience, and adaptation in the context of acquired brain injury. The Antarctic ice becomes a metaphor for the sudden interruption of life trajectories, while the aurora is reimagined as a beacon of hope and reorientation.

Facilitated by artist Rachel Fitzpatrick, the installation emphasises co-design and shared storytelling as means of meaning-making. In bringing together historical research and lived experience, INTERRUPTED JOURNEYS reflects on interruption as both a condition of vulnerability and a space for transformation.