094670/Z/10/Z: Hands On

Project Summary:Artist Isabel Manning will be exploring the ritual of hand washing in the hospital environment. Working at Great Ormond Street Hospital, she will deliver a series of investigative workshops for the patients aged between 4 and 16 years, and their families, investigating why they are encouraged to wash their hands, and how this practice limits the spread of infectious diseases. The project will also look at how this custom developed historically, and the cultural issues that arise. Hands are seen as the primary organs for physically manipulating the environment. With the fingertips containing some of the densest areas of nerve endings on the body, our sense of touch is intimately associated with the hands. Young children's hands in particular appear delicate and unscathed by a world that will later shape and be shaped by them. Just beginning to feel and examine, they use their hands to reach out beyond themselves. Specifically the project will be about how hand washing affects the life of children who are patients at Great Ormond Street Hospital. In collaboration with the children, the project will result in an animated film that will be screened at the hospital.

Grant Holder:Miss Isobel Manning

Organisation:Great Ormond Street Hospital Children's Charity

Financial Year:2010/2011