"It’s been a real privilege to get to work on 1000 Days over the past few months.
I wasn’t there at the hospitals when Ros, Mark and Keisha created the body of work that makes up the project. Instead, I was brought on to help run the workshops on Zoom in a technical capacity.
This has presented me an interesting perspective on things and a lot of my work on the project has involved me just being an observer.
The impact of 1000 Days is easily measured in the responses that participants of the workshops have given over the course of our sessions. Whether with theatre practitioners, nursing students or musicians, every person that has taken part in the workshops has been overwhelmingly moved by what has been created.
It’s not difficult to see why.
Many artistic missions are inspired by the idea of providing voice to the voiceless, but this is one of the few occasions when that is exactly what is achieved.
Working with non-verbal children, Ros, Mark and Keisha have created art that is completely authentic. It’s in pieces like Conductor that this is most apparent. A conductor is something that is unique to the orchestra pit or the choir; often a role for the overly-educated or overly-privileged. 1000 Days have given that power over to children that have to face their own mortality on a daily basis.
With hand gestures, with facial movements and with pure energy, these children have guided Ros. Mark and Keisha to create art that could not have been made in isolation
It’s a heavy burden to try and do justice to these young people and to create art true to them, but I believe that that is exactly what the project has managed to do.
Ros, Mark and Keisha have made something that has brought joy to into the lives of these young people and given them an outlet to express themselves. That in itself is commendable, but when you get to listen to the work yourself, I’m sure you’ll see why it is vitally important.
I very much look forward to seeing where 1000 Days goes from here, but I know it won’t be boring."