The Gift of Stories

Abstract

My current research centres on my experiences as an artist, a ‘guest’ and ‘host’ in rural communities in Ireland, where building relationships at a local level has revealed wider notions of hospitality towards ‘outsiders’ on a national and international scale. Over time, it has become clear that the act of being a guest, or host, is deeply personal, shaped by an entanglement of influences and experiences. Under the title The Hotel, my enquiry consists of a body of practical, site-based, and archival research, interwoven with contextual and conceptual research, from which the perspective of guest, host, and storyteller are explored.

Keywords: hospitality, gifts, storyteller