Island of Listeners

Storytelling invites us to sit with and within another’s experiences. Island of Listeners presents stories crafted through the collaboration of palliative care patients, care partners, and healthcare providers at Bruyère who shared their time and words with storyteller Kim Kilpatrick, shaping 21 stories through interchange, connection, and care.  

The film presents some of these stories recited by Kim Kilpatrick with oil painting animation by visual artist Rachel Gray. The stills of the film provide a moment of pause and connection, letting us linger in the power of the stories. The artists’ work emphasizes the dynamic relationships and identities of listeners and tellers while foregrounding voices and experiences that are often pushed to the periphery. There is immensity, discomfort, beauty, and fragility in these stories – they are deeply human. 

This exhibition would not have been possible without the people who generously shared their time, energy, thoughts, and experiences. Heartfelt thanks go to all of the participants, care partners, and staff on the palliative care unit at Bruyère. 

This exhibition is presented by the Ottawa Art Gallery in partnership with Radical Connections and the Isenberg Lab at Bruyère Research Institute, with generous support from the Bruyère Academic Medical Association and the Canada Council for the Arts. 

Curator: Haley Menard
Translation and editing: Véronique Couillard, Marie-Camille Lalande
Installation : Dan Austin, Rob Keefe 

About the artists:

Kim Kilpatrick is a professional storyteller, accessibility consultant, and proud to be an artist with a disability. She has created four one-woman storytelling shows about blindness, guide dogs, COVID, and advocacy. Many of these shows have been performed across Canada. Kim is always thrilled to collaborate with other artists and celebrate voices not often heard in our community. Kim is proud to be an artist with Ottawa Storytellers, MASC, and Radical Connections. 

Rachel Gray is a multimedia artist based in Ottawa with a BA in English and a BFA in Visual Arts. She was the Artistic and Executive Director of BEING Studio, a studio space for artists with developmental disabilities. Rachel has explored intersections between art making, ecology, and community engagement in residencies in Florida and Yukon. She has collaborated with academic and medical researchers in interdisciplinary projects and is a founding member of Ghost Rooster, a disability arts collective. 

“I feel that this is such a powerful experience. I barely put my bum in the chair and the stories come pouring out of people, patients, caregivers, and staff. I am honoured to take their words and shape them into stories and then present them back. The stories are gifts to me and gifts to them and gifts to those who hear them. They want the stories to be heard and acknowledged.” -Kim Kilpatrick