Fragments of Us is a new poetry film commissioned by Shape Arts as part of the 2024 Adam Reynolds Award Shortlist Programme, created by neurodivergent artist and writer Rachel Carney.

More about the 2024 programme Explore more commissioned films

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This poetry film responds to the creativity of museum visitors who took part in an interactive poetry display at National Museum Cardiff in 2022. 

It began with words, and with reflection. With a poem written in response to a painting, and then another poem, another painting, and another poem. And so on.

It began with scribbles in pencil, on postcards, in the ‘Eighteenth Century Art in Britain’ gallery. And it became a critique. A web of creative connection.

From spider’s web to tapestry, from voices to poetry, it grew into an ongoing network of ekphrastic intervention.

What is ekphrasis?

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Watch the audio described film

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About the artist

Rachel Carney is a neurodivergent writer and interactive artist based in Cardiff. Her poems, reviews and articles have been published in numerous magazines including Poetry Wales, Anthropocene, iamb and The Interpreter’s House. She won the Pre-Raphaelite Society Poetry Competition and was voted runner up in the Bangor Poetry Competition in 2021. Two of her poems have been shortlisted for the Bridport Prize. Her debut collection Octopus Mind was selected as one of The Guardian’s Best Poetry Books of 2023 and is published by Seren Books. She recently completed a PhD funded by the SWWDTP, examining how ekphrastic poetry can help visitors to engage with art in museums, and her creative practice continues to explore the intersections between poetry and visual art. 

Visit Rachel's website Follow Rachel on Instagram

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Banner image description: still from the film. In focus, in the foreground, we find a web of pale yarn forming an asymmetrical grid pattern. Onto the yarn, three small fragments of images - paintings and photos - have been attached. The background is out of focus, but appears to be a leafy, outdoor setting. White text reading 'Fragments of Us, Rachel Carney' sits on top of the image.