In “Give Me A Reason To Live”, Claire Cunningham delves into the work of medieval painter Hieronymous Bosch, to explore religion, religious art, and our judgment of bodies. Through tests of both body and faith, “Give Me A Reason To Live” draws upon imagery of disabled people in Bosch’s apocalyptic paintings to question our present perspectives on “otherness” and “difference”. Powerfully physical, visually striking, and set to a mesmerising score by sound artist Zoë Irvine, Cunningham invites us to consider our own empathy, sympathy, or indifference in a work of both generosity and brutal immediacy. She is convinced that in a climate of fear, a society turns against the (perceived) weakest within it – as was already evident in Bosch’s era and that this behaviour is not only manifest again, but cyclical. As a choreographer and performer, Claire Cunningham is also always an activist: the Scottish artist dedicates her solo to the victims of the Nazis’ euthanasia programs, as well as those who are currently bearing the brunt of the welfare cuts and other discriminatory effects of the British social reforms.

Claire Cunningham is a performer and creator of multi-disciplinary performances based in Glasgow, Scotland. One of the UK’s most acclaimed and internationally renowned disabled artists, Cunningham’s work is often rooted in the study and use/misuse of her crutches and the exploration of the potential of her own specific physicality with a conscious rejection of traditional dance techniques (developed for non-disabled bodies) or the attempt to move with the pretence of a body or aesthetic other than her own. A self-identifying disabled artist, Cunningham’s work combines multiple art forms and ranges from the intimate solo show “ME (Mobile/Evolution)” (2009) to the large ensemble work “12” made for Candoco Dance Company. In 2014 she created a new solo, “Give Me a Reason to Live”, inspired by the work of Dutch medieval painter Hieronymus Bosch and the role of beggars/cripples in his work, and the full length show “Guide Gods”, looking at the perspectives of the major Faith traditions towards the issue of disability. She is a former Artist in Residence at the Women of the World Festival at the Southbank, London, and of the Ulster Bank Belfast Festival at Queens. In 2016 she is Artist in Residence with Perth International Arts Festival, Australia, and Associate Artist at Tramway, Glasgow. Claire Cunningham has recently been awarded an Unlimited Commission for a new duet with choreographer Jess Curtis – “The Way You Look (at me) Tonight” will have its German premiere on 2.11.16 in Uferstudios Berlin.