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A n ‘activist’ art project developed in partnership with men and women with dementia

This project is an activist art initiative developed in partnership with individuals with dementia. It aims to address socio-political and cultural issues, encourage community participation, and effect social change through a touring exhibition. Led by Dr. Ruth Bartlett and curated by Caroline Hick, the project explores themes of protest, proclaim, and party through creative sessions. The exhibition has been showcased at various locations and has received positive feedback from visitors.

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A n ‘activist’ art project developed in partnership with men and women with dementia

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  1. An ‘activist’ art project developed in partnership with men and women with dementia

  2. Activist art is the: ‘innovative use of public space to address issues of socio-political cultural significance and to encourage community or public participation as a means of effecting social change’ (Felshin, 1995: 9) Activist art practices have been widely used in relation to HIV/AIDS and other socially perplexing issues, but not dementia.

  3. The project involves people with dementia and isabout exploring individual and collective strength:bringing to life ideas around community, empowerment, and friendship through a touring exhibition

  4. ‘Exhibiting is a powerful way of deepening knowledge and integrating other perspectives and voices into mainstream discourse ‘ (Lidchi, 1997) Lidchi, H (1997) The poetics and the politics of exhibiting other cultures. In Representation: Cultural representations and signifying practices. Hall, S (1997) ed. Sage Publications. London. pp. 151-223

  5. The project is led by and grounded in an original ESRC funded study on dementia activism conducted by Dr Ruth Bartlett,University of Southampton (2008-2010).

  6. Caroline Hick, Fellow in Visual Arts • University of Bradford, is the project partner and curator.

  7. The project started with us all going on a 3 day residential in Keswick in the beautiful Lake District

  8. We invited • filmmaker Anne Milne artist Shaeron Caton-Rose, and...

  9. Neil Mapes from Dementia Adventure

  10. Neil found us a house with enough space to be together and to be alone if we needed to be

  11. A space to be inspired in…

  12. space to listen and reflect

  13. And have some fun

  14. We asked artist Shaeron Caton-Rose to plan a series of creative sessions to help us create a visual language for dementia activism

  15. Each session started with a “meditation” or a reflection

  16. After talking to Ruth about the original research, Shaeron came up with three themes for the art sessions: PROTEST, PROCLAIM and PARTY

  17. Here’s some of what we got up to in the sessions…

  18. We got the title for the exhibition from one of Larry’s pieces of work

  19. ‘Artmakingthat ignites peoples’ creativity, recovers repressed histories, builds community and strengthens social movements is in itself a holistic form of action’ (Brandt, 2006, p. 18) Barndt, D (2007) (ed.) Wild Fire: Art as Activism. SumachPress. Toronto.

  20. These placards were created in our first PROTEST art workshop and were shown as part of the eventual touring exhibition

  21. From all the work and ideas that were generated at the residency, Shaeron created five bespoke embroidered textile banners with an image on one side and phrases on the other…

  22. We asked filmmaker, Anne Milne, to join us on the residency

  23. After getting to know the whole group, towards the end of our time together, Anne asked Agnes and Nancy if she could make a film about their friendship, which has grown out of their membership of the same campaign group – the Scottish Dementia Working Group

  24. Fortunately , they said yes! Anne’s film Agnes and Nancy, charts Agnes’ first trip to Nancy’s home – a journey that allows Agnes to contemplate the bigger journey she faces coming to terms with her dementia

  25. Here are a couple of stills from the film

  26. If YOU would like to watch Agnes & Nancy, we will be showing it after this session

  27. The exhibition has toured: Bradford – as part of the British Science Festival (Sept 2011)

  28. Glasgow , as part of the Scottish Mental Health Arts and Film Festival (Oct 2011)

  29. Liverpool – we had a stall and screenings at the UK Dementia Congress (Nov 2011)

  30. Newness, new knowledge and insight, is found in the space between research, art and the public’ (Bergum & Godkin, 2008, p. 604) Bergum, V. and Godkin, D. (2008). Nursing research and the transformative value of art. In (2008) Handbook of the Arts in Qualitative Research (pp. 603- 613). Sage Publications: London.

  31. Amsterdam - Agnes & Nancy, was selected to show at the International Documentary Film Festival (Nov 2011)

  32. This is what visitors have told us about the exhibition: ‘My favourite [banner] was ‘Path Through the Woods’, as it speaks of discoveries yet to be made and movement’ ‘I enjoyed talking with a man who had dementia. It was a positive rewarding experience’ ‘It made me discover a very positive side of people with dementia’ ‘enjoyable and impressive’ ‘I loved how the film made the journey real, in terms of Agnes moving through time and space on a journey’

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