Reframing Project.
Projects
Twelve established artists in Northern Ireland funded by the Atlantic Philanthropies through the Dementia Services Development Trust undertook work to break boundaries and cross borders in dementia thinking.
The term “Reframing” is taken from research that was undertaken at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuvin, Belgium.
The research showed that there is a public perception of dementia which is reinforced by the media, giving rise to unhelpful responses where people feel insecure and anxious. Their aim was to demonstrate the possibility of a new perspective. It is about seeing dementia through a different frame or context.
A residential weekend took place in Derry in April 2016. The main focus of this residential was the actual creation of work. The secondary focus was on capturing thinking and thematic issues for publication/distribution from the weekend – the first time this has been done.
A parallel workshop was developed with the Centre for Contemporary Arts in Derry/Londonderry which was themed around crossing borders and was open to others. This was more conceptual and designed to involve NI/ Derry folk in the enterprise.
“There is a public perception of dementia as an aggressive and merciless illness. It has been described as “the never-ending funeral”. Very often media coverage reinforces this extremely unhelpful perception by publishing messages of hope about “cures” that are highly speculative or even fake news. This leads to misrepresentation and negative social reactions. As a result, those affected by the illness are made to feel even more insecure and anxious. The problems of dementia become heavier to bear because of the way it has been framed in public perception. One of the Trust’s ambitions is re-framing dementia in a more balanced way to support improvement in the lives of those affected by dementia.”
The artist/tutors included Sarah Hesketh, the poet, David Clegg of the Trebus Project, James Kerr (NI Verbal Arts Centre) and Frank Lyons (Ulster University) who was there to perform and to display techniques for working with music involving people with a wide range of “impairments”, with a “collaborator” remaining afterwards. The tutors will also be working together on issues with us to generate work as well as supporting the creative work.
Colin Gray the photographer was there throughout as our photographer in residence. He made input on his latest work as well. The artists worked on sound cloud, music and written pieces based on the experience.
Other Projects
The Power of Power of Attorney
A Power of Attorney comes in to play at a point in life that can be challenging for all involved.
Dementia the Radical Agenda
The DSDT has been working in Northern Ireland for ten years, and in this film Professor June Andrews and Mark Butler spend time in Belfast talking about what has happened so far, and what still needs to happen.
Take me with you
This story is largely a tribute to the work of the people who work in and who manage care homes.