An exhibition about dementia involving experts from the University of Sheffield, is set to shine a spotlight on the talents of people affected by dementia.
Dementia is… is the theme of this year’s 11th annual South Yorkshire Dementia Creative Arts Exhibition, which showcases the talents of people affected by dementia and acts as a form of dementia education for the local community.
The exhibition will be held at Meadowhall Interchange from 1-5 July 2019 and aims to promote creativity and self-expression through art for those living with or affected by dementia. It will include works created by those affected by dementia alongside those by local school children.
This year, the annual exhibition will include events curated by David Reid, MA Dementia Studies Programme Lead for the School of Nursing and Midwifery at the University of Sheffield.
Mr Reid researches and teaches dementia care and is committed to exploring what dementia means to those affected.
He said: “The exhibition is primarily intended to be a celebration of the talents of those affected by dementia, people who can sometimes feel invisible within everyday life.
“It brings together the dementia community and represents one small way in which the University of Sheffield is fulfilling its remit as a civic university, engaged in community collaborations to foster greater understanding of a syndrome which affects 750,000 people in the UK.
“It is generally accepted that having dementia can be stigmatising but in recent years there has been a suggestion that it is possible to 'live well with dementia’.
“People who contribute art work to the exhibition or poetry to the event can gain an increasing sense of recognition, of self-esteem and pride knowing their creativity is acknowledged in the wider community.”
Mr Reid has put together a series of events throughout the week to counter the stigma and help the public become more accepting of those affected.
One of these events will be Mentioning Dementia, the first national dementia spoken word event which involves people affected by dementia speaking about their experiences, with poetry read by residents of Mapplewell Manor care home. Best-selling author Wendy Mitchell will also hold a special Dementia Diaries live session.
A Dementia Futures conference organised with Dr Julie Simpson and Dr Rachel Waller of the University’s Sheffield Institute for Translational Neuroscience, will also showcase dementia-related postgraduate researchers from across the University of Sheffield, speaking about their research and what they hope to achieve.
Dementia is... is a collaboration with a number of local and national partners, including the University of Sheffield, University College Rotherham, South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive and Dementia Diaries. Funding has been provided by the Marjorie Coote Old People's Charity Fund
