Butler Gallery is pleased to invite registration for its international conference, Arts & Dementia: A European Perspective.
Booking here via Eventbrite.
What role do artists, museums and galleries play in a dementia-friendly society? What is the value of arts programming for people living with dementia and their families and carers? How can innovative, creative thinkers make a positive impact on the lives of people living with dementia and their families and carers?
Butler Gallery is a founding member of the Azure Network, alongside Age & Opportunity, the Alzheimer Society of Ireland and the Irish Museum of Modern Art. This collaborative partnership has been active in exploring the potential for greater participation of people with dementia in cultural settings in Ireland since 2012. In 2015, Butler Gallery became a project partner of the European Project, Museums, Art & Alzheimer’s (MA&A, implemented 2015-2017).
As part of a series of events hosted by MA&A project partners around Europe, this event will examine these questions through a series of presentations, a panel discussion and interactive workshops.
Contributors include; Clive Parkinson (Dir. Of Arts for Health, Manchester Metropolitan University), Cristina Bucci (Museo Marino Marini, Florence), Prof. Eamon O’Shea (Director of the Centre for Economic & Social Research on Dementia at the National University of Ireland Galway), Helen O’Donoghue (Senior Curator, Head of Engagement & Learning Programmes, Irish Museum of Modern Art), Ronan Smith (Irish Dementia Working Group), Ríonach Ní Néill (Galway Dancer in Residence 2010-17 / Dance Curator, Firkin Crane Cork), Caroline Schofield (Artist-in-Residence 2016, Waterford Healing Arts Trust)
Interactive workshops will include; Exploring Azure Dementia-Friendly Art Tours (Irish Museum of Modern Art), In the Picture at Uillinn (West Cork Art Centre), Poetry and Art (Marino Marini Museum Florence)
Booking here via Eventbrite.
MA&A, Museums Art & Alzheimer’s is a European project aiming to facilitate access to museums and the arts for people with dementia, their families and professional carers. The project increases cross-sector collaboration between cultural, social care and healthcare sectors, thereby building a dementia-friendly society.
International partners of MA&A are: Marino Marini Museum and Euridea ltd, Florence, Italy; Lehmbruck Museum, Duisburg, Germany; Butler Gallery, Kilkenny, Ireland; Socialiniai Meno Projektai, NGO, Vilnius and ZISPB NGO, Siauliai, Lithuania.
The Project Partners in addition to Butler Gallery:
Lead Partner: Marino Marini Museum – Florence, Italy
The Marino Marini Museum is dedicated to the work of Italian artist Marino Marini and also programmes contemporary temporary exhibitions in its crypt space. The Marino Marini Museum has become a leader in dementia programming in the Tuscan region and has offered its “Art In Your Hands” programme for people with dementia and carers since 2012.
Lehmbruck Museum, Duisburg, Germany
This German museum is dedicated to the sculpture of Wilhelm Lehmbruck with a significant collection of modern and contemporary sculpture. One of the first museums to develop activities for people with dementia in Europe, the Museum’s education department develops programs for all visitors paying particular attention to their respective needs. The Museum recently engaged in a research project “Development of a model for social participation of people with dementia in the museum space” (ISER / MSH Hamburg) and gives trainings for art educators in other museums who are interested in setting up such programs.
Socialiniai Meno Projektai, Lithuania
Socialiniai Meno Projektai is a non-profit organisation, which develops partnerships between the sectors of social care, health care and culture. Activities include: work in policy level, cross-sectorial training programmes, participatory activities, public events and research addressing mental health issues and advocating the positive impact of participatory art to health and wellbeing.
VšĮ Žmogiškųjų išteklių stebėsenos ir plėtros biuras (ŽISPB), Lithuania
ŽISPB is a non-governmental non-profit organisation. Its objectives are to observe, analyse and assess social phenomena and processes in the field of social and educational policy and to create, adapt and implement innovative social and educational initiatives and projects related to formal and non-formal education.
Euridea, Italy
Euridea Srl is a private vocational training and adult education agency accredited by the Region of Tuscany. It provides training courses and educational activities aimed at employed, unemployed and/or disadvantaged people, specialising in the fields of culture, social services and tourism.