Reminiscence & the Arts.
Reminiscence & the Arts. The recent Friday was such a BITTERSWEET moment for me.
Bitter in the sense that the ‘Windrush: It Runs Through Us’ exhibition which I co-curated came to a close after a highly successful 9 month run.
However, being in the midst of a group of visitors, the majority being ‘Windrush Elders’ was extremely SWEET as I was provided the pleasurable opportunity to observe, share and listen to their experiences and comments
I was able to absorb and further learn from the members of SADACCA’s Womens Group and those from Sheffield’s Memory Hub as they reminisced.
I need to pay, maximum ‘respek’ to the Mansfield Museum and Culture Team, especially kirsty sanders, Sian Rebecca Booth, Jodie Henshaw and Ian Dearman as working alongside them has been a true pleasure.
The Windrush Exhibition is no longer, now becoming historic, all treasured artefacts now returned to their loving owners or back in storage.
However due to the support primarily from the The Dementia Trust Disruption Award and Professor June A. I am just a week away from completing the construction of the interactive Virtual Reality 3D Museum Tour of the ‘Windrush: It Runs Through Us’ Exhibition.
The Windrush Exhibition may now be physically dead, however….
Long live the Virtual Exhibition.
It is of a different dimension, a true ‘story telling’ journey with a vast amount of short videos bringing alive and adding personal perspectives to many of the vintage artefacts.
Also covered is the history and growth of Caribbean music with vintage videos of the artists performing – who can remember Millie performing ‘My Boy Lollipop’ on Top of the Pops? You’ll be able to rewatch and do the ‘twist’ along with her too.
It is a treasure trove consisting of far, far more, including a video I recently recorded in Jamaica an Elder’s dementia care experiences, personally being the main care partner of three separate family members over the last 30 years plus. The advice she provides for others in similar caring situations is invaluable.
The next stage after completing this interactive Virtual Tour is developing a set of resources, empowering and enabling professional care workers to be able to use the ‘Windrush Virtual Museum Tour’, as a constructive resource/intervention towards meaningfully engaging with people living with dementia from African and African Caribbean heritage – the true essence of person-centred care.
Currently I am seeking additional resources to develop such resources, however continue to ‘Watch this Space’ for future developments.
In the meantime enjoy listening to the views and opinions of those in the below attachment. 👍🏿
