By 2030, every one of us will know somebody who has dementia.
The global number of dementia sufferers is also expected to treble to 135 million by 2050 and at a recent G8 summit on the topic, the leading nations committed to developing a cure by 2025.
Tears in Rain at The Pierhead Building. Image: Melanie Wotton/Sarah Abbott.
Now Tears in Rain, an exhibition of artwork exploring the social, cultural and health issues that surround conditions such as dementia, is running at The Pierhead Building in Cardiff Bay.
Created by recent Cardiff Art School graduates Melanie Wotton and Sarah Abbott, the exhibition features paintings, reliefs and tactile interactive assemblages which embrace our responses to ageing and our shared experience of getting older.
Melanie told me both she and Sarah were intrigued by that gradual unravelling of memory, where personal narratives, life stories and events become lost in the ever-rising relentless tide of dementia, leading to total isolation for its sufferers.
“We were really struck by what the quality of life must be like for those that have this disease as it is one of the greatest challenges facing our ageing population. Most of us will have some experience of it in the future,” she said.
Tears in Rain at The Pierhead Building. Image: Melanie Wotton/Sarah Abbott.
“We believe in the power of art and music to reach out to people when conversations perhaps can’t.
“We submitted a tactile art proposal for some work which was exhibited in the dementia clinic at Llandough Hospital and was available for patients to interact with.
“There was one lady who didn’t usually talk much but she saw the artwork and was touching all the ribbons and remembering how she used to do embroidery and she became quite animated- it was wonderful to see.
“We also saw a man who didn’t speak or interact come alive when he was listening to some jazz music.”
The exhibition includes two multi-sensory pieces - one with strips dipped in aromatherapy essential oils and one with guitar strings that have been dipped in UV paint so viewers can shine a UV torch over them to add a layer to their visual experience.
“We talked to lots of nurses and carers about how we could reach out to make these people feel less isolated in an engaging and non-threatening way,” added Melanie.
“One of the pieces from the exhibition will go into a care home afterwards so that the people there can engage with it.”
The work on show addresses the creative and emotional needs of sufferers, their carers and their family and friends while also looking within the context of caring communities in Wales.
Tears in Rain runs until 27 February 2014 at The Pierhead Building, Cardiff Bay, entrance is free.
