Event
Butler Gallery in Kilkenny is hosting an international conference, Arts & Dementia: A European Perspective, on 4 July 2017. The conference will explore the following questions: What role can 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?
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) and 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).
The conference will take place in the Parade Tower, Kilkenny Castle, from 10am to 5pm on Tuesday, 4 July 2017.
This event is free but booking is required via Eventbrite.
For further information email conference@butlergallery.com or phone 056 7761106.
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.
