Claire Craig,Art and Design Research Centre, Sheffield Hallam University

Moving stories: building connectivitythrough the arts

Over the next 15 minutes• Present a compelling

argument for the arts and why dementia and creativity go together

• Celebrate work that is happening at present

• Role that the arts can play in reducing isolation and building community connectedness

Difficulties of some approaches

Creativity

how we know ourselveshow we grow ourselveshow we connect to others

Connectivity: connecting with self

• A poem is something that feels into my psyche. It is where it comes out and where it ends up – essence of essences. What matters to me is the me-ness of it.

Ian McQueen

Connectivity: connecting and communicating with others

I want to thank you for listeningYou see you, you are wordsWords can make or break you.Sometimes people don’t listenThey give you your words backAnd they're all broken, patched up. A person working with John Killick

Wider community connectedness:

People with dementia have shown 'interpretive and expressive powers that had previously lay hidden‘

It's like he's trying to tell a story using words that don't exist. He knows what he means, but we don't.

When Mr. Rosen was asked to provide a title for the painting he wrote, 'Dance of the Beauties.' He smiled rakishly when asked to explain. "I see a naked woman?" he said, shrugging. "I think it's beautiful."

Offering new perspectives

I wanted to find out if I was artistic. Creativity’s an aspect I want to explore. Being able to feel out of the box is what I’m picking up. It will happen. It’s a bit like waiting on Christmas. You know it’s coming but as a child you don’t know exactly when. It’s a nice feeling. (Houston 2009)

Challenging perceptions

Being told I had dementia led to a door reopening after a difficult time in my life. New challenges, new friendships. I wanted to raise awareness about dementia and show that people with dementia can re-learn forgotten skills as well as learn something new

(James McKillop 2002

Moving stories

Dynamic, not staticChanging attitudesReciprocity and social capital

Creativity and connectivity: joining it all up…..

Pioneering approaches: leading the way

In summary•Creativity and the arts offer ways of building connectivity

•Importance of reciprocity

•The arts connect with and transcend each of the pillars and the pillars offer a way of creating cohesion and linking creative approaches and in this way enables us to continue to move forward

A final poemCreativity is a flower blossoming, it is individuality open

to others new and oldIt is a bowl of cherries of which you eat each one very

slowlyIt is opening up your mind to boundless possibilitiesCreativity is your journey. It is a stimulus to activate

the stimulus of the mind and bodyIt is a joy, a pleasure, infectious – you will want moreIt is a freedom which lets your heart sing