Photo: Brendan Gleeson
The Hunt Museum, working with the Alzheimer Society of Ireland, is promoting the participation of people with dementia and their families in museums and galleries with the launch of its Dementia Friendly Community Initiative.
This took place on Wednesday 30 at the Custom House multistorey museum, gallery, education centre and Hunt Café.
The initiative will be gallery based and run by trained volunteers. Their focus is on participants’ abilities in order to create an accepting and engaging environment in which dementia is a non-issue.
A responsive and welcoming space will be provided for people with dementia to participate in facilitated discussions about exhibited artworks/artefacts so that they can become active participants in the life of the museum.
Fiona Bynre; Bairdre-Ann Harkin, education curator at Butler Gallery, Kilkenny and Joni Roche share observations with the resident Urban Horse Project
Picture Brendan Gleeson
We are told: “The arts can enhance the quality of life of people with dementia because of their capacity to engage emotions and facilitate communication, including non-verbal communication.
“Volunteers at the Hunt Museum started training for this programme in early September and the first six week programme will be offered to the public in January 2016. Hunt Museum Board members have given their support to this initiative by agreeing to become ambassadors for the programme”.
