Switzerland

A week has passed since I came to Switzerland. I stayed for the weekend at Le Chablais in Huemoz, in the town of Villars. It is about an hour and a half by car from Geneva. There I stayed with artist Sara Riesenmey and her family at their chalet. www.sarariesenmey.com/

I had the opportunity to visit La Grande Dixence, as this was one of the wishes of Sara's grandma.  It is the strongest fortified dam in Switzerland and is in Valais. www.grande-dixence.ch

I had the opportunity to interview Sara's grandma, Ruth, about her lifestory, after spending a day with her and the family. I will spend time over the next week looking at ways to represent her history into textiles.

This made me think about the way we conduct lifestory work, and the importance of spending time with people and getting to know them before interviewing them. Also, the way the setting and the relationship with family members. I have been contemplating the positive and negative aspects of the language barrier, cultural misunderstandings, and the mediation of family in conducting life story interviews.

I am now in Onex,  Geneva. I have spent the week with Sara visiting the University hospital of Geneva with is nicely abbreviated to HUG, tho doesn't  mean the same in French! We have met daily with a nursing home that is situated there and have spent time getting to know six of the residents. We have been thinking through ideas of how to decorate everyday objects to tell a little of their life stories.

It has been a challenge for me as I only have a small French vocabulary, so have had to find different ways to communicate.  Pictures, experiences and music have been useful tools. It has also helped me to look at the cultural differences and similarities of people suffering with dementia.

The universality of icecream love has made me smile!  I had the opportunity to accompany two of the residents and two carers to an ice cream parlour near HUG. There is something special about sharing  a nice experience together and then using it as a basis to build a relationship. Plus I got to eat pistachio and caramel ice cream which was very tasty!

I have realised that I have chosen the best time to be staying in Switzerland as the weather is beautiful and there are music and film festivals on in the evening! I had the opportunity to go to Monteaux Jazz festival and watch Harvey Milk at the outdoor cinema next to the Geneva Lake.

Amsterdam

Well I safely arrived in Amsterdam on Monday eve after an eleven hour journey  fom Copenhagen to Germany and then Holland. The novelty of the trip was the train going onto a ferry. I knew that there was water  between Denmark and Germany but just presumed there'd  be a very long bridge!

Also made a travel companion along the way. Maria Dominicci is from Virginia USA but has live in Korea  for the last few years. She's currently  travelling  Europe and setting up her travel blog. Check out http://beyondthepassport.com

On the Saturday,  just before coming to Amsterdam , I got the opportunity  to visit Dorte and Elli Kappelgaard's island house. It's located 40min by  train outside of Copenhagen. It's a beautiful house on a tiny island in the middle of a lake. The sun was hot and we had the opportunity  to swim in the lake.

Dorte and Elli are the organisers of Openspace arts conference. We spent the day also with Leah, whom I'd interviewed  at the conference,  and Monique who works with the Wayfarers trust. I had the opportunity  to interview Dorte about the community projects she has done over the years. It was very interesting to hear hows she has engaged local community in poetry writing.

 On Tuesday I visited the Rembrant House Museum in Amsterdam and yesterday visited the very exciting De Hogewey dementia village in Weesp, a fifteen min train journey outside of Amsterdam.

Yesterday was one of those times that really struck me as a life changing moment. It made sense of my nine year frustration with the English care system and showed that there is an alternative model that works!

Food glorious Food!

Well the last few days have gone so quickly! This picture is from one of our many meals together. The Emmaus Centre did us proud with all the beautifully  presented tasty meals. From smoked salmon to danish apple cake...I don't know how i'll go back to beans on toast! 

www.galleri-emmaus.dk

It's been a thought provoking and enriching week with interesting talks from Murray Watts, writer and founder of the Wayfarer Trust. 'Openspace' is the sister conference to the Wayfarer conference at Lee Abbey in Devon. www:wayfarertrust.com

It was a delight to meet artists from Denmark, Norway, America, Canada, Scotland and England. There was a mix of backgrounds and practices and the workshops reflected this. I participated in the 'Land Art' workshop facilitated  by Monique Sleidrecht. We looked at land artist Andy Goldsworthy, which was a treat for me as he's one of my favourite site specific sculpture artists. To have a look at his work use this link:

  http://www.goldsworthy.cc.gla.ac.uk/

I got the chance to have a go myself which was great. I found working in nature to repeat patterns and shapes very meditative and peaceful.

Green leaves swirled on a cold ash bonfire 

We had evening performances from various musican,  but my favourite was from a Danish couple Astrid and Peter Rasmussen called 'Binocular Visions'. They used electronic keyboards, drum and synthesisers to distort sound and make unique tracks. 

To listen to some samples of music: http://binocularvision.bandcamp.com/releases

I had the privaledge to interview  a variety of  artist relating to my fellowship project. I interviewed  Hanna Nilsen Nugard, Leah Robb, and Leah Samuelson.  They all work in different areas of community arts. 

 Hanna is a Norwegian freelance documentary maker. At the conference she showed a film about he two grandfathers.  It was fascinating to hear about her process of recording the film, and the way taking time to listen to their lifestory enriched their relationship

. 

Hanna Nilsen Nygard

Leah Robb is political painter in Denmark and an activities coordinator in Edinburgh, Scotland. She spends her time between these two countries. The care home where she works in Scotland lets her use her creative gifts to enrich the lives of elderly residents. 

Leah Robb

Leah Samuelson is the Instructor of Art at Wheaton College in Chicago. She has worked with community groups on mural projects and spoke to me about the way a community arts project can change the people who take part in it. She reflected that people have a pride and sense of achievement when they create a space in community.

As you can imagine, I came away from the conference  with ideas buzzing around my head. Chatting with the three diverse arts brought up lots of questions, particularly around the way we record people's responses to projects, the ethical  considerations of filming lifestories especially and the importance of displaying work in care homes in a way that enriches the lives of older people, and doesn't  just tick a box for the inspection report.

I am now back at Hannah and Fred's in Copenhagen planning the next leg of the journey.  I am visiting the holiday home of Dorthe and Elli Kappelgaard, the organisers of 'Openspace', to chat to them about their artistic practice  and community arts projects. Their house is located on a small island forty minutes outside of Copenhagen and the weather  is beautiful.  

The beginning of a great adventure!

Safely arrived in Copenhagen yesterday! I was welcomed by Hannah and Frederick who kindly cooked me a traditional, very tasty, Danish traditional meal of plaice, new potatoes and pointy cabbage! Also homemade elderflower vodka and rhubarb ice cream...What a great start to my travel!
I am awear I have the potential to turn this into a food blog so I'll try to remain focused!

So the beginning of my exploration of 'Artists' engagement with life story work in care home settings ' has begun today. I am now at the 'Openspace' artists conference in Haslev, just outside Copenhagen. As I am typing I can hear some fantastic piano playing coming from the hall and drifting up the stairwell.

The conference is in an old school that has been turned into an artists centre. There are beautiful and inspiring works of art everywhere and lovely people and scummy food.  I've just presented some of the works from my latest exhibition  'Beauty in the Little Things' and there will be a q and a a little later. We've already had a glass of Champagne  in true Winston Churchhill honour!
There are a lot of artist'  here from all over the world and I've  been busy explaining  what the project is ready to interview them tomorrow. There are quite a few with a background of community arts and are interested in exploring how to engage with people suffering with dementia.

Visual artist and friend Sara Riesenmey with Hannah Brunn Hjorth the the train station.

Painter and musican Leah Robb with myself, sipping champagne  at the Illuminate exhibition 

The next step...

It's been a very busy and exciting two weeks! 'Beauty in the Little Things' exhibition launch happened on Tuesday 2nd June and was a great success. Over ninety people came to celebrate the creative arts in dementia care at Eten Cafe.  

Over the next month the exhibition will continue and I will be meeting people at Eten cafe on Saturdays. If you'd like a one2one tour of the exhibition please email me

storytellingwithatwist@yahoo.co.uk 

The fabulous Sheffield journalist Russell Cavanagh interviewed me. 

To watch the interview, click below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=raJx_M9mKqM

Last week I joined all the Winston Churchill Fellows from the last 50 years at Blenheim Palace in Oxford for a special celebratory day.

We had a lovely day wandering round the palace drinking champagne, listening to inspiring talks and eating cream scones. A real treat. I was accompanied by my inspiring friend Jessica Elwood (pictured above) and my parents.

The talk which particularly captured my imagination was the one on Clementine Churchill and Eleanor Roosevelt.  It was by the author Sonia Purnell and was a fascinating insight at the influence these strong women had on their husbands. They do say 'behind every great man is a great woman' and appears to be particularly true in this case!

'Storytelling with a Twist' Project in care homes across Sheffield

The launch of 'Story Telling with a Twist' project will be happening at the 'Beauty in the Little Things' exhibition on Tuesday 2nd June at Eten Cafe, Sheffield City Centre,  6pm-9pm.

The booking office is now open for September 2015 'Storytelling with a Twist' days consisting of three 1 hour reminiscence sessions, a 30 min 'how to' staff training session and three bespoke handmade 'shared history cushions'.

The first five homes in Sheffield to book will get a discounted special offer price of £225.

To book, email storytellingwithatwist@yahoo.co.uk

Exhibition

The exhibition 'Beauty in the Little Things' is going to be at Eten Cafe, Sheffield City Centre, from Tuesday 2nd June for one month. The private view is on Tuesday 2nd June 6pm-9pm with a short presentation at 7.30pm.

http://www.etensheffield.co.uk/

Also the wonderful 'Storytelling With a Twist' teapot has come out of the kiln ready for it's first brew!