People living with dementia come from all walks of life, and they are all affected to varying extremes, but they are just people, with their own story.
So says Kev Curran. He has been telling their story on film, in photographs and via posters in a project to help raise awareness of dementia and shed the stigma that surrounds it.
City of York Council West Offices, then King’s Manor, Exhibition Square, York
West Offices May 18-22; King’s Manor Sat May 23 1pm-4pm
Free
Called A Story Like Ours, the campaign has been created by Kev’s social enterprise Inspired Youth, which uses digital media production, arts and participative inclusion techniques “to inform, challenge, educate and inspire”.
An exhibition, featuring portraits of York people with dementia and their loved ones, is being showcased at City of York Council’s West Offices HQ between May 18 and 22 for Dementia Awareness Week.
Two films produced as part of the campaign are also being shown before the main movies at City Screen during the week.
Commissioned by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, the work was created in partnership with Harmony Café. Run by student charity Minds In Motion, the Tang Hall café is a monthly event for people living with dementia.
The photos were taken there by Scott Akoz over a period of several months.
Harmony Café is one of the most inspiring places I have ever experienced and we are grateful to the student volunteers who helped us to bring this hugely important body of work together.
– Kev Curran, Inspired Youth
Katherine Blaker, community development manager at the Joseph Rowntree Foundation said:
Heather Lyiask, leader of Harmony Café said:
We can’t wait to celebrate the lives of so many of our guests and look forward to showing the public that there is a lot more to those living with dementia than is commonly assumed.
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