The Imagination Café

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The Imagination Café aims to maximise the impact of Dementia and Imagination (D&I) by combining a touring exhibition with artist and care staff training. The project showcases the artwork made by research participants (people living with dementia), trains other artists and care staff using the creative approach developed during the project, and raises awareness of dementia and of the D&I findings with a wide and varied audience, extending beyond the geographical focus of the original research. The project tours a specially commissioned art installation (The Imagination Café) to 3 locations, Llandudno, Edinburgh and London (the venues are MOSTYN, Edinburgh College of Art and the Menier gallery respectively). They have been selected for their interest in developing new skills and collaborations to promote working creatively with people living with dementia. The installation is in the form of a pop-up café, displaying artwork made during D&I on its walls. A prototype café will be designed, installed and tested in Nottingham before the tour begins (as part of D&I dissemination activities). The Imagination Café will be tailored for each touring location as part of the proposed project, in conjunction with collaborators in Llandudno, Edinburgh and London.The immersive, experiential space will feature artwork made by people living with dementia during D&I, offering specially created refreshments for people living with dementia, devised by nutritional consultant Jane Clarke. The café will staffed by volunteers on each site for up to a week, and will offer creative activities, led by artists involved in the D&I project. Supported by host collaborators in each location, the team will engage with local organisations including schools, community groups and healthcare professionals to ensure a wide network of people visit and benefit from the activity. This includes offering events focussing on art and music, and Admiral Nurse and Alzheimer's Society drop-in sessions. Information and materials related to dementia will be available for the public to consider and read. Attendees will be invited to leave comments in a diary room. Artists from D&I will offer training to other artists and social care staff in each area via a full day workshop. This will share the creative approach developed during D&I and will facilitate the impact and legacy of the project in the longer term. The project aims to test the feasibility of an accessible, inclusive and touring art installation, bespoke to each location, to create awareness of dementia and to showcase creative activities that are being developed and tested in the field. It builds on existing collaborations and develops new ones across a wide geographical area, to ensure that the value of the original research is maximised and to develop skill and expertise in arts and dementia with new collaborators from a variety of sectors, alongside raising public awareness about dementia more generally.