Exhibition inspired by dementia launches at Warrington Museum

To put it another way, one in six people, aged 80 or over, have the cruel disease that slowly robs sufferers of their memories and brain function.

When you consider all the families and loved ones affected, the figures become even more startling.

It is estimated that one in three people will care for a person with dementia in their lifetime.

And yet it is an issue that many feel uncomfortable talking about.

So artist Pip Woolf decided to tackle the issue head on after spending five years alongside her friend and neighbour Bev, who was in the last stages of Alzheimer’s. He died in March.

The 64-year-old said: “Bev had his diagnosis of dementia and it coincided with my mother dying at 103. It was an amazing age to reach but there was a lot to learn there.

“You travel for four hours to a parent and they say: ‘Who are you?’ That leaves its mark.

“One of my friends is a psychologist and both our parents died with dementia.

“We had some conversations around the idea that the problem is not for the people with dementia, it’s for everyone else.

“Without realising, they can contribute to the anguish that can arise when trying to bring somebody’s mind in line with everyone else’s.

“I thought if I could learn from people who have diagnoses of dementia, I might be able to push on and find new ways of communicating. I suppose it all grew out of that.”

Reflections on what Pip learnt over those five years has been turned into an exhibition called Matter of Identity at Warrington Museum and Art Gallery.

Pip’s work was also informed by discussions with David Mann, professor of neuropathology at Hope Hospital, University of Manchester.

And she weaved other stories into the work by getting to know the residents of a care home over a year.

She added: “I had a residency at another care home for a year with a visual artist and a writer.

“Then I was asked if I was interested and prepared to go into a care home where people are in ‘end stage’.

“What can sometimes be portrayed as a Victorian terror place was actually illuminating. I learnt so much and the residents talked me through their behaviours.

“I remember Bev would get confused about where he was and I would ask him where he thought he was.

“He would say: ‘I’m in the moment’. I thought that was interesting because people go to mindfulness classes and groups to do everything they can to be in the moment.”

Among the residents of the care home was a former member of the Queen’s Guard, who was 73 when he died.

Not all of them could communicate verbally but Pip would get a sense of who they were by spending time with them.

Each one of the pieces in the Someone Loved part of the exhibition has evolved out of spending time with those residents.

The work takes varied forms to reflect their different personalities.

Pip said: “It was an absolute privilege. I went specifically to draw and if people wanted to draw with me or alongside me that was great.

“At the first residency we did we were joined by a primary school and the kids are great because they don’t have this embarrassment around people doing and saying things that are socially unacceptable.”

That mindset enabled Pip to see the residents more clearly or at least in a different way.

She added: “It really made me think about the things I would say to them and my behaviour around them.

‘What can sometimes be portrayed as a Victorian terror place was actually illuminating’ Pip Woolf “The people I work with have so much to offer still – if you can be patient enough to reach it.

“I had this image right at the start of the work of the fact that one in six people will develop dementia.

“I visualised this group of people who are disregarded. That’s quite shocking.

“We need to learn to value each other more and that is one of the big drivers of the work.”

Speaking of which, Pip also wants visitors to the exhibition, which is at Warrington Museum and Art Gallery until September 21, to spare a thought for care home staff.

She said: “It’s thought provoking but I think the outstanding thing is the people who work at the care homes.

“There is this unseen army of people that need to be celebrated really. They really are quite astonishing.”

Pip also paid tribute to the ‘incredible’ team at Warrington Museum, which was the first public museum to open in the north west.

She added: “They’re very open and kind of seem to be in the lineage of the philosophy that gave birth to the museum.”

•  Matter of Identity is at Warrington Museum and Art Gallery until September 21. Entry is free. For more information visit wmag.culturewarrington.org