Pieces: On Dementia

Second Year BA (HONS) Illustration students have taken part in a collaborative project with the charity, Age UK in Stockport. The students made visits to day care centres in Marple and South Reddish, where they spent valuable time talking to people at various stages of dementia. This provided a unique and insightful experience for the students involved.

The students recorded their conversations through note-taking and short recordings. They then used, this information as a catalyst to make illustrations, based on the things talked about. Stories about their lives, things they did, anecdotes or fragments of memories became pictures. The students presented their work to Age UK in a professional manner, who in fact became ‘the client’. The work resulted in the publication of a booklet entitled 'Pieces' which was accompanied by a set of cards representing individual student responses.

Joanna Spicer, the course leader for BA (Hons) Illustration said, "As a tutor, I feel it is really important for students to engage with people from different walks of life. The publication of the booklet aims to highlight the past lives of those affected by dementia enable them to be seen as ‘real people’, with a past, a history and a story to tell".

Photographs by Texbook Studios