Dementia Friendly Sessions At Art Gallery

Aberdeen Art Gallery has put together a series of dementia friendly events and workshops to help combat social isolation and cognitive decline. 

With the first two events having run successfully in July, a further two events are planned for next month. These events will take place in the ground floor Learning Space in Aberdeen Art Gallery. They are called Tunes & Chat and it’s about looking at some artworks and enjoying listening to music together.

These are dementia friendly but not dementia exclusive – they are great sessions for anyone needing a gentle-paced workshop where they can socialise in a comfortable environment. Anyone 16+ is welcome to attend.

The sessions will be led by a community musician called Sarah Eggleton who delivered similar sessions online earlier this year and they were excellent.

In each session, Sarah will introduce the attendees to a couple of artworks and play recordings of music inspired by those artworks. We have found that this type of workshop encourages conversation, memory sharing and friendship through the common love of music.

All sessions are free and can be easily booked via the links below – booking is currently required. Attendees are welcome to bring a supporting person with them also. 

Later in the year, we will host other dementia friendly events such as Connecting to Our Collections, where attendees can learn about our collections and Fly Cup & Blether, where attendees can share memories based on familiar themes such as going out on the town, sports, concerts and local attractions.

Here are the links to Tunes & Chat – please share as far and wide as possible, as they really are a lovely way to enjoy socialising in a relaxed and friendly environment while listing to some wonderful pieces of music together.