The project “Poëzie- en verhalenkabinet”, a collaboration between Van Eyck Academy (Pieternel Fleskens), Sociaal en Artistiek Platform (SoAP), and FASoS (Aagje Swinnen), supported by Cultural Participation Fund, enabled the organization of 20 participatory storytelling and poetry workshops for people living with dementia in the psychogeriatric wards of De Beyart and Scharwyerveld between October and December 2015. These workshops were modeled on the American best practices TimeSlips and Alzheimer’s Poetry Project, which build on story improvisation on the basis of an image and joint poetry recitation and improvisation.

In spring 2016, Stéphanie Lagarde, artist in residence at the Van Eyck Academy, developed an art tour through Scharwyerveld based on the processes behind and output resulting from these storytelling and poetry workshops. Lagarde started from photographs that she made of the art created in the Jezuïetenberg, one of Maastricht’s National Monuments. She then adapted the text used by the official guide of the Jezuïetenberg to create an alternative version, taking into account the stories and poetry generated by the people living with dementia during the workshops. The new tour paired with the images from the Jezuïtenberg was staged in Scharwyerveld May 20–21, 2016. Actress and dramaturgist José Schuringa served as fictional tour guide and walked through the nursing home with some of the original participants, their family members, and caregivers. The idea was to allow especially people who consider themselves cognitively strong to experience what it means to appeal to one’s imagination, and how this type of imaginative play can enhance communication with vulnerable people. An impression of the art tour can be viewed here (minutes 16:37–19:37).

This project is part of the Arts, Media and Culture research programme.