With gentle wonder
With Gentle Wonder is an art project for people with dementia and their caregivers. It takes place in and around IJsselstein, in places where you might normally greet each other, but wouldn't normally pause. Until now. It's all about attention. About looking, listening, creating together—even when words become a little more difficult.
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In this project, wonder isn't a trick or a magical moment. It's a way of being. A gentle way of seeing, creating, and dealing with what's no longer self-evident. Artists, healthcare professionals, family members, and people with dementia collaborate on something perhaps best described as mindfulness in action.
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We make art. We make memories. We make time.
In studios, museums, and libraries. Sometimes with a pot of paint, sometimes with a singing bowl, and sometimes simply with a fragrant bag of lavender. We work with museum routes, music, and movement. And yes, occasionally we dance with a walker.
What does it yield?
A city that looks a little more gently towards people with dementia.
People who feel seen, even when words fail.
And a network of makers and healthcare professionals who learn to understand each other's language a little better.
And why then wonder?
Because wonder is the art of not knowing for a moment. Of being open. Of looking without immediately judging. Especially with dementia, where so much revolves around loss, wonder offers a different perspective: not what disappears, but what still resonates.
Or as one participant once said after smelling a jar of cinnamon: “I don't know anything right now, but I'm somewhere.”
That is precisely the strength of this project.
Dit onderzoek groeit door in notities en verhalen die ik onderweg vastleg. Lees verder in de blogcategorie Met Zachte Verwondering.
Would you like to participate, contribute, or just talk further about how you can use wonder as a form of care?
Please feel free to contact us.