T-essere memoria (Being and weaving memory). The museum meets the Alzheimer's

As is often the case, also the cultural projects linked to Alzheimer's in Trentino began thanks to the intuition and commitment of a person who was dealing with dementia on the front line. The results of the first years of experimentation, carried out by Luisa Moser at the Azienda Pubblica di Servizi alla Persona of Povo-Trento (Public body of Services to the Person), led to the conviction that even those who gradually lose their memory, forgetting their everyday life, can still be amazed, feel wonder, be curious and enjoy the beauty of the cultural heritage preserved in a museum. 

Thus, in 2015 the project "T-essere memoria" ("Being and weaving Memory") was started by the office for educational activities of the Archaeological Heritage Office with the aim of making the Pile dwelling Museum of Fiavé accessible also to people living with dementia-related diseases, who are unlikely to be accompanied in this phase of life to the museum or to participate in archaeological workshops.  Over the years, the project has involved more than 140 residents of the Alzheimer units of nine Public bodies of Services to the Person in Trentino. They have taken part in meetings, workshops and visits to the museum.

Cognitive stimulation, enhancement of residual skills, observation of a scale model of the pile dwellings, and direct interaction with copied artefacts were effective methods to involve and make the participants protagonists of the course. The reconstructions of the archaeological artefacts, combined with modern objects, involved the participants in practical, motivating and creative workshops.

The initiative has demonstrated how certain skills, such as manual dexterity and creativity persist in spite of illness, if properly stimulated.

In order to facilitate opportunities of intergenerational confrontation and at the same time trying to develop sensitivity in the new generations towards frail people, a second phase of the project has involved pupils from two kindergartens and four primary schools. The children have designed and built effective tools and materials so as to communicate with people suffering from dementia and then interacted with them. Involving the schools in the project also made it possible to reach families and thus try to break down stereotypes and social stigmas.

The project has showed how the museum, if made accessible and participative, can play an important role in the community, becoming a place of social inclusion and meeting between different experiences. As a result, it can help to improve the quality of life for frail people but also for their families and carers.

The project has gained prestigious international recognition and the 'ICOM (International Council of Museums) Museums for All - award' in 2016, presented in Paris.

Watch the video T-ESSERE MEMORIA, winner of the ICOM "Museums for All" award: 

Our most sincere and heartfelt THANK YOU to all the people (and they are are so many!) who have believed in the project over the years and who have taken part in it in various ways, shared it and supported it. First and foremost, the residents, the referents, the health workers, the family members and all those who take care of people with dementia, the Aziende per i Servizi alla Persona del Trentino (Public bodies of Services to the Person in Trentino): Santo Spirito of Pergine Valsugana, Santa Croce of Bleggio Superiore, Collini of Pinzolo, Padre Odone Collini of Pieve di Bono, Rosa dei Venti of Condino, Villa San Lorenzo of Storo, Levico Curae, Santa Maria of Cles, Endrizzi of Lavis, the Primary School of Zivignago, the Nursery School of Fiavé, the Primary School of Madrano, of Levico Terme, and the team that worked on the project together with Luisa Moser: Mirta Franzoi, Chiara Conci and Rosa Roncador

Several initiatives, exhibitions, seminars, training sessions, collaborations with museums and schools, participations in events have taken place since 2015, following the main project T-essere memoria (Being and weaving memory), which started in an experimental phase with the "Margherita Grazioli" Public body of Services to the Person of Povo. 

Just to mention some of them, workshops and activities are organised on the occasion of the Alzheimer Fest, the national festival that in 2018 took place in Trentino, in Levico Terme.

 See below all the initiatives:

• 2016

T-essere memoria: educational project
 

Download the publication “T-essere memoria: progetto didattico”

• September 2016 – January 2017

T-essere memoria. The museum meets the Alzheimer: photographic exhibition

Download the brochure of the exhibition   T-essere_memoria_mostra fotografica.pdf 983,04 kB

• June and December 2018

INMuseo: inclusion in the museums and Alzheimer

• September2018

Museums' hugs

	Download the publication “I musei che abbracciano”

• October 2019

T-essere memoria. Filo e filò: recounts from the past

	Download the publication “T-essere memoria. Filo e filò: racconti di trame e tessuti dal passato”

• December 2019

T-essere memoria. Knowledge, skills and crafts from the past

	Download the publication “T-essere memoria. Saperi e mestieri dal passato”

Information
Provincia autonoma di Trento
Soprintendenza per i beni culturali - Ufficio beni archeologici
Via Mantova, 67 - 38122 Trento
tel. 0461 492161
e-mail: uff.beniarcheologici@provincia.tn.it
www.cultura.trentino.it/Temi/Archeologia