V&A Dundee has today (Tuesday 18 May) announced a new partnership with Barchester Healthcare that will see the museum hosting a series of online talks for Barchester’s residents.
Spanning 240 care homes and private hospitals across the UK, V&A Dundee will provide a series of talks that explore some of the highlights of the museum’s design exhibitions and Kengo Kuma’s architecture.
Over several months, Barchester’s staff and residents will be guided through the museum’s diverse exhibitions including the first international retrospective of fashion designer Mary Quant and Night Fever: Designing Club Culture, which reopened the museum on 1 May 2021.
This announcement follows news that V&A Dundee will develop into Scotland’s centre for design over the next three years, which will include new partnerships that connect communities and empower people through design.
Lucy Tomlinson, Resident Experience Manager from Barchester Healthcare said: “We are really excited to have V&A Dundee provide a number of live events for us over the coming months. These will be a fantastic addition to our Life Enrichment programmes and exciting partnerships such as this allow us to keep nurturing all of our residents through a wide range of virtual experiences.
“We are particularly proud that institutions and organisations like V&A Dundee are able to offer us events that some of our residents wouldn’t have been able to visit otherwise due to distant locations, allowing for everyone to benefit from the events but in the comfort of their own home.
“We are pleased that these design talks are open to the friends and family members of our residents through YouTube Live. For those that wish to join, more information can be found from their local Barchester care home’s Facebook page.”
Joanna Mawdsley, Head of Learning at V&A Dundee, said: “We are always looking for engaging opportunities to enrich people’s lives through design and it is wonderful to present a series of talks on our outstanding exhibitions to so many of Barchester’s residents across the UK.
“We are delighted to have the opportunity to bring our stories to life for so many individuals who cannot visit the museum in person.”
The talks are organised through V&A Dundee’s communities programme, which is supported by players of People’s Postcode Lottery.
Laura Chow, Head of Charities at People’s Postcode Lottery said: “Discovering meaningful ways to touch people’s lives has never been more important, and we’ve all seen the benefits of greater digital access to culture during the pandemic.
“I am delighted that players of People’s Postcode Lottery are able to support this partnership between V&A Dundee and Barchester Healthcare, which will benefit many people across the UK and we look forward to watching this partnership develop.”
Barchester Healthcare is one of the UK’s leading care providers, and offers personalised residential, nursing and respite care tailored to each resident’s needs, along with expert dementia care offered in a dedicated environment designed to enhance independence. Barchester’s supports 12,000 people in its beautiful, homely care homes across the UK.
Since opening in 2018, V&A Dundee has rapidly established a world-class reputation for inspiring design innovation through its exhibitions. Its Communities programme aims to provide equal access to all audiences, working with people from a range of different backgrounds and needs.
V&A Dundee
V&A at Dundee will be an international centre of design for Scotland. It will celebrate Scotland's historic importance in design and host major exhibitions of outstanding design, helping people understand their own and others' cultural heritage.
