Tales from the Jubilee Cloak is a Platinum Jubilee project that has celebrated the memories, stories and creativity of 70 older adults living in or using care services.
The project captured personal responses to the reign of Queen Elizabeth II, which were experienced through reminiscence and art sessions and the creation of a Jubilee Cloak. The Cloak showcases the individual artwork created over the project.
Tales from the Jubilee Cloak was delivered in ten different care settings in the Nottingham area. In each setting we first delivered a reminiscence activity focused on the Queen’s jubilee, and conversation about royalty and the royal family in general. This gave opportunity to share many life experiences of the Queen’s coronation in 1953, and both the pageantry and celebrations that happened. These discussions were a wonderful moment for people to talk in a group and share their thoughts, leading to strong wellbeing outcomes. The reminiscence activity helped to inform the designs for the creative activity that followed.
In each care setting we returned for a creative activity, with participants designing and creating their own square artwork. These artworks contained royal-themed motifs, such as crowns, corgis, castles, gems, as well as more personalised contributions made together by the artists and the participants. Each of the artworks was a unique contribution to the cloak and the project, celebrating everyone’s creativity, memories, and thoughts about royalty.
70 square artworks were created in total for the cloak, a symbolic link to Queen Elizabeth II’s 70-year Platinum Jubilee. All of the artworks were then digitally scanned and printed onto fabric, to create the jubilee cloak. The final cloak was four metres long, about the same size as the cloak worn by Elizabeth II during her coronation. We then returned to the care settings where the people who had helped to make the cloak lived, to give them an opportunity to see the cloak, admire what had been made, and to try it on if they liked. Everyone had a lot of fun dressing up in the jubilee cloak, which when coupled with some crowns, orbs, and sceptres, led to some amazing photographs which everyone enjoyed.
After the cloak had been shown to the participants who created it, the cloak was then put on display to the general public at the Framework Knitters Museum in Ruddington, Nottinghamshire. The exhibition celebrated the creativity and jubilee memories of everyone who took part, and helped to promote the benefits of arts projects in social care. Tales from the Jubilee Cloak was a successful project that empowered 70 people to share their memories, embrace their creativity and be part of a collaborative arts project. Thank you to all our care setting participants and Creative Paths’ artists Rachel Scanlon, Emma Wass, Chris Boote and Karyn Stavert.
