New Art Exhibition Puts Seniors in the Spotlight

A new exhibition spearheaded by residents at popular aged care home Regis Greenmount is ‘making the invisible, visible’ by putting seniors in the spotlight, with the aim of breaking down negative attitudes towards ageing and older generations.

‘Conversation With Time’ is an innovative group art project which has been curated by Perth visual artist and the home’s Lifestyle Coordinator, Dr Zuhal Kuvan-Mills, and will be held at Ellenbrook Art Gallery.

“Frailty, loneliness and mortality are synonymous with age and yet they only represent a small piece in the mosaic of getting older,” says Dr Kuvan-Mills, who is also the exhibition curator.

“Conversely, age is very much entwined with wisdom, experience, contemplation and a remaining lust for life, and these attributes were what we wanted to portray as part of the exhibition.

“We also wanted to leveraged opportunities to help dismantle damaging stereotypes about ageing and help improve the quality of life for older adults and others who are negatively affected by ageism.”

In total, 40 individual artworks have been created over a six-month period, all of which will form the exhibition which is set to open to the public on 5 May, and will continue until 4 June 2023 at the Ellenbrook Art Gallery.

Richard Horne, Regis Greenmount General Manager, said the home was keen to support residents in their art, and also challenge perceptions of ageing and celebrate the value, contribution and experience of older people in society.

“We want to give our residents opportunities to contribute to their own growth, while pursuing their artistic endeavors and reminding others that seniors should be valued and celebrated, rather than dismissed,” he says.

“Ageism is one of the most institutionalised forms of prejudice and directly affects the wellbeing of those who are targeted, which is tragic because life experience and the wisdom that comes with age can’t be substituted, and missing out on learnings from those who have lived before us is a great loss.

“While many of our residents have had experiences where they feel overlooked by society, by participating in this project we were thrilled to see them light up and feel validated and visible again.  It has been a wonderful project for the team here at Regis Greenmount to support.”

‘Conversation With Time’ participant and proud Noongar man said he partook in the exhibition with a series of work entitled ‘’My Memories’, which were inspired during his missionary visit to Port Headland, Port Morton and Marble Bar, after which the beauty of the landscape was a catalyst for his paintings.

“Thank you for giving me the power to participate in this project,” he says. “I may have the talent but the team at Regis Greenmount gave me the respect and ability to create my paintings. I will be very happy to see my work displayed as part of the exhibition.”

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Ellenbrook Arts is a not-for-profit organisation that provides artistic and cultural experiences to the people of Ellenbrook and surrounding suburbs and is supported by the City of Swan.