Remembering Me at Glovers Yard Clinic

Photographs of former EastEnders actor’s struggle with Alzheimer’s to go on show as part of unique photographic exhibition for Brighton’s Artists Open Houses May Festival 2017

A photographic installation exploring Alzheimer’s disease, called Remembering Me, will be exhibited at Brighton’s Artists Open Houses May Festival 2017. The Artists Open Houses Festival 2017, the largest event of its kind in the UK, will take place in Brighton, Hove and beyond over four weekends of May, starting Saturday 6th May.

The exhibition, created by photographer Bertie Taylor, takes an emotive, personal look at Alzheimer’s through a photographical perspective and is based around the artist’s experience of the last few years of his grandfather’s life while suffering from the disease.

Artist Bertie describes the time he spent caring for his Grandfather, Ronald Taylor, as a strange and poignant time in his life in which he learnt many important lessons about life. Ronald was an aspiring actor and fulfilled his ambitions aged 76 with a role in EastEnders as “Jack,” in 2004. Along with many other supporting roles, he also acted in a scene in 2005 Academy Award winning film Finding Neverland starring Kate Winslet and Johnny Depp.

Remembering Me is a collection of Bertie’s photographs, using household objects and some of his late Grandfather’s belongings that have a certain significance in the relationship between him and his Grandson. Themes of disconnection and disorientation, created with the use of reflections and shadows, put the viewer in the shoes of the person experiencing it. The installation also includes audio and visual recordings of Ronald and the people he knew.

A short film, also titled Remembering Me, will feature clips of Ronald Taylor’s acting work from the BBC’s archive as well as stage performances and audio of poetry and play excerpts. He was also an avid painter and some of his paintings will be on sale at the Glovers Yard Clinic during the exhibition.

Remembering Me is intended to be a celebration of life and how the experience of spending time with someone suffering from Alzheimer’s helped a young man find meaning and understanding in his own life. Glover’s Yard Clinic will be opening its doors for the first time as an Artists Open House.

Bertie says, “I started writing and taking pictures of what my impression of Alzheimer’s was during the last year of my grandfather’s life and after his death. The more time I spent with him, the more interested and intrigued I became about Alzheimer’s as I tried to understand and comprehend what was happening to my grandfather. We learnt over time that certain activities seemed to help and bring his memory back, even just for a little while.
“His favourite songs, nice scenery, stories from his past and the smell of women’s perfume (he always had a keen eye for the ladies) would all help to anchor him and, even if just for a passing moment, he would be back to the man we’d always known.”

Remembering Me at Glovers Yard Clinic
May 6 & 7
May 13 & 14
May 20 & 21
May 27 28
Open from 10am – 5pm

1 Glover’s Yard,
121 Havelock Rd,
Brighton
BN1 6GN
Full Artist Open Houses listings can be found at www.aoh.org.uk

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