The Liminal Space designed and created a new installation at the Barbican, aimed to engage the public on the inequalities of ageing. Visitors to Unclaimed find themselves in a 'surreal lost property office' filled with everyday objects that tell the story of ageing today, from talking shoes and books that read to you to binoculars that allow you to see through someone else's eyes.
The project began in Spring 2018 with a series of interviews with 2,000 people aged over 70 from Camden, conducted by University College London's gerontology research team. The Liminal Space team then went on to engage over 150 people from the research cohort and a diverse range of London communities through a series of creative workshops. The personal and philosophical insights of the interviewees and workshop participants uncovered a wide range of narratives about our ageing society.
"At a time when one in three people will live to 100, Unclaimed examines how our childhoods, jobs, health, wealth, families and technology will impact our experience of getting old," commented Sarah Douglas, Director at The Liminal Space. "It engages people in crucial and essential topics like the inequality of ageing and explores how we experience and view ageing in relation to our sense of self, each other and our wider society."
The free installation allows visitors to engage with the topic creatively through an engaging variety of multimedia stories and objects featuring text and audio recordings from the interviews.
Photography: Peter Schiazza