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KONFETTI IM KOPF: An activation campaign using the power of creativity

The idea: Photographer Michael Hagedorn desribes a most innovative and comprehensive public awareness campaign that puts dementia front and center through photographs (on banners, billboards, posters and screens), dance, music, readings, plays, films, workshops and more.

Hello: My name is Michael Hagedorn. I am 46 and am a Hamburg-based photographer. For the last seven years I have specialized in dementia all over the world, and I am one of the initiators and organizers of KONFETTI IM KOPF.

Making the voices of people with dementia heard has come to be a serious concern for a growing number of people around the globe. The arts and all sorts of creativity work very well as connecting points between the two worlds. KONFETTI IM KOPF ("Confetti in the head") is a German grassroots activation campaign using photography, lyrics, music, and all other sources of creativity and joyfullness to help create a new image of what it´s like to live with dementia. In whatever way possible we try to include people with dementia in the whole process.

We had the pleasure to present the campaign at various ADI and other international conferences. And we are happy to share it with you all here on this wonderful website. Comments are much appreciated.

KONFETTI IM KOPF: An activation campaign using the power of creativity

The common way of communicating dementia is by using dramatic phrases and dreary colours – no wonder people´s associations with it are mostly dull, desperate and fearful.

Enter KONFETTI IM KOPF: This multi-faceted campaign uses a respectful, resource-oriented and creative approach to counterbalance misconceptions associated with dementia. It unveils new perspectives and encourages people to look more closely into the subject and the lives of people affected. This new and much wider approach helps pave the way to an overdue paradigm shift. We believe that only through a person-centred, eye-level approach will we be able to find answers to one of the biggest human and social challenges of our time.

After the campaign´s successful kick-off in Berlin in October 2009, more than 50 cities and communities all over Germany and other countries have expressed a strong interest in participating. Stuttgart in October 2011 marked another milestone for the project, in Hamburg – Germany´s second largest city – KONFETTI IM KOPF will be taking place this September. The Campaign established a much demanded, community-centered approach, enabling even smaller towns and urban districts to participate.

The core of the KONFETTI IM KOPF campaign is a large-scale open-air exhibition displaying pictures from the most comprehensive photo project on dementia and the touching stories behind these portraits. The pictures are present in public on big banners, posters, billboards and screens. At information desks visitors are encouraged to learn about dementia. Unique and creative supporting events such as readings, plays, films, concerts, workshops, lectures and dance sessions help the visitors to get involved. Since people with dementia take part in most of the activities, KONFETTI IM KOPF is a vivid place for face-to-face encounters. Please take 10 minutes to watch the video at the end of this posting, which shows how the displays and supporting events are integrated.

High-ranking politicians and celebrities such as actors, athletes, authors and singers participate as KONFETTI-mentors in a joint attempt to raise a maximum level of attention for the cause through all parts of society. The project under the patronage of former Federal President of Germany, Prof. Dr. Roman Herzog, has been awarded several prizes and prize nominations.

KONFETTI IM KOPF has proved very successful in bringing together many different professional organisations, using synergistic effects for this important issue. Efficient network structures lay the structural foundation for local adaptions of the campaign.

A complex, yet intuitive multilingual website provides in-depth details about the campaign and the philosophy behind it. Although it´s not in English, it may still be a good source of inspiration - Google translations work quite well here.

Yes, we can! And yes, we will!

And yes, we are planning on going to other countries. Will yours be next?

Sunny regards

Michael