Span Arts is delighted to present the premiere of a new short film (12 mins) and unveil prototype apps produced as part of the recent Span Digidol project Memortal/Cofio.
Memortal/Cofio is a pilot project to explore possibilities for a digital memorial app that could help people to record and share important memories, images, objects and sound recordings that tell the story of their lives. Span teamed up with Pembrokeshire based animation artist Gemma Green Hope, and Bristol based app maker Owen Davis to create prototypes for an app that is both simple to use, flexible enough to accommodate different user’s needs, and visually beautiful.
The Span Digidol team has been working with 6 older individuals across Pembrokeshire on a 1:2:1 basis and with groups such as Solva Care and Brynberian Compassionate Café, to research and discover what people would want this app to be able to do, and to design a unique look for the app, as well as create example content.
Artist Gemma Green Hope was excited to be involved in this project, saying that “digital technology has great potential for helping people to tell their own stories creatively”. App maker Owen Davis described how many apps that he comes across in his work often seem superfluous, but the project really appealed to him because this app “could actually be of real use to people”.
One participant in his 80’s said “This is exactly what I’ve been looking for!” and when he was shown the app prototypes believed that “this could go viral”. Another participant said that she “enjoyed the process very much” and that it “was very powerful receiving that reflection back to oneself, like seeing yourself from a distance, it was very moving”.
The film will be shown at spacetocreate at 2 pm on Thursday 16th May as part of the Haverfordwest Death Literacy Festival exploring life, death and how we can care more for each other at end of life. Festival organiser, Luke Conlon, said “the film is beautiful and so life affirming”. There will also be an opportunity to test out the 3 prototype apps that were produced and give feedback as Span seeks further funding to take the project forward.
Thursday 16th May 2 –3 pm @spacetocreate
Unit 2, Riverside Shopping Centre, Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire, SA61 2ET (opposite Wilkinsons)
Everyone welcome, admission free
After the event, the film will be available for viewing on the Span Arts YouTube channel and at Haverfordwest Library during the festival week.
Memortal/Cofio is funded by Arts Council of Wales and LEADER programme, administered by Planed and through a Caring Communities grant from PAVS
