In the dry and arid lands of Schehezerade, water is of the upmost importance. In the luxurious gardens surrounding the palaces of the Arabian tales, the sound of water could be heard everywhere to refresh and delight the body and spirit. Like a murmur, its crisp sound arises from below the surface as we enter the Water Garden with our hands, gently exploring its features. Untying the ribbons, themselves watery bands flowing across the gardens like little streams, undulating pools are revealed with their glittering reflections of silvery threads, mirrored circles and shiny pearls. Among the waters a strange plant with thick curling leaves grows from a plot of red-hot earth, fed perhaps by an underground spring below the surface. Next to a shiny pool with its round mother-of-pearl islands, there is a small hill. Opening the zip on top of it, a thin cloth floating with transparent flower petals can be gently pulled out from between its sharp teeth to spill over the garden like a waterfall, cascading into the pools and pouring into the dry earth.
Commissioned by Leicestershire’s Open Museum
http://www.leics.gov.uk/index/leisure_tourism/museums/open_museum/artworks/touchtables.htm
"Introducing the ART of TOUCH:
The Open Museum's Touch Tables
An exciting, innovative new art resource for people in the later stages of dementia or with more severe learning disabilities, has recently been developed by Leicestershire’s Open Museum.
Consultation the Open Museum has undertaken revealed that carers can sometimes be nervous about using real art and museum objects in case they get damaged or are thrown. This has meant that people who could particularly benefit from handling and touching objects, can sometimes be excluded from art and reminiscence sessions. Leicestershire’s Open Museum Service was keen to find a solution to this. Working in consultation with carers, art therapists in Leicestershire care homes, and a Senior Lecturer on dementia from De Montfort University, two new interactive Touch Tables have been created."
