Rotherham student’s artwork inspired by grandad to go on display in America

The colourful creation by Hummaria Hussain, who is studying graphic design at University Centre Rotherham, was picked as the logo for the annual South Yorkshire Dementia Creative Arts Exhibition.

Her work on the theme of exhibition slogan “Dementia Is...” was showcased at Meadowhall Interchange as part of the week-long event — and is now set to be put on show in the USA.

The Meadowhall event featured the artwork of people affected by dementia and aimed to give an insight into how they can lead a positive life. 

And as well as being shown there, Hummaria’s artwork will be the “face” of the Mention Dementia event in Chicago later in the year.

It was picked after David Reid, programme lead for dementia studies at Sheffield University, visited UCR and challenged students to help promote the talents of people with dementia.

David added: “Hummaria’s work will be the face of Mentioning Dementia, the first national dementia spoken word event which involves people affected by dementia speaking about their experiences.”

Hummaria said: “It was exciting to work with live clients for the competition.

“My grandad has dementia so I’ve approached this with a bit of a personal perspective.

“I didn’t realise how much art helps people affected by dementia — it is a wonderful avenue for them to express their creativity, mood and thoughts whilst leading a positive quality of life.

“I made sure each letter of the ‘Dementia Is’ logo was unique to reflect how dementia affects everyone differently and designed some of the letters to break out of the surrounding rectangular borders as a symbol of how people with dementia aren’t always confined to a certain identity.

“It is wonderful to see the reach this exhibition will have — to have the logo shown in America is brilliant.”