Food and memory are inextricably linked, as the writer Marcel Proust famously and evocatively described in his book Remembrance of Things Past. The meals and morsels we consumed when we were children have the capacity to trigger all sorts of recollections, and while Proust’s experience of being catapulted back in time was catalysed by taste, even the name of a particular recipe or snack can see us tripping down memory lane.

This relationship lies at the heart of CAN’s Creative Age project, which sees aged care residents participate in a series of artist-led creative workshops that use storytelling and memories as a starting point for creating artworks. Presented by the City of Mandurah and produced by CAN, this project began in mid-2025, at Mercy Place Mandurah and Brightwater The Cove, Mandurah.

The outcomes of this project are personal and moving – colourful collages of images from each participant’s past pictured alongside the artist’s history and relationship to their artwork.

But behind these individual stories is another, broader story. The challenges facing aged care residents are well documented, and include the deterioration of mental and physical health, as well as feelings of loneliness, disconnection and disengagement. The Creative Age is designed to meet these challenges, by providing residents with opportunities to connect with artists, friends, family and carers, to reconnect with their own inherent creativity, to amplify their stories, and to remind themselves and the broader community of their inherent value as elders in their creative age.

Led by artist Sandy McKendrick and producer Tegan Jenkins, Creative Age workshops began by gathering participants’ memories of foods, recipes, rituals around mealtimes, the kitchen or garden, and family traditions around food. Each participant received a box in which to place photos, significant objects, and notes and drawings that related to these memories.

The artists then worked one-on-one with each participant, to create symbols to represent the memories. These images then informed silhouettes – simple outlines and shapes – that became the basis of a “tapestry” type artwork, a collage of memories and connections to the past. The silhouettes were cut out of paper, in colours chosen to reflect the kitchens of 1940s and 50s in Australia. Sitting against a black background, the images dance joyfully, with bold confidence. Fittingly, the resulting artworks are designed to be place mats, to be used and appreciated.

Together with CAN writer Nina Levy, Tegan recorded and transcribed residents' stories. As one resident, whose voice has been rendered very quiet by Parkinson’s disease, said poignantly, “I need somebody to hear me. I really like to talk … but nobody hears me.” The microphone, however, could hear her perfectly, enabling her story to be heard and recorded in audio and writing.