Why aging?

Photo of a boy watching the biographies video installation, where the face of a person is projected on a graphic background, telling her or his life story.

What does aging mean in the early 21st century? What does this universal phenomenon mean to me, my loved ones, to others, to all of us? The main objective of the exhibition is for visitors to re-examine their ideas of what it means to grow old. Its ambitions are:

• To provide a differentiated image of old age
• To reduce the fear of getting old
• To enhance empathy with senior citizens
• To question stereotypes and overcome
   prejudices
• To foster an inter-generational dialogue
• To provide working opportunities for senior citizens

First and foremost, we gear our exhibition towards families and schools. Visitors from the age of 14 years and up can experience the exhibition.

Aging is one of the most important social issues on today’s social agenda, especially in the light of the dramatic demographic changes that are not only taking place in the Western world. In 2030, one third of the world's population will be over the age of 65 and a great number of those people can anticipate reaching a very advanced age. Paradoxically, aging is often feared as a topic of discussion. Most representations of old age are highly distorted and many of us have a negative understanding and feeling about it. Indeed, getting old is a crucial and uncomfortable issue that needs to be faced! We believe that exhibitions can be a source of influence and change.

Dialogue with Time has the potential, on one hand, to act as an important basis for raising awareness of the basic human conditions that elderly people deserve, and on the other hand, to reduce the fear of getting old amongst the younger generation.