Transparent Boundaries, a EU Culture Programme project, sought to increase the visibility of the elder through representation in the arts. The community of the elder is a trans-national and cross-cultural invisible web of connection. The demographic in developed countries is one of an increasing, and increasingly, aging population with many born today who will live to 100 and beyond. Societal attitudes to the elder differ from culture to culture, but in many countries there is an almost total non-representation in the media, except when problems occur.
The University for the Creative Arts led the project, with partners Aalborg University from Denmark, Associazione Marchigiana Attività Teatraliand (AMAT) from Italy, and the Hellenic Regional Development Centre from Greece. Each developed a project, with the elder as the central focus, using textiles, performance and poetry.
In the UK the project was about mapping with a community in Hampshire and a joint dance project with Italy; in Greece the project was about song and poetry with performances by choirs made up of elders brought together for the project, and also working with a poet to produce poems; in Italy there was a photography project and a performance project with Italian, Greek and UK participants; in Denmark the project focused on the disappearing fishing industry. A final project in Poland brought together an Italian dancers, an UK textile artist and the Elder from Poland and the UK
