Holger Mohaupt (Scotland/Germany)    I’ll Go Ahead

 

 

The ‘rollator’ was invented in 1978 by the Swedish social scientist Aina Wifalk. She was herself suffering from polio. The ‘rollator' consists of a frame with large wheels, handlebars and a built-in seat, which allows the user to stop and rest when needed. Wifalk did not patent her invention, because she wanted to make it available to as many people as possible. In Germany more than three million people use rollators on a regular basis. In 1501 Hieronymous Bosch featured an early version in his ‘Triptych of the Temptation of St. Anthony’.

“I am interested in the way people navigate space & place, on foot, by bike, in their minds or virtually.”

My mother used to find her way around town unaided all her life, she walked and cycled everywhere. We never had a car.  It was difficult for her to accept that she needed a ‘rollator’ due to her age & illness. Essential travel had become impossible without it. This film captures her first journey with a rollator.

 

 

Holger Mohaupt is an award-winning artist and filmmaker. Born in Germany, he studied photography, film and visual anthropology at the Art Academy in Hamburg. He completed a practice-led PhD and a postgraduate degree in Electronic Imaging at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design in Dundee.

His work has been broadcast on TV and exhibited internationally at festivals and in galleries. He is recipient of the New Media Scotland Award and the Irish SWITCH Visual Art Award.

Holger is currently senior lecturer in Film at Liverpool John Moores University.