Ways of Seeing
Conference and Exhibition 2007
Ways of Seeing logo. (Designing for Access Project intiated by Craftspace. Photo: Chris Smart 2007)
The Ways of Seeing project explored creative ways of widening the access of visually impaired people to retail environments. dao presents a podcast report from the Ways of Seeing exhibition and conference of September 2007. This is accompanied by a review of the event by Liz Porter.
The Ways of Seeing Project commissioned a group of five artists to work with a group of blind and partially sighted people to explore issues around access to and enjoyment of shopping spaces. The project was originally conceived by Zoe Partington-Sollinger and was a collaboration between Diabolo Arts, Inter-Action Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire Association for Blind and Partially Sighted People (BAB), Milton Keynes Gallery and culminated in an exhibition at the Midsummer Place Shopping Mall, Milton Keynes in September 2007. This exhibition ran alongside the Ways of Seeing Conference which aimed to widen the debate around equality and inclusivity.
The five artists were Sara Heitlinger, Alison Jones, Paul McCann, James O Hanlon and Chris Keenan. Each commission depended on a close partnership between the artists and participants from Interaction and BAB.
There have been a number of projects and conferences (such as Sensual Clues in 2005) in recent years which have explored creative ways of enhancing the experience of visually impaired people in museums and galleries. Ways of Seeing is the first major project to shift the focus towards the world of shopping.
The conference could be criticised for trying to fit too much into one day and the accessibility of the exhibition could be questioned. But the project is definitely a bold step in a new direction and as visual artist Lynn Cox says in our podcast of the event : "[the conference was] a really interesting launch pad [which] raised far more questions than it answered." Artists Liz Porter and Caroline Cardus agree that future projects in this vein would benefit greatly from including more input from visually impaired artists.
The project had other positive outcomes as summarised by Zoe Partington-Sollinger:
The thing that is really important about what has happened during the process of Ways of Seeing is that a lot of thinking and practice of the people involved has changed. The way that members of the BAB group engage with art and artists and the way they think about how they might approach a project has moved on dramatically from where they were one and half years ago.
A lot of the people from the project have shifted their mindset and have started to look at things in very different ways. So, for example, some of them who were very interested in landscape painting traditionally are now thinking about how do I now interpret my environment; what messages do I want to get across; how far do I want to take my idea of how I want to access art. A lot of the group are starting to dig deeper and ask more questions about the gallery spaces they access.
The project was about creating an opportunity for visual impaired people to engage and establish themselves as artists. Chris Ankin in particular now sees himself as an artist and is involved with networks of other artists.
Chris Ankin is currently working with Chris Keenan to produce a collaborative VJ and audio event to take place at Inter-Action MK on 8 December 2008.
The project was also about developing a toolkit aiemd at moving things to another level. The toolkit will document the outcomes of the project and suggest practical applictions for some of the ideas that evolved. The BAB group hope to present the tool kit to retail and culltural sector networks early in 2008.
The following section begins with a link which lets you listen to DAO's podcast report of the conference and exhibition, this is followed by a transcript of the podcast, and a review by Liz Porter.
Disability Arts Online would like to thank the invaluable contribution of artists Rachel Gadsden, Lynn Cox and Liz Porter in the making of the podcast. And also sound artist Joe Young who produced it.
Joe McConnell
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Rachel Gadsden (rachelgadsden[at]blueyonder.co.uk) said on 2008-01-12 10:28:
I have just had the great pleasure of interacting with both the text and pod cast of the Ways of Seeing Conference and Exhibition. Wow, how the pod cast brought the experience of the exhibition alive. I was lucky to have been at the Conference, to have attended a Workshop and to have viewed the exhibition. What I have found so exciting reliving the event on line was to experience how Disability Arts Online has facilitated such a creative way of sharing the context, content and experience of the conference with this audience. The varying opinions, perspectives and voices of the different participants, artists, organisers, facilitators and invited speakers somehow comes alive in the Pod cast, the inflections tone and mood of the spoken word brings a rich individuality to the context of the dialogue, and perhaps represents the larger voice of the community which is so important when disability issues are on the agenda. The Conference set out with ambitious objectives, it was a successful Conference and Exhibition, but I suppose what I find most exciting is the agenda that has now arisen from the conference, and I suspect is the successful outcome of such an event, and that is the need to continue to find creative accessible solutions so that every individual has the opportunity to engage emotionally and intellectually with creative activities.
Thank you DAO for sharing important issues with your audience in such a dynamic exciting creative way.
Rosa Catton said on 2008-01-15 21:21:
Great to have something you can just listen to. Can we have more podcasts please? I really liked the way the different voices blended and gave the whole piece a gritty texture.
last updated: 2008-01-07 04:23:23
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