Beyond the Visual: Blindness and Expanded Sculpture
Lead Research Organisation:
University of the Arts London
Department Name: CCW Grad School
Abstract
The proposal is for an exhibition and public engagement activities that will explore how contemporary sculpture facilitates sensory engagements beyond the visual. The exhibition is programmed for the main galleries at the Henry Moore Institute (HMI) for 2025-6, and will be preceded by a research season and an extended consultation process. While we identify blind and partially blind people as a primary audience, the proposal is not an exhibition for the blind, but rather sets out not to exclude an audience marginalised by exhibitions where beholders are unable to touch or interact with the works. The exhibition, entitled Beyond the Visual, aims to enhance the tactile and non-visual sensory engagement of all audiences, consistent with Georgina Kleege's arguments about the wider cultural value of 'what blindness brings to art' (Kleege 2018). This constitutes an innovative form of knowledge exchange which reverses established trajectories and underpins our attitude to a whole range of public engagement activities (delivered, collaboratively, by blind and non-blind practitioners). We will also address the underrepresentation of blind and partially blind artists in existing sculpture archives (including those held by HMI), and will compile a database of sculptural works by blind artists, alongside works by non-blind artists explicitly addressing the affordances of blindness in relation to sculptural practice. We will also revisit the 'tactility versus opticality' debate within sculpture, and in so doing the exhibition seeks not only to be an exemplar of inclusivity-confronting prohibitions on touching works-but to counter the notion of touch as merely a 'compensatory' sense in the absence of vision. The project will therefore conduct new research into the relation between sculpture, touch and blindness, and in so doing re-evaluate what kind of entity sculpture is.
| Title | Sensing Vesuvius, and Sensing Naples |
| Description | These are two commissioned works, one sculptural, one a sound work, at Compton Verney gallery, a converted stately home in Warwickshire. The exhibition seeks to transport the beholder to Naples - where the scent of orange blossom drifts on the air and the spectacle of Vesuvius smoulders in the distance. Bringing to life the smells, sounds, sights, tastes and sensations of visiting this vibrant Italian city, the exhibition Sensing Naples will see the exquisite historic works in Compton Verney's Naples Collection rehung and reimagined. Interactive elements and new wall texts will foreground exciting new research into objects in the collection undertaken in collaboration with the University of Oxford and the Centre for the Art and Architectural History of Port Cities, Naples.The display will also feature two new contemporary sculptures by Aaron McPeake, commissioned in partnership with Unlimited (an arts commissioning body that supports, funds and promotes new work by disabled artists). The new works have been made by DYSPLA, a neuro-divergent led award-winning arts studio (and contributors to the Beyond the Visual symposium at the Wellcome Collection), and Aaron McPeake, an artist who makes sculptures that deal with his own experience of sight loss. Together these pieces offer new ways into the historic collection and the experience of visiting Naples for all. |
| Type Of Art | Artwork |
| Year Produced | 2023 |
| Impact | [Opening on 31 March] Audiences will involve general public, but also children and young people [ADD] |
| URL | https://www.comptonverney.org.uk/event/sensing-naples/ |
| Description | On advisory board for The Sensational Museum |
| Geographic Reach | Multiple continents/international |
| Policy Influence Type | Participation in a guidance/advisory committee |
| URL | https://sensationalmuseum.org |
| Description | Henry Moore Institute - Project Partner Beyond the Visual: Blindness and Expanded Sculpture |
| Organisation | Henry Moore Foundation |
| Department | Henry Moore Institute |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | Our role as PI and Co-I is to manage the project, and liaise with the HMI on delivery of workshops, the research season, public engagement activities and exhibition. We bring our expertise as PI and Co-I on a previous AHRC funded network, along with an established multidisciplinary network and existing research outcomes. We will act as co-curators in collaboration with Dr Clare O'Dowd, Research Curator at HMI. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The Henry Moore Institute (HMI) will collaborate with the University of the Arts, London (UAL) as Partner Organisation and Subcontractor on the Beyond the Visual exhibition project. As partners in the initial AHRC funded network, HMI hosted one of the Beyond the Visual workshop events, the experience of which has had a significant impact on their practices. Increased awareness of the needs of blind and partially blind (B/PB) visitors has led to improved access and signage, the provision of audio description within their exhibition interpretation materials, and the inclusion of additional accessible and tactile resources within their engagement activities. HMI will contribute £45,000 towards the costs of making the exhibition fully accessible with tactile flooring, audio description and guides, accessible accommodation for artists and more. HMI recognise that achieving this will benefit all of ther audiences, and will offer visitors a completely different experience of sculpture. HMI is able to contribute a significant level of in-kind support across the three years of the project duration. This will include the following elements, totalling £252,500: Research Curator: development, project management and delivery of exhibition and research season: 282 days @ £300 p/d £85,600; Administrative support and events coordination: 141 days @ £200 p/d £28,200; Exhibitions Organiser/Registrar support: 141 days @ £200 p/d plus 28 days installation/de-installation (239.5 days total) £47,900; Engagement Curator: preparation and delivery of 5 events 10 days @ £300 p/d £3000; Technical Support and equipment for events: 6 days @ £200 p/d £1200; Room hire for events and engagement activity: 10 days @ £300 p/d £3000; Digital content production: 10 days @ £300 p/d £3000; Marketing and communications: 141 days @ £200 p/d £28,200; Web design: 8 days @ £250 p/d £2000; Exhibition invigilation and Front of House support: 6 days per week, 4 staff members @ £100 per shift for 126 days £50,400 |
| Impact | First consultation workshop (held at Leeds Art Gallery), 31 January 2024 Other outcomes are forthcoming |
| Start Year | 2023 |
| Description | Consultation workshop |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The one-day workshop was the first of 3 consultation workshops in order to inform the curatorial process, held in the Henry Moore Lecture Theatre at Leeds Art Gallery. It was attended by 21 people, including curators, artists, disability activists/advocates, educators, accessibility officers/experts, and members of a local group of blind artists. Faye D'Evie (a partially blind artist based in Australia) gave an initial presentation via Zoom. The format of the workshop was informal, roundtable discussions. The theme was general multisensory approaches to an exhibition that sought not to exclude blind audiences, including integrating accessibility at all levels. This included approaches to the exhibition space, integrating navigational devises and audio description, and accessibility in relation to HMI's building and the surrounding area. The discussion was invaluable for thinking the curatorial process, with strong suggestions as to how the building might be made more welcoming for a blind audience. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Project advisory board meeting (online) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | This was the first meeting of the project advisory board, held on 13 February 2024. The board included: Georgina Kleege (Retired Professor, University of Berkley, California) Laurie Britton Newell (Senior Curator, Wellcome Collection) David Johnson (An artist and PhD candidate at the Royal College of Art) Professor Hannah Thompson (Professor at Royal Holloway, University of London, and PI of AHRC funded 'The Sensational Museum') Dr Alison Eardley (Reader, University of Westminster, PI Developing W-ICAD as a means of enhancing equity, diversity and inclusion within museum digital audio interpretation) Dr Clare O'Dowd (Research Curator, HMI) Dr Ken Wilder (Reader, UAL, PI Beyond the Visual: Blindness and Expanded Sculpture) Dr Aaron McPeake (UAL, Co-I Beyond the Visual: Blindness and Expanded Sculpture) Kirstie Gregory (Research Coordinator, HMI) Jeff Rowlings (Head of Programme, Shape Arts) 4 members of the board are blind. The board's role is purely advisory. Ken Wilder, Aaron McPeake and Clare O'Dowd reported on progress of the project, summarising the first of the three consultation workshops on 31 January 2024. The board contributed to an extremely informative discussion about the project aims, including the research season and exhibition. The discussion highlighted the need for an intersectionalist approach, and that accessibility be embedded into all levels of the project. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |