Art is a highly visual medium, but feasting your eyes on a painting, sculpture, ceramic piece, etching, watercolour or photo only uses one of your senses. And, for audience members who are blind or have low vision, the focus on aesthetics means that they can't enjoy these carefully crafted pieces of creativity.
That's not the case at Vis-ability, QUT Art Museum's new sensory showcase. Specifically designed with the vision-impaired in mind, it re-imagines the exhibition experience. To ensure that everyone can enjoy the items on display, the pieces have been given a new tactile and audio dimension. Visitors can feel tactile models and listen to descriptions — which is perfect if you've ever wanted to reach out and touch a painting, or felt as though an artwork was speaking to you.
Free descriptive tours will also be available throughout the exhibition program, while sighted attendees can don augmented reality goggles that'll display the museum-going experience just as someone with limited vision would experience it.
Vis-ability runs until Sunday, August 4, open from 10am–5pm Tuesday–Friday and 12–4pm on weekends.
Artwork image: Elisa Jane Carmichael. Can we see the burst of colours of wildflowers amongst the landscape? 2018. Synthetic polymer on canvas, 200 x 148cm. QUT Art Collection. Purchased 2018. Photo courtesy of Onespace Gallery, Brisbane.
Installation images: Thomas Oliver.