Very productive visit from Alastair Sill of Word of Mouth yesterday, further developing plans for the audio and touch tours of my forthcoming exhibitions, Painting Dance, at Ffin y Parc Gallery and Wales Millennium Centre, supported by Arts Council of Wales.
As mentioned in an earlier post, these events will be a first both for me and for the galleries, and – with regards to visual art, at least – a first for Alastair too, though will very much be building on Word Of Mouth’s established relationship with Ballet Cymru and Alastair’s experience delivering touch tours and audio descriptions of performances with the company over recent years. I think it’s going to be very interesting.
Discussing the project and looking through many of the pictures I’ve made so far, Alastair recorded audio and video which, together with information from dancers and others, he’ll refer to over the coming weeks as he begins outlining the scripts for the tours. We also considered how touch, smell and sound can be incorporated into the experiences, including the possible use of music used in the pieces I’ve been responding to, and the inclusion of objects such as ballet shoes, brushes, oils, and the panels I paint on, which may be handled by those taking part in the tours.
An audio flyer will also be produced, describing the project and the events being planned, and providing practical information about participation. This will be distributed to various agencies across the country involved with supporting people with visual impairments and/or promoting wider access to the arts, so it can be shared with their networks.
The tours will be relaxed and conversational, lasting around one hour, and will be free to attend. I’m very much looking forward to taking part, and to discovering how people with unique and unfamiliar perspectives respond to my pictures.
The Ffin y Parc events will take place on Saturday 28th September at 11am and 3pm. Those at Wales Millennium Centre will take place during the exhibition there in December (details to be arranged).
Booking information will be released nearer the times.
Please get in touch if you have any thoughts or questions, or would like to receive the audio flyer.