About Us

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About Us

BlindArt is an innovative, all inclusive charity founded in 2004. It gained worldwide recognition through its exhibitions Sense & Sensuality and Touching Art Touching You, showcasing and promoting contemporary works of art by both visually impaired and sighted artists; exhibiting artworks side by side and challenging the public to distinguish the difference.

BlindArt exhibitions aim to dispel the notion that sight is essential to creating or enjoying exceptional art. The overall message of BlindArt is artistic excellence regardless of visual ability.

Aims and Objectives:

to organise and hold competitions/exhibitions of contemporary visual art accessible to everyone; specifically (but not exclusively) for visually impaired people
to educate the public about the needs of visually impaired people in the artistic environment and present artwork to the public in a manner that can be appreciated using all five senses, especially the sense of touch
to establish bursaries to support visually impaired people in all fields of art at Postgraduate level
to establish an Exhibition Access Code as a part of the art curriculum
to fund research into the role of the other four senses in art appreciation and to fund research and development into technology that will support and facilitate visually impaired people in the creation of art
to establish a Permanent Collection of art specifically created for disabled and visually impaired people where the other four senses play an equal role to sight

BlindArt’s primary strategy for achieving its aims is by organising and holding contemporary art exhibitions and housing and touring the BlindArt Permanent Collection. These events have visual impairment as their primary artistic focus.

Education
In conjunction with its exhibitions, BlindArt has established an education programme designed to encourage and enable disabled and able bodied children to experience and make art together. There is a strong emphasis on social as well as educational interaction. Based on doctrinal research into art education for visually impaired children by Dr Simon Hayhoe, the 4Sense project in 2005 and 2006 and Sense2Sense project in 2006 paired children from a special needs school with peers from a mainstream school to visit Sense & Sensuality and make their own multi-sensorial works in response.
4Sense Education Project
Sense 2 Sense Education Project

BlindArt also holds workshops for schools and community groups at its exhibitions. These innovative projects help to introduce disabled children to the visual arts, and teach them different methods for exploring and making artworks. They also make sighted children aware of the needs and experiences of visually impaired and disabled children, and teach them skills such as guiding visually impaired people and visually describing artworks.

Academics & Conferences
BlindArt is active in the debate on visual impairment and art by writing papers, giving presentations at international conferences and participating in academic events.

Selected Events & Publications

November 2007
Sheri Khayami, lecture at Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, European Arts Management programme, organized and funded by EU Leonardo da Vinci vocational training fund.

September 2007
Sheri Khayami, Discussant,
Art Beyond Sight: Multimodal Approaches to Learning, Creativity and Communication,  The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

September 2007
Sheri Khayami invited to present at Ways of Seeing Conference on visually impaired people inspiring creative ideas

February 2006
Sheri Khayami presented its work at the Milan Provincial Government’s ‘Fifth Sense: Sensory Perceptions between Art and Vision’ conference.

November 2005
BlindArt founder/director, Sheri Khayami presented BlindArt’s work at an international conference at Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York conference, “Multi-modal Approaches to Learning” .

March 2005
BlindArt organised a lecture at the Royal College of Art by Professor Samir Zeki, Pioneer & Co-Director of Neuroesthetic Institute, Wellcome Trust, on the role of visual memory in art and the effect of sight loss on the visual conception of phenomena in the brain.

Publications
The Power of Touch; handling Objects in Museums and Heritage Contexts edited by Elizabeth Pye
Sheri Khayami contributed chapter “Touching Art Touching You, BlindArt and Sense & Sensuality “

BlindArt Collection Donated to
Moorfields Eye Hospital
October 2012
Link to press release

BlindArt Permanent Collection @ Banbury Museum
February - March 2011
Link to press release (word doc)
Link to press release (pdf)

BlindArt Permanent Collection @ Hove Museum & Art Gallery
June - September 2010
Link to press release

BlindArt Permanent Collection @ RNC
June 2009
Link to press release

BlindArt @ ART LONDON Fair
2 - 6 October 2008

BlindArt Permanent Collection @ Royal Cornwall Museum, Truro
26 July – 4 October 2008

BlindArt Forum
Exciting new Feature
Link to press release

BlindArt Permanent Collection @ MOMA, Wales
March - April 2008

BlindArt Permanent Collection @ Catmose Gallery
January - February 2007

BlindArt Permanent Collection @ Menier Gallery
May 2007

Sense & Sensuality @ Richard Attenborough Centre
December 2006 - January 2007

Sense & Sensuality Debuts in New York
October 2006

Winners of Sense & Sensuality 2006
Joint First Prize
Mauro Perucchetti
Nick Hornby
BlindArt Purchase Prize
Andrew Senior

Sense & Sensuality 2006
Bankside Gallery
14 September – 8 October 2006
Link to leaflet

BlindArt in New York
BlindArt @ Art Beyond Sight
October 2005

Education Projects
Sense2Sense Education Project
4Senses Education Project

BlindArt Needs Volunteers
to help us TOUCH ART.
Please email info@blindart.net for details.

• Sense & Sensuality 2005 catalogue
• Sense & Sensuality 2006 catalogue
• BlindArt Permanent Collection catalogue
• Postcards
• Tactile images

• BlindArt T-Shirts

available.

Support BlindArt
Please email info@blindart.net for details.