Aesthetic Audio Described Multi-Sensory Tours & Experiences
for Visually Impaired People
or
The Ongoing Development of
Emilie’s Solid, Space, Sound
What is Solid, Space & Sound?
What are audio-described and sensory tours/experiences?
What makes Emilie’s work distinctive in this area?
In recent years, Art Galleries, Theatres, Cinemas, and Cultural Institutions, in general, have realised that the dominance of visual culture excludes blind and visually impaired people. Therefore there has been a move towards exploring ways to make visual content accessible to visually impaired and blind people. Primarily the response employed by most institutions has been ‘audio-description,’ a spoken or written verbal description or translation of the work, in real-time or pre-recorded, to mediate the work to the visually impaired visitor.
Which is very nice …and better than nothing.. but from her experience as a visually impaired person of these kinds of access and inclusion Emilie found herself asking:
“where is the Art? Where is the Aesthetic? Where is the sensory imagination? If this is ‘it’ then what’s the difference between going to a shop or going to a Gallery/ And what is the internal power dynamic of a cultural experience being mediated or translated to a disabled person by a non-disabled person?
So, Emilie, as an artist, and with a visual impairment, found herself developing a different approach.
Emilie uses an innovative approach to the creation of her audis described tours and experiences for galleries and cultural institutions.
First and foremost her work is informed by her passion for art, its ability to enrich and bring healing to all of our lives and to make that art as broadly accessible as possible.
As an artist, working across genres and media, she is very aware of the role language can play in the evocation of an artistic experience in audio description. And so, Emilie brings a musician’s ear and sensitivity to sound and pacing to her creation of audio description. Additionally, as a writer and lyricist, she brings her broad love of languages, not just English, and discerning access to a wealth of metaphor and references.
Finally, as a person with a disability, a visual impairment, Emilie led the field in Ireland with identifying the need to mediate an artistic work in not just words alone.
It all started when the RHA Gallery invited me to develop audio described tours of their Brian Eno’s 77 Million Paintings in 2019
For 2 years prior to that, I had facilitated 2 series of exploratory workshops for visually impaired and blind people, the first series supported by Dublin City Council in partnership with Fighting Blindness. The second series supported by CREATE.
The gallery shows a tactile map of the space and other tactile pieces created by Emilie for this work. Read more here
Sensory Experience and Audio Description for Cosmic Wetness, Royal Hibernian Academy, Dublin, 24 August – 01 October 2023
“Karen’s work is so light and so poetic, this influenced the creation of this audio description which is like a spoken word piece. “
Listen to the audio description by clicking on Karen’s website here.
Commission: Solid, Space & Sound for the Ark for children in 2023.
My intention in this iteration of Solid, Space & Sound was to create an introduction experience to develop confidence and personal agency, that the visually impaired child feels knowledgeable, empowered and welcomed to come back to the Ark again themselves, independently. They've had a chance to "know the space" in terms that make sense to them.
Audio-Described and Sensory Tour of Lavinia Fontana, National Gallery, Ireland
Braille & selection of Emilie’s tactile drawings for multi sensory tour of trailblazer, Lavinia Fontana, @nationalgalleryofireland
The preparation:
Drawings done ✅
Music selected & ready, ✅
Audio descriptions finished ✳️
Tactile pieces & materials organised in the Gallery ✅
Braille of selected works from @ncbi_sightloss ✅
Drawing Day at the National Gallery for Visually Impaired Visitors, 2023
Delighted to be invited by the NGI to make Drawing Day, such a sight dominant visual art, accessible and interesting to visually impaired people. I take drawing and I raise you with Braille! For the first time at the Gallery! Click to find out more.
Live Audio Description of Unearth with Undercurrent 2022
In 2022 I collaborated with Undercurrent on an accessible performance of Unearth. Unearth includes disabled performers and has accessibility at core for both performers and audience.
This is my audio description for Unearth, performed live in 2022 at the Dock Arts Centre show.
Solid, Space & Sound Audio Described and Sensory Tours at the National Gallery 2021 - Present
Emilie training NGI tour guides on Solid Space and sound
In 2021 during the pandemic, Emilie was approached by the NGI to create an accessible experience for blind and visually impaired visitors for the Irish Architecture Foundation Open House Dublin festival. For this, Emilie came up with Solid, Space & Sound, a tour that has proven popular year on year. Click to find out more.
The Chronic Collective Festival
Solid, Space and Sound workshop by Emilie Conway - August 8th 5-7pm
A multi-sensory experience using sound, touch, and a sense of atmosphere to communicate artistic ideas which will open engagement from a more diverse audience to your practice.
The National Neighbourhood: DCCCC
Cnnecting artists, groups and villages with libraries, museums and creative places to deepen their understanding of each other and themselves.
The National Neighbourhood is a Dublin City Council cultural programme run by Dublin City Council Culture Company. It spans the Dublin City Council region, and brings together Dublin City Council’s City Library & Archive, the area offices, the City Arts Office and Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane, in partnership with National Cultural Institutions (The Abbey Theatre, The National Museum of Ireland, The National Library of Ireland, The National Gallery of Ireland, The National Concert Hall, The Chester Beatty Library, The National Archives and The Irish Museum of Modern Art).
I was delighted to be a part of this programme. DCCCC invites participation on an ongoing basis. Find out more at dublincitycouncilculturecompany.ie