Helping people see the light through artworks in the dark
KUALA LUMPUR: Here’s a chance to appreciate artworks in complete darkness and experience a sharpening of the senses.
The third installation of Arts Beyond Sight will be presented at the upcoming Blossom Arts Festival Malaysia (BAFM) at Wisma MCA from Aug 1 to 31.
“When you enter the pitch black rooms, you are not pretending to be disabled. Think about it as expanding your abilities in that darkness.
“Rest your eyes and let your consciousness take over,” interdisciplinary artist Poesy Liang said. The special installation is a collaboration between Liang and blind social entrepreneur Stevens Chan of Dialogue in The Dark.
It features the life story of Liang, a globe-trotting artist who has been paralysed twice due to tumours in her spinal cord.
In specially constructed dark rooms, blind guides will lead visitors and help them navigate the environment in a reversal of roles.
The installation made its debut at the George Town Festival in Penang and Causeway Exchange Festival in Singapore last year, which featured the artworks of Singaporean visually impaired artist Ch’ng Seok Tin.
“Dialogue in the Dark provided an opportunity for the visually impaired to help the visually-abled appreciate the human senses we take for granted,” said Datin Paduka Chew Mei Fun at a media preview of the installation yesterday.
Chew is the chairman of the Malaysian Chinese Culture and Arts Consultative Council, the main organiser of BAFM.
Visit www.blossomartsfestival.my and did. my for more information.