Celebrating its 40th year with its long-standing credo “Art for All” in mind, the Metropolitan Museum of Manila (MET), in partnership with the Resources for the Blind, Inc. (RBI), with the support of National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), Touch The Artist’s Vision Inclusivity & Accessibility Advocate Group and the Rotary Club of San Juan del Monte, will host Accessibility for the Blind, a sensitivity training workshop on October 1 (Saturday) from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
The objective of this workshop is to equip cultural workers and educators with the skills to develop an accessibility program for the blind and the visually impaired to experience and appreciate visual art. This whole day educational event, therefore, involves discussions on how the blind appreciate art, the basics of Braille and communicating with the blind, which will be followed by a sighted guide demo.
Among the speakers of the Accessibility for the Blind are 2015 Apolinario Mabini Awardee and long-time advocate of the blind appreciating visual art Annette Lee-Esparaz; reputable Braille tutor Marie Joyce Lopez and National Council on Disability Affairs sub-committee member Mila Wayno. All three are from the non-profit Christian organization RBI, which has been serving the blind people throughout the Philippines since 1988. With the services, training, materials and equipment that RBI provides, those who have visual limitations are able to reach their fullest potential.
This Accessibility for the Blind workshop is a component of one of the MET’s pioneer educational programs called Touch the Artist’s Vision (TAV). Launched in 2007, this program has helped blind and visually-impaired museum visitors to see and experience artworks through the use of tactile diagrams, Braille captions, and specialized audio narratives.
This workshop is highly recommended for cultural workers, SPED teachers and tour operators specializing in disability travel. Admission fee for the event is Free. Interested participants may register via info@metmuseum.ph on September 29 (Thursday).
The Metropolitan Museum of Manila is located at the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Complex, Roxas Blvd., Manila. For more information, contact (02) 708-7828.
It sounds like a great workshop for partially sighted people to experience and appreciate visual art. Hopefully, there will be more workshops like this for visual disability in the different domains of art.
TumugonBurahin