Blind People to Share Their Interpretations of Artworks... National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea to Run 'One-Day Docent' Program

[Financial News] Blind participants will meet visitors as exhibition guides at an art museum. They will put into their own words the art appreciation experiences they have built through sound, touch and memory.
According to MMCA on the 30th, the 'one-day docent' program, held in connection with the blind art appreciation workshop 'Art Beyond Sight,' will take place at MMCA Deoksugung on October 17 and 24. Both sessions will run from 5 to 6:30 p.m.
The featured exhibition is 'Daewon Lee: Nothing Here Makes You Sad.' Blind one-day docents and art appreciation support docents will work in teams to introduce the artist and key works. The blind docents will share questions and images that came to mind as they encountered the artworks, along with interpretations drawn from their personal experiences.
In March this year, MMCA recruited 10 blind art appreciation participants and 10 art appreciation support docents. Working in pairs, they visited major exhibitions in Seoul and Deoksugung once a month, from 'Poetics of Decay' in April through the Do Ho Suh exhibition in September.
The support docents describe the artworks' forms, colors and spaces, while the participants ask questions and connect their own senses and memories to understand the works. The program emphasizes developing interpretations through dialogue after hearing information about the artworks.
The program goes beyond facilitating visits by expanding opportunities for blind people to participate in interpreting artworks. The sensations and memories shared by blind participants can give other visitors new clues for understanding the same works.
Yoon Tae-wook, acting director of MMCA, said, "We will continue to build a 'Museum for Everyone,' where perspectives meet across the boundaries between disability and non-disability and broaden one another's appreciation."
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