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Art Through Touch Events

Art Through Touch News
Sally Booth and other Art Through Touch members can be heard on the BBC Radio 4 Program In Touch (Listen Again 16th August 2005) discussing their recent involvement in the Serpentine Gallery and Shape collaboration Sounding Architecture project.

Also important information this month about the Sensual Clues Seminar to be held at the Victoria and Albert Museum on 4th November. See under Seminars

There is important information about new evening Art Workshop Sessions for visually impaired people to be held at the Pocklington Resource Centre in collaboration with South Thames College. See under
Opportunites.



Art Talks and Touch Tours
ART TALKS are given by professional artists and others involved in the art world who are commissioned to prepare and deliver accessible presentations of their work and ideas.

Art work and ideas are made accessible through discussion, description, the use of all sensory modes and the provision of information in alternative formats.

The main tenet of our approach as an organisation is to promote inclusion in relation to art and to enable visually impaired people to fully participate in cultural life. Through our activities we recognise the mutual benefit to both sighted and visually impaired people together exploring art, ideas and our surroundings, sharing a range of varied and different perspective and perceptions.

Wednesday 9 November 1.30
Gallery visit
Serpentine Gallery: Ilya and Emilia Kabakov The House of Dreams
See Exhibitions section for more details of the show. Background information and the artists and their work will be available in advance in all formats. The visit will take the form of a tour of the installation followed by a discussion.
For further information and to book a place call 020 8675 2666 or email:attouch97@yahoo.co.uk



Seminars
Sensual Clues Seminar
A collaborative project between the Serpentine Gallery, Shape and Art Through Touch

Friday 4 November 10.00am - 5.00pm
Seminar Room 1
Victoria and Albert Museum
Cromwell Road, London SW7 2RL
Tickets £10 institutions, £5 individuals
Tel 020 7402 6075 or from the Serpentine Gallery Lobby Desk.

Following the Sounding Architecture project (July to August 2005) this seminar will explore how sensual clues can be used in arts venues to provide greater accessibility to visually impaired people. This event is for visually impaired people, architects, environmental designers, arts professionals, arts practitioners and those in relevant fields. A report will be published after the seminar.

For information, please contact: Louise Coysh Tel: 020 7298 1533 or education@serpentinegallery.org
Supported by: Arts Council England, Bloomberg. With additional support from: RNIB, V&A




Opportunities
Art Workshop Sessions for visually impaired people
At Pocklington Resource Centre in collaboration with South Thames College.

Workshops aimed at all levels of experience of art making. Art workshop sessions provide an opportunity for students to work on their individual projects and ideas. Through this process, assisted by an experienced tutor, students will develop a deeper understanding of art and their own personal creative process.

Activities include modelling, carving, construction, mould making and casting, drawing and painting. Course planning and practice is viewed as student centred to take account of individual aims and objectives, confidence, motivation and specific requirements.

Confidence building through achievement at all stages of course work, aimed at unlocking and nurturing inherent creativity.

Monday: 1.30 - 3.30 & Tuesday 7.00pm - 9pm.
Course Fees: For a two hour session £20 per term (the year is divided into three terms).

For further information contact Pocklington Resource Centre. 1c Yukon Road, London, SW12 9PZ. Telephone: 020 8675 4246.



What's New on the Art Through Touch Website
The Recent Projects page has been completely redesigned this month, allowing us to show all recent ATT activities and some archive material as well which will constantly be updated.

We appreciate that people will be accessing this site using a variety of different browsers and hardware. As the Art Through Touch website aims to be accessible as possible we would be appreciate any feedback regarding access problems. Please contact us on website maintenance Thank you.



Non Art Through Touch Events

Gallery Talks and Workshops
Saturday 22 October between 11am and 1 pm
Victoria & Albert Museum
Artists Books: a talk by Andrew Russell, Curator of the Word and Image collections. This will be the opportunity to explore some of the fascinating collection of artists' books housed in the V&A's National Art Library. These books are not the type you would see in a bookshop or public library - they are artists' interpretations of books and often come in an unusual form using a wide variety of materials.

To book a place on any tour, please call 020 7942 2211. Disabled people are entitled to free admission to the V&A exhibitions with up to two friends. Email us at disability@vam.ac.uk

V&A South Kensington, Cromwell Road, London SW7 2RL
Tel: 020 7942 2000 www.vam.ac.uk

Saturday 29 October 11.30 - 12.45
The National Gallery
Art Through Words. Claude: Landscape with Aeneas at Delos
Saturday 26 November 11.30 - 12.45
The National Gallery
Art Through Words. Reynolds: Lady Cockburn and her Three Eldest Sons
Call 020 7747 2424 for further information and to book a place.
The National Gallery, Trafalgar Square, London, WC2N 5DN

Wednesday 19 October 3.30 - 4.30pm
Geffrye Museum Handling Session for Visually Impaired People:
Tudor Objects - Handling Session
Explore a range of replica Tudor objects including carved boxes, pewter goblets and herb burners.
Wednesday 16 November 3.30 - 4.30pm
Twentieth-Century Objects - Handling Session
Explore domestic objects from the 1930s, 1950s and 1960s.
To book a place please contact Alison Lightbown, Education Officer at alightbown@geffrye-museum.org.uk or Rowan De Saulles, Information and Booking Officer at rdesaulles@geffre-museum.org.uk or telephone 020 7739 9893.
Geffrye Museum, Kingsland Road, London E2 8EA. Tel: 020 7739 9893 www.geffrye-museum.org.uk

Saturday 19 November 11.30-12.45
Courtauld Institute of Art, Somerset House, Hermitage Rooms
Picture This: Visual Image and Object Description
Spooner Watercolours
Described by Dr Alexandra Gerstein

These sessions are aimed at visitors who are blind and partially sighted. They are led by a describer and focus on one work in the Somerset House collections. The description and subsequent discussion are followed by an opportunity to handle representations of objects and a visit to the work itself.
Third Saturday of every other month Free with admission ticket. Sighted escorts and guide dogs also very welcome and have free admission.
Courtauld Institute of Art, Somerset House, Strand, London WC2R 0RN




Seminars and Conferences
1 - 2 December RNIB National Centre for Tactile Diagrams: Tactile Diagrams 2005
RNIB National Centre for Tactile Diagrams are holding their third international conference on tactile diagrams, maps and pictures in Birmingham on 1-2 December 2005.

This exciting international event covers all aspects of tactile graphics (images which are touched rather than looked at) for blind and partially sighted children and adults in education, work and life activities.

Tactile Graphics 2005 also offers an exhibition and pre-conference workshops and will cover techniques, applications and literacy development of tactile graphics.

The conference will be of interest to all those involved in the design, production, procurement, use and support of tactile graphics. Example topics of interest include:

- access to maps, arts and heritage, curriculum and exam materials
- development of tactile graphic literacy
- evaluation of materials in real-life settings
- good-practice and standards development
- non-Braille tactile graphics
- procurement and dissemination of tactile graphics
- spatial cognition and tactile perception
- tactile signage
- tactile-audio diagrams
- technologies for design, production and use of tactile graphics
- training issues for end-users and those working with them
- virtual haptic access to graphics

Full details on the conference website www.nctd.org.uk/conference.

We would appreciate it if your organisation could pass on the details of this conference to any of your contacts who may also be interested in attending or presenting at this conference.

Flyers in various formats are available on the website www.nctd.org.uk/conference/conf2005/promote.asp

RNIB National Centre for Tactile Diagrams
58-72 John Bright Street, Birmingham B1 1BN, UK
Telephone 0845 257 2587 (UK) +44 121 665 4257 (international)
Fax: 0845 257 2588 (UK) +44 121 665 4201 (international)Email info@nctd.org.uk
Website: www.nctd.org.uk



Exhibitions, Architecture and Sound Events
Until 30 September
Tate Modern: Raised Awareness: Curated by Bill Woodrow
An Exhibtion of artists drawings collected and curated by Bill Woodrow with hands-on interpretation for blind and partially sighted visitors. Included are works by Michael Craig-Martin, Richard Deacon, Anthony Gormley, Damien Hirst, Anish Kapoor, Richard Long, Alison Wilding, Bill Woodrow and other contemporary artists. Commentry available in Braille, large-print, audio cassette and CD. The audio recordings and players are available from the Information Desk.
Tate Modern, Bankside, London SE1 9TG
020 7887 8000 www.tate.org.uk

10 September - 30 October
Tate Modern: Jan de Cock
The latest in a series of eight week displays by international contemporary artists has been undertaken by Belgian artist Jan De Cock.

De Cock's large-scale installations are made in response to the architecture of the site he is working in and are both aesthetic interventions in the space as well as performing a utilitarian function. For Tate Modern, De Cock has created a series of installations and sculptures which extend beyond the Level 2 Gallery and throughout the circulation routes used by visitors.

Jan De Cock's installations mimic functional gallery furniture, like information desks and seating, but seem strangely at odds with the gallery space as they are constructed from plywood.

During the summer months, De Cock and his team assembled the project in a specially designed area in front of the north façade of the gallery, so the public could observe their work as it progressed
Tate Modern, Bankside, London SE1 9TG
020 7887 8000
www.tate.org.uk

19 October 2005 - 8 January 2006
Serpentine Gallery: Ilya and Emilia Kabakov The House of Dreams
The Kabakovs' work takes many forms, ranging from room-scale installations to paintings, illustrations, models and books. Their interest in storytelling sits at the core of their practice, and many of their installations centre around fictitious characters. Ilya Kabakov coined the term 'total installation' to describe these all-encompassing environments, in which viewers find themselves completely absorbed by the atmosphere of the work.

For their exhibition at the Serpentine, the Kabakovs, who have been married since 1992, have designed a new installation entitled The House of Dreams. Taking the importance of sleep and dreams as its central theme, it incorporates a series of meditative spaces in which visitors will be encouraged to rest, daydream and enter a world of fantasy. The Kabakovs have received a number of awards and public commissions and their work has been widely exhibited internationally. Recent exhibitions include Incident at the Museum and Other Installations at the State Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg in 2004. It was the first exhibition by living Russian artists to be held at the Hermitage.

6 September - 2 October
Serpentine Gallery: Oliver Payne and Nick Relph
This exhibition at the Serpentine, which will be Oliver Payne and Nick Relph's first solo presentation in a UK public gallery, will survey their work to date.

Winners of the Golden Lion Award for Best Artist Under 35 at the Venice Biennale in 2003, and nominated for the Beck's Futures award in 2002, British film-makers Oliver Payne and Nick Relph have been collaborating since the late 1990s.
Serpentine Gallery, Kensington Gardens, London W2 3XA
Tel: 020 7402 6075  www.serpentinegallery.org

17 August - 9 October 2005
Pump House Gallery: Ceremony
Co-curated by Freddie Robins Barby Asante, Elizabeth Callinicos, Cast Off, Tim Davies, Catherine Hawes, Rozanne Hawksley, Julie Henry, Serena Korda, Laura Potter, Freddie Robins, Chris Stewart, Hans Stofer, Shane Waltener.

Rites of passage appear in every known culture whereby unique handcrafted objects play an intrinsic role in the way we perform various rites - the wedding ring, christening shawl, funeral wreath. Fusing craft with live art Ceremony brings together an eclectic range of works, performances and projects that explore the performative relationship between object and ritual. Many of the works and projects have been especially commissioned for Ceremony and encompass a diverse range of practices ranging from cake decorating, metalwork, video, knitting, live art, quilting and floristry.

One floor of the gallery will be a dedicated project space with a rolling programme of short artist residences, screenings, performances and workshops. These include knitting items for a woollen wedding and reception organised Cast Off Knitting Club for Boys and Girls; a cake decorating project by Shane Waltener where visitors will be invited to participate in the production of the cakes as well as eat them; workshops on alternative ceremonies by Welfare State International; a flower arranging project by Barby Asante and a premiere of Julie Henry's newly commissioned film Weddings that explores the phenomenon of marriage using filmed footage of couples getting married at the Pump House Gallery. Pump House Gallery. Battersea Park, SW11 4NJ Tel: 020 7350 0523 Email: pump_house@lineone.net



Performance
Theatre Royal Stratford East
Tuesday 11 October 7.30pm
Audio-described performance:
'Bashment' Written and directed by Rikki Beadle-Blair
a hard-hitting, tender, painfully funny, and highly-topical play that uses the anti-gay lyrics of dancehall music as a starting point to explore such issues as racism, identity and victimisation.
Sign-language performance: Tuesday October 18 at 7.30pm

Friday 11 November 7.30pm
'Gladiator Games' by Tanika Gupta, and featuring the music of Nitin Sawhney. A joint production with Sheffield Theatres, 'Gladiator Games' traces the Mubarek family's pursuit of the truth behind the death of Zahid, a young British Asian man who was attacked by his cellmate and later died of his injuries.

The play is based upon interviews and accounts given to the Feltham Inquiry, and asks why, on the eve of his release, Zahid was placed in a cell with a known racist. A discussion and debate will follow every evening performance, with the panel featuring key personnel involved with the inquiry.

Sign-language performance: Thursday November 10 at 7.30pm
Tickets: £8, £12, £16, £20. Concessions: half-price.

Theatre Royal Stratford East, Gerry Raffles Square, Stratford, London
E15 1BN. Free booking Line: 0800 183 1188. Telephone: 020 8534 7374
For General Enquiries e-mail: theatreroyal@stratfordeast.com Website Address: www.stratfordeast.com


Extant Theatre in association with Turtle Key Arts present the 2nd UK tour of RESISTANCE
A play, in one act, followed by an epilogue, primarily set in a Gestapo interrogation room in Paris in 1943. A mystery develops from the outset; how could the arrested, blind teenager have anything to do with resistanceactivities against the occupying Nazi army?

Extant Theatre, tour their highly acclaimed new play Resistance nationally and internationally 21 September - 13 October 2005.

Resistance is a play that explores the extraordinary true story of Jacques Lusseyran, a blind, teenage leader within the French resistance movement of occupied Paris during WWII. In his autobiography "And There Was Light", he tells the tale of how he was blinded in an accident at the age of 8, became a member of the French Resistance: was betrayed, captured and subsequently interrogated by Nazi SS officers, leading to his final incarceration in Buchenwald concentration camp. Jacques manages to use his blindness as a foil, exposing the prejudices of the Nazis SS; they couldn't believe a blind man capable, and discovers, through his blindness, a deeper perceptual awareness of the world. Resistance unfolds with a tense and exciting narrative. The action flicks between time, perceptions and perspectives to uncover the deep mystery at its heart.

"it explodes into white-hot light, dark shadows, whispered secrets and mysteries... there are also moments when form and content are matched so perfectly that the sighted catch a tiny glimpse of what it must be like to be visually impaired. Lynn Gardner The Guardian

Adapted for the stage by blind writer Maria Oshodi, Resistance uses physical theatre, experimental dance and live audio description (cleverly includedwithin the script; no audience members have to wear headphones).

Tour dates:
Mon. 26 th Sept 7:30pm Nottingham Arts Theatre. NG1 3BETicket Office: 0115 947 6096 £10  £5 conc. www.artstheatre.org.uk

Weds. 28 th Sept. Dorton House House School (RLSB)
Near Sevenoaks, Kent TN15 0EB Information: 020 8964 5060 www.extant.org.uk

Fri. 30 th Sept 8:00pm. Square Chapel Centre for the Arts, Halifax HX1 1QG. Ticket Office: 01422 349 422 £9/£5 conc. under 25's   £3 www.sq-chapel-arts.demon.co.uk

Tues. 4 th Oct.ADAPEI des Yvelines, Versailles, France.  

Thurs. 6 th Oct.Chateau Amphitheatre, Lycée International, Paris, France

Sun. 9 th Oct. Blind in Theatre (BIT) Festival, Zagreb, Croatia Thurs. 13 th Oct7:30pm. The Albany, Deptford , London. SE8 4AG Ticket Office: 020 8692 4446 £8/£5 conc. www.thealbany.org.uk  

"Critics often praise companies for 'courage' in taking avant-garde pieces to mainstream venues. Extant Theatre redefines the word." Jeremy Malies Plays International  Information: 020 8964 5060   www.extant.org.uk

Handel House present - Getting a Closer Look Richard Leveridge: His Life Through Song
Sunday 2 October 3.00pm - 4.00pm
This event, targeting visually impaired audiences but accessible to all, will focus on composer Richard Leveridge, one of Handel's contemporaries and whose portrait is on display in the Rehearsal and Performance Room. Audio describer Bridget Crowley will provide an in-depth description of the portrait and explore the composer's life and works. Live music composed by Leveridge will be performed by Bridget Cunningham (harpsichord) and Julian Debrevil (bass-baritone).£6 FREE for visually impaired visitors and their carers.

Handel House booking line: 020 7399 1953.
Handel House is open Tues-Sat 10am-6pm (with late night Thursday until 8pm); Sun 12pm-6pm. Closed on Mondays (including Bank Holidays). General admission £5.00 / £4.50 concessions / £2 for young visitors (ages 16 and under).
Handel House is located at 25 Brook Street, Mayfair, London, W1K 4HB. Entrance in Lancashire Court. (Nearest tube: Bond Street / Oxford Circus). Tel: 020 7495 1685. www.handelhouse.org
Handel House has free drop-in activities for children every Saturday afternoon. Family trails and quizzes are available every day.
For further information, to request press tickets or for images please contact Shuk Kwan Liu on 020 7399 1954 or email skliu@handelhouse.org.



Opportunities
Dance Class
The 8 week course is free and is open to anyone who is visually impaired and has never danced before. The classes are contemporary based with an emphasis on choreography. The classes are held on Wednesday evening 6 - 8pm at Sadler's Wells Theatre Rosebery Ave Islington (nearest tube Angel) Starting on 5th October until 23 November. To reserve a place or more information contact Sarah on 020 7863 8096 or email sarah.baker@sadlerswells.com


Call for submissions - Sense & Sensuality 2006

Stimulate your senses
Challenge your perceptions
Feel the difference

COMPETITION
Sense and Sensuality is an exhibition organised by BlindArt, a charitable organisation whose aim is to promote audience participation and create awareness of the needs of visually impaired people in the sighted domain of the visual arts, and, in time, to create a permanent collection of accessible works that enhances the ethos of BlindArt.

BlindArt invites artists in all media to submit work specifically suited to blind and partially sighted people. All artists should adopt their own interpretation of this challenge.

£5000 First Prize and BlindArt Purchase Prize

Submission deadline
10 January 2006

100 entries will be chosen for exhibition at the Bankside Gallery, London
14 September to 8 October 2006
Entry forms are available in Braille and on audio CD. Contact BlindArt through their website: www.blindart



Online
www.24hourmuseum.org The 24 Hour Museum is the UK's National Virtual Museum, offering a unique mix of dynamic content including daily arts and museum news as well as exhibition reviews and in-depth online trails.

The site promotes publicly funded UK museums galleries and heritage attractions and seeks to develop new audiences for UK culture.


www.sixsites for sound.net this website is part of the recent Six Sites for Sound Project curated by Anna Colin and Tobi Maier. The site contains downloads of sound works and of project events including the Art Through Touch Clear Spot broadcast on Resonance 104.4fm.

www.resonancefm.com
The web site of Resonance 104.4 fm London's first radio art station, brought to you by the London Musicians' Collective .It started broadcasting on May 1st 2002. Its brief? To provide a radical alternative to the universal formulae of mainstream broadcasting.

www.rnib.org.uk/audiodescription
Please note new link to Audio Description theatre Listings on the RNIB website.



How to get to Venues Listed

Travel Information London
Transport for London online Journey Planner: http://journeyplanner.tfl.gov.uk
24hour London Travel Information: 0207222 1234 Minicom: 020 7918 3015

198 Gallery,198 Railton Road, Herne Hill, SE24 0LU. Tel: 0207 978 8309
www.198gallery.co.uk
Underground: Brixton
Rail: Herne Hill

Hayward Gallery, South Bank Centre, Belvedere Road, London SE1 8XZ. Tel: 020 7921 0813. www.hayward.org.uk
Buses to Waterloo: Route Numbers 1, 4, 26, 68, X68, 76, 168, 171, 176, 188, 501, 505, 521 stop on Waterloo Bridge. Route Numbers 76, 77, 171A, 211, 507, D1, P11 stop in York Road P11 stops in Stamford Street. The new Riverside Bus service (RV1) links Covent Garden, the South Bank, Bankside and Tower Gateway, and runs from 6am to midnight every 10 minutes.
Underground: The Hayward Gallery is in walking distance from Waterloo and across the river from Temple, Embankment or Charing Cross underground stations
Rail: The Hayward Gallery is located within walking distance of Waterloo and Waterloo East.

Geffrye Museum, Kingsland Road, London E2 8EA. Tel: 020 7739 9893 www.geffrye-museum.org.uk
Travel
Tube: Liverpool Street, then bus 149 or 242 Old Street (exit 2), then bus 243 or a 15 minute walk.
Buses: 149, 242, 243, 67, 394

Courtauld Institute of Art
Somerset House, Strand London WC2R 1LA
Tel: 020 7420 9403
By Underground: The nearest underground stations are Charing Cross (on the Northern, Bakerloo and Jubilee Lines), Temple (on the District and Circle Lines - not open Sundays), Covent Garden (on the Piccadilly Line) and Holborn (on the Central and Piccadilly Lines).
By Rail: The nearest railway stations are Waterloo, Charing Cross and Blackfriars.

Museum of London
London Wall, London EC2 5HN
Telephone 0870 444 3850 Email groups@museumoflondon.org.uk website:www.museumoflondon.org.uk
Nearest tubes: St Paul's (Central Line), Barbican (Hammersmith & City/Circle/Metropolitan Lines), Moorgate (Northern/City Thameslink)

The National Gallery, Trafalgar Square, London, WC2N 5DN
Rail: Charing Cross Station (Entrances: Getty 210 metres, Sainsbury Wing 330 metres, Education 405 metres).
Underground Stations: Charing Cross, Northern and Bakerloo Lines (Entrances: Getty 175 metres, Sainsbury Wing 290 metres). Leicester Square, Northern and Piccadilly Lines (Entrances: Getty 460 metres, Sainsbury Wing 575 metres, Education Centre 355 metres) are the closest. Embankment, Northern, Bakerloo, District and Circle Lines (Entrances: Getty 450 metres, Sainsbury Wing 565 metres, Education Centre 645 metres).
None of these stations has a lift.
Bus: Buses around Trafalgar Square: 3, 6, 9, 11, 12, 13, 15, 23, 24, 29, 53, 77A, 88, 91, 139, 159, 176, 453.
(Please note: many buses are adapted for wheelchair users)

Pocklington Resource Centre, 1c Yukon Road, Balham, London SW12 9PZ
Underground: Clapham South and Balham (Northern Line)
Rail: Balham
Bus: 155, 249, 315, 355

Pump House Gallery. Battersea Park, SW11 4NJ
Tel: 020 7350 0523
Email: pump_house@lineone.net
www.wandsworth.gov.uk/gallery

Serpentine Gallery, Kensington Gardens, London W2 3XA
Tel: 020 7402 6075 www.serpentinegallery.org
Underground: Knightsbridge, Lancaster Gate, South Kensington
Buses: 9, 10, 12, 52
Parking meters: in Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park

Tate Britain, Millbank, London SW1P 4RG
www.tate.org.uk
Underground: Pimlico (Victoria Line)
By train: Vauxhall and Victoria.
Bus: A number of buses service the area, including 2, 3, C10, 36, 77A, 88, 159, 185, 507.
By boat: Tate Boat runs every forty minutes along the Thames between Tate Modern, the London Eye and Tate Britain.
By taxi: A taxi drop off/pick up point is situated on Millbank, just outside the Millbank entrance.
By car: There is a limited amount of pay and display parking in the streets surrounding Tate Britain (free at weekends and after 18.30).

Tate Modern, Bankside, London SE1 9TG
Tel:020 7887 8000 www.tate.org.uk
Underground: Southwark (Jubilee Line) and Blackfriars (District and Circle Lines) are the closest underground stations both of which are approximately ten minutes walk away.
Buses: RV1, 45, 63, 100, 381, 344.
By boat: Tate Boat runs every forty minutes along the Thames between Tate Modern, the London Eye and Tate Britain.

V&A South Kensington, Cromwell Road, London SW7 2RL
Tel: 020 7942 2000 www.vam.ac.uk
Nearest Tube station: South Kensington (District and Circle; and Piccadilly lines)



Please Note: Inclusion of items in this Bulletin does not necessarily signify endorsement by Art Through Touch.

Art through Touch acknowledges the generous support of the Pocklington Resource Centre, Balham and Shape.

The Art Through Touch is funded by:  Action for Blind People, Arts Council England, The Miles Trust for Putney and Roehampton Community, The Community Learning Chest and RNIB.