A free art exhibition created by artists from the blind, low vision and sighted community has opened up, focused on introducing audiences to new sensory experiences.

Dolphins

Vision Australia created the Sea, Space and Beyond art exhibition in partnership with the Newcastle Museum, open from February 12 in conjunction with the New Annual Festival.

Vision Australia’s Partnerships Coordinator Jordan Ashby said the tactile art exhibition was about exploring different ways to experience art.

“A lot of our blind and low vision community really enjoy creating art, visiting art exhibitions and picturing in their minds what it looks like,” Ashby said.

“The tactile element adds that secondary ability for somebody to touch and feel the work and use their other senses.

“It also creates that level playing field for everybody; it’s just this new experience where people can focus on a completely different element rather than just the visual.”

The exhibition explores the places in the world that are real but uncharted like out of space, and under the sea.

“There will be sculptures, paintings, and textiles, expect almost to feel like your hand is in a rock pool as you touch the artwork, or you can expect something that its completely out of this world like abstract sculptures from out of space,” Ashby said.

“The tactile element helps people who are blind to imagine what it might look like and people with low vision might benefit from contrast artwork—there is a lot of contrast in this exhibition, sharp lines, bold texts, and lots of colours.”

Ashby said all artwork descriptions had braille options, so the blind and low vision community could also understand the artist’s work.

“The descriptions are not explained in great detail, just the artist’s vision, so the audience can still have their own interpretation of the work.”

The exhibition has something for all ages, with hand-knitted crochet sea creatures creating a reef-scape, where kids can touch and play.

Audiences are encouraged to touch the artworks and stay Covid-19 safe by using sanitising stations provided before and after each artwork.

Sea, Space and Beyond is open from February 12 to March 21, at Newcastle Museum, 6 Workshop Way, Newcastle.

Hayley McMahon