Conference
Blindness and Expanded Sculpture
10:00â19:30
Leeds Art Gallery, UK
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Encouraging new inquiry into what kinds of experience artworks make possible.
This conference is concerned with the expanded creative, curatorial, and historiographical opportunities that arise when we refuse to separate out the senses and destabilise the normative, vision-based frame of art reception.
The conference asks: what can blindness bring to sculpture? What does this approach reveal about sculptureâs ontological reality?
This event is part of a three-year research project, Beyond the Visual: Blindness and Expanded Sculpture. The project, a collaboration between the Henry Moore Institute, Shape Arts and University of the Arts London, was the recipient of the inaugural Arts and Humanities Research Council Exhibition Fund. The project will culminate with a landmark 2025 exhibition at the Henry Moore Institute, foregrounding work by blind and partially blind artists.
Tickets
Tickets to this event are free, and can be booked online via Eventbrite.
Please note that this event takes place in Leeds Art Gallery.
Programme
Welcome
10:00
Coffee and tea served in the Henry Moore Lecture Theatre, Leeds Art Gallery
Introduction
10:30
Professor Ken Wilder, University of the Arts London
Session One: Historical Perspectives
10:45
Chair: Dr Aaron McPeake, University of the Arts London
âArt Beyond Vision â GyĂśrgy Kepesâs Multisensory Practices and the âTactile Galleryââ
Dr MĂĄrton Orosz, Hungarian National Gallery/Vasarely Museum
âSensing and Feeling: Main Functions of Touch in Haptic Explorations of Sculptureâ
Dr MarĂa JosĂŠ GarcĂa VizcaĂno, Montclair State University
âBlindness, Expanded Sculpture and Paul Neaguâs Palpable Art Practiceâ
Dr Nicola Baird, independent art historian and curator
âShen Yuanâs âAphasic Tonguesâ: Speaking beyond Wordsâ
Dr Vivian Sheng, University of Hong Kong
Lunch
12:45
Included with your ticket
Session Two: Practice-based Research
14:00
Chair: Joe Rizzo-Naudi, Royal Holloway, University of London
âThe Importance of Haptic Perception in Sculptural Practiceâ
Georgina Sleap, artist
âEast London Smellsâ
Daisy James, artist
âExpanded Notions of Sculptureâ
Zoe Schoenherr, artist/University of the Arts London
âMouth Noises and Cherry Pickers: Exploring Interpretive Audio Description for Contemporary Artâ
Dr Kevin Hunt and Fo Hamblin, Nottingham School of Art and Design
Break
16:00
Tea and coffee served
Keynote lecture
16:30
Chair: David Johnson, artist / Royal College of Art
ââTouch enabled her to discern minute details⌠which often pass unnoticed.â ĚýHow Architectural Sculpture is Reclaiming Blindnessâ Place at the Foundations of Exhibition Histories and Art Criticism.â
Dr Fayen Ke-Xiao dâEvie, artist/RMIT University
Wine reception
Following the keynote presentation, we’ll move over to the Henry Moore Institute for a drinks reception
Finish
19:30
Beyond the Visual: Blindness and Expanded Sculpture
Research Season
Autumn 2024 â Spring 2025
This Research Season explores engagements with contemporary sculpture using senses other than sight, challenging the dominance of sight in the making and appreciation of art.
Aiming to rethink the under-representation of blind and partially blind arts practitioners, we’ll investigate the relationship between artworks and audiences, the varied ways in which sculpture can be experienced, and what is gained from creative practices that emphasise a broader approach to sensory experience.
Getting here
Conference
The conference takes place in the Henry Moore Lecture Theatre, Leeds Art Gallery.
Drinks reception
We’ll move over to the Henry Moore Institute for the drinks reception.
Henry Moore Institute
74 The Headrow
Leeds
LS1 3AH
United Kingdom
T:Ěý 01132 467 467
E:Ěý institute@henry-moore.org
