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The increasing desire of visually impaired people to fully participate in cultural life and the implementation of disability rights legislation has focused the minds of galleries and arts professionals. This has led to a discourse that has gone beyond the bounds of access and is contributing to a wider examination of long accepted norms embedded within the art world. Progressive thinking in the context of art and visual impairment has led to a wider questioning of the dominance of vision in the hierarchy of the senses.

Pressure for equal access, both as audiences and practitioners, demands the abandonment of old stereotypical responses on the part of the arts establishment and an acknowledgement of and engagement with new perspectives.

Inspired by the book 'Sight Unseen' a discourse in the form of a correspondence carried out between two philosophers Martin Milligan who was blind from birth and Brian Magee who is sighted. This programme will draw upon its contributors diverse experience to attempt to create a piece of radio art which explores new perspectives in representing 'visual' arts in a non visual context tackling some of the philosophical and practical implications involved in this.

Contributors

'Sight Unseen' was conceived and produced by

Sally Booth - artist and gallery educator
Maria Oshodi - writer and artistic director of Extant
Julia Schauerman - musician and sound artist
Steve Webber - artist and former project coordinator of Art Through Touch

With contributions from
Tony Brennan
Mark Lawson
Paul Margrave
Bonny Mitchell
Sarah Owen
Arti Prashar
John Schauerman
Marie Schauerman
Julie Takata

With special thanks to Velda