A 2020 survey on the museum-going experiences of blind adults found that while blind and low-vision adults are eager to engage with art, many still feel unwelcome in museums.
From unclear signage to a lack of sensory alternatives, the message, intended or not, is that these spaces weren’t built with their way of seeing in mind. That disconnect is exactly what artist Janet Biggs is working to undo.
Her new installation at the Bechtler Museum of Modern Art in uptown Charlotte, Biggs invites visitors to experience art not just with their eyes, but with their full bodies through sound, movement and presence. It’s called Collection, Reframed: We Are Here, Beyond Vision.
It’s a collaboration with Charlotte resident and UNC Charlotte grad Davian “DJ” Robinson, a visually impaired dancer and choreographer, Bechtler curator Katia Zavistovski and a multidisciplinary team from Virginia Tech and the University of Kansas.
The exhibit uses immersive video, spatial audio and something called “data sonification” to transform how we engage with visual art. It brings together more than 60 paintings, sculptures and works on paper that explore the human body in all its complexity. It features some of the most visionary artists of the 20th century — including Edgar Degas, Alberto Giacometti, Henri Matisse and Andy Warhol.
