In our predominantly visual world, access to art for the visually impaired person can be somewhat restricted. This is what inspired me to create the socially engaged art project Seen – Unseen in 2014, which explores the access to art for the visually impaired person, particularly in the gallery space.

Our navigation of the world around us employs a plethora of sensory information and not only the ‘isolated visual sense.’ Sometimes, we don’t even notice this because of the concentration on the visual experience. Our sense of smell, touch, sound are all important but sometimes neglected sensory experiences. Art can be so inspiring in people's lives. And the fact that it is perceived to be a primarily visual experience might prevent access for people with a visual impairment.  

I created the Seen - Unseen Art Project in 2014. I was doing some research, and I started to wonder how blind and visually impaired people could access art. I tried to imagine how I would access art if I could not see. The emphasis on the display of art is mainly concentrated on people who have visual access. I began investigating how welcome blind and visually impaired people were to art galleries in Ireland.

I contacted all the major galleries, while not all the galleries replied, I started to engage with the galleries that did. The first Seen - Unseen gallery visit took place on May 15th, 2014, at The West Cork Arts Centre. I had one participant who came with his guide dog, and I conducted the tour of the exhibition myself. I had asked the gallery to allow us to touch some of the artworks, and they facilitated this, which made a massive difference to the level of engagement during the tour.

The second Seen - Unseen visit was with five VIPs, and three sighted guides to The Crawford Art Gallery in Cork. And this was conducted by the gallery guide, and again we were allowed to touch some of the sculptures. Most of the group had not been in the gallery before and felt there was nothing in the gallery for them. Interestingly one of the participants remembered the sculptor Seamus Murphy as he had his workshop near where she lived. She never thought of him as an artist but as a stonemason who created headstones. The feedback from this visit was very positive, and all the participants said they would definitely be interested in future Seen - Unseen visits.

Today, Seen – Unseen collaborates with Visually Impaired People, Galleries, Service Provider Organizations, and sighted guides in organizing gallery visits explicitly geared for visually impaired People.

There have been over 60 Seen - Unseen gallery visits, including visits to VOID Derry, Northern Ireland, The Crawford Gallery Cork, The National Gallery of Ireland, The Douglas Hyde Gallery, IMMA, The Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane, The Butler Gallery, The Crawford Gallery, The Glucksman Gallery, The Visual Carlow, The Ikon Gallery, The West Cork Arts Centre and National Museum and Gallery in Birmingham U.K.

The most recent ones are conducted via the Zoom platform. Attendance numbers vary with up to 40 people attending via Zoom, some from as far away as South Africa. I am still very passionate about Seen - Unseen and access to art in all its forms for the blind and visually impaired community. Many more exciting strands of this art project are planned for 2021 and beyond.  

Seen – Unseen has moved to the virtual platform Zoom due to the Covid 19 Pandemic. The next Seen – Unseen VIP Gallery visit is to The Crawford Gallery in Cork at 14.00 on Friday, May 28th.

This will take place on zoom, and a tactile pack will be sent to participants in advance. To book a place, please contact Artist Clare Mc Laughlin by email at claremclaughlinemail@gmail.com or at 086 3091653

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Here's a new message from the artist:

"I am delighted to report that there will be a special printing workshop for Seen - Unseen collaborators on Friday October 29th in the Crawford gallery  which will take place from 12.30pm - 1.30pm. 

The artist-printmaker facilitator from Cork Printmakers will guide us through the safe handling of the tools and materials and communicate the print process which Rembrandt used for the artworks on display in the exhibition. This will take place in the gallery space just to the side of where the Rembrandt exhibition is on display.

Seen - Unseen will be presenting some of Rembrandt’s works in detail at 3pm - 4pm remotely through zoom for the larger group connecting on zoom so the start time for the zoom will be an hour later than usual. Participants who register will receive a tactile pack in advance for this session.

The participants visiting the gallery will be able to tune into this zoom session in the lecture theatre of the gallery.  This space is booked from 2.30pm. to 4.20pm  so I would ask participants physically visiting to ensure that you are in this space well in advance of 3pm in order to do sound and connection checks. 

This will be the first Seen - Unseen to have both live and zoom feed but the physical gallery space would be too noisy to transmit the zoom from so we will be visiting the gallery space where the exhibition is hanging after the print workshop.

There will be plenty of time for lunch and I can book tables at The Crawford Cafe for anyone who wishes or if you prefer to have the free time to explore please feel free.

I will need to confirm numbers with the gallery to ensure compliance with health regulations so please register as soon as possible by email me on  claremclaughlinemail@gmail.com to confirm if you will be participating physically or virtually.

Looking forward to catching up with you all on Friday 29th October if not before.

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More information on upcoming events can be viewed on: https://artistclaremclaughlin.org/seen-unseen-events-2021-for-visually-impaired-people-vip-to-book-your-place-email-the-artist-claremclaughlinemailgmail-com/

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