To the exhibition "Touch" we chose to bring the members of the "Adam Zomeach Association", Association working to promote the gardening profession in Israel as part of the Professional Enrichment Committee activities.
The day included a visit to the therapeutic garden of the Therapeutic Treatment Center for Children MATARA - a proper place for a professional enrichment visit for our friends.
The idea raised questions: "What is the connection between Therapeutic Gardening and the exhibition at the gallery, even if it is an initiative to make art accessible to the blind and visually impaired population”.
Still, 25 people engaged in the Therapeutic Gardening accepted the challenge and came to visit the exhibition.
We were welcomed by Ms. Veronica Ellran, promoter and producer of the exhibition to be accessible to the blind and visually impaired, and by two artists of the group exhibition, Etty Spindel and Itamar Beglikter.
Veronica first told us that the idea "was born" after a blind man who happened to visit the exhibition and asked to see her work with the help of his hands. She followed the way he was getting an impression and understanding the work and then she discovered that this is a wonderful way to bring together people and art, and it is a pity that blind people do not have this possibility.
Therefore, three years ago she had the initiative to make a group exhibition of accessible art. Nowadays, on her own initiative, two parallel exhibitions are taking place in Herzliya and Beer Sheva. Each of them was joined by many artists excited to present their work to the blind and visually impaired public.
The artists explained their works, their thoughts, and the blind man image for whom they created their art.
After our multi-sensory impression (including vision) we had a debate with the therapists. Concepts such as the sensation of touching the material, understanding and detection of the material versus the content and degree of pleasantness. Even size and location preceded color, which was not dominant this time. I opened the debate with the reasons that led me to conduct this visit. I saw it as an opportunity to open the therapeutic space from its permanent place - the institution, the garden, the table, and the greenhouse, also to multicultural places in the community. To see the patients as culture-loving people like us. Invite the therapists to discover their connection to the art world, for example, in its natural place. And may be, we’ll find it necessary to hold such kind of meetings on other matters too. During the conversation, impressions came up regarding the new experience of touching the art, of the thoughts about blind people, of the types of sensations, of understanding the touching as a powerful experience! We thought about the patients who were formerly art consumers but following a decline in physical, mental and sensory fitness due to aging or some other reason, gradually moved away from these places, and others that never came to visit places like the gallery because according to their and the society’s opinion they were found "incapable".
Now, a new/old window opens to them.
And for us therapists - a new contemplation on the therapeutic space and on patients as broad cultural human beings, even beyond the borders of therapeutic gardening and beyond our usual professional therapeutic substances.
And what happened to the artists? A new and enthusiastic audience was opened to them, therefore they raise new questions and look for new ways, that is to say, a professional development. I deal with blind and visually impaired people for at least 12 years. I promised to bring up to them some of the questions that were raised by Etty and Itamar.
Moreover, I will check in the joint visit at the twin exhibition in Be'er Sheva – “Beam of Light”, and I promise to share it with you.
Nitza
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