St Petersburg exhibition brings contemporary art to blind children

An exhibition designed to engage blind and visually impaired children with contemporary art is in its last week at St Petersburg State Library for the Blind. Perceiving Art features artists from Moscow and St Petersburg and is themed around Hans Christian Anderson’s fairytale Ole Lukøje, about a mysterious Sandman who decides on the contents of children’s dreams depending on whether they’ve been good or bad.

All the works see participating artists present their vision of characters or scenes from the tale, with the works perceptible through touch, smell and hearing. Using visual impairment specialists and staff from the library, the project has sought to improve the artists’ understanding of the ways visually impaired children perceive works of visual art, literature and the world around them. As well as aural and physical art, interactive play sessions conducted by counsellors for visiting children feature in the exhibition.

The exhibition will be in St Petersburg until 30 May, travelling to the National Centre for Contemporary Art in Nizhny Novgorod in September.