Blind learners discover Irish masterpieces
By Dara White
A group of blind and visually impaired Ukrainian ESOL learners visited the National Gallery of Ireland (NGI) recently.
The group enjoyed some of the nation’s best-loved paintings through tactile and sensory materials relating to items in the NGI’s main collection.
The five learners, who are all residents at City West Accommodation Centre, Dublin, were met at the Merrion Square gallery on March 4 by NGI Education Office Caomhán Mac Con Iomaire. They were given a tour of the gallery by NGI tour guide Olga Vnukova, who is also Ukrainian.
As part of their visit, the group explored two paintings from the gallery’s main collection: Jack B Yeats’ The Liffey Swim, and William Leech’s A Convent Garden.
They enjoyed the paintings up close and in great detail using specially produced raised plates of the artworks. The NGI initiative also includes sensory elements such as smells, sounds, and different textures. The initiative, which covers a number of paintings in the NGI collection, helps blind and visually impaired people to immerse themselves in a more multi-sensory experience.
The visiting group included Yevhen Naumenko, Tatiana Trofymova, Serhii Shvydunov, Olexander Trunov and Anastasia Romazova. They were accompanied on their visit by Dublin College (Tallaght AES) Adult Educator, Dara White.
“It was a lovely visit and we got to understand and enjoy the paintings really well using the interpretive boxes,” said Tatiana. “This is a wonderful initiative for blind people who want to experience art,” she said.
