A tactile painting for visually impaired

The Institute for Vision Rehabilitation at LV Prasad Eye Institute (LVPEI) organised an exhibition of tactile paintings made by artists with vision loss on their 27th anniversary so that those sighted and

visually impaired

can come together under one roof to enjoy and experience the beauty of art and appreciate the skill and aesthetic sensibilities of visually impaired persons.

The

unique art

pieces were created by 20 artists with vision impairment who had been trained in the art form at workshops held by the Institute. Vision-impaired artists, P Abhilash; Syed Abbu Bakar; T Sridevi; P ShivaReddy; A Shravani; B Madhav Kumar; Namira Samrin; K Sai Kiran; Sunil Rathod and TV Aishwarya, participated in the exhibition at the LV Prasad Eye Institute.

Speaking on the occasion Aishwarya, a visual counsellor with LV Prasad Eye Institute, said, "An exhibition of tactile paintings was organised as visual arts has been neglected as far as visually impaired are concerned, the reason being they don't know what is a painting. The normal paintings are the 2D image, but with

tactile painting

, one can touch and feel. Visually impaired artists were trained at a workshop, educated on what each colour represents and the artists with that exposure executed and depicted their themes and ideas."

In an endeavour to address this issue, the Institute for Vision Rehabilitation has been exploring the field of tactile paintings which could be inclusive for persons with vision loss. However, this required to equip them with the necessary skills to not only touch and explore these paintings but make it themselves as well.

Keeping this in mind, two workshops were organized last month to train persons with vision loss and ultimately skill them to make their own tactile paintings. This was done under the supervision of trainers with assistance from volunteers. The 20 artists went on to create spectacular pieces of art that were definitely worth exhibiting.