In his 1972 book, Ways of Seeing, John Berger revitalized art history by declaring that ‘seeing comes before words’. He insisted that the relationship between what we see and what we know and communicate is unstable, and that looking is a political act. What remains to be challenged is whether viewers always have 20/20 vision (the 'seeing'), and whether they are only capable of articulating their thoughts and feelings using a spoken/written language (the 'words').
This project seeks to build upon recent work on 'the viewer' in antiquity, and by extension modernity, by placing the viewing experience in a wider sensory landscape, including sensory impairments. The focus on the ancient world is appropriate, given how Classics has contributed towards the ableism that pervades the Humanities, whereby ‘being human’ forgets disability and impairments. This is a neglected aspect of the classical legacy.
Museums provide audio description for blind and partially sighted people, whereby words represent and reproduce sensory experiences, and these are sometimes accompanied by touch tours. Deaf people use sign language to communicate; this visual/spatial language is a completely different mode of communication from linear spoken ones based on words, and one that offers an alternative, arguably enhanced, engagement with art. Part of this project involves running a network for museum access staff focusing on provision for people with sensory impairments.
This project will be developed into a monograph, with online audio and video clips to demonstrate aspects of AD and BSL in relation to art description. The interdisciplinary approach will have broad appeal in the Humanities beyond Classics, and have relevance to museum studies, art history, architecture and archaeology. While these disciplines have long engaged with museums' collections, their access programmes have not been explored.
