“Accessibility in everything we do”

4 December 2009
An exhibition by Venezuelan artist Javier Téllez, presented in March 2009 by New Plymouth’s Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, was a perfect opportunity to reach out to the local vision impaired community.

The artist’s 2008 film work, Letter on the Blind for the use of those who see, captures the reactions of six blind New Yorkers encountering a live elephant for the first time. Téllez commissioned a version of this film with an audio descriptive commentary, which was made available for vision impaired visitors to the Govett-Brewster.

Working with the New Plymouth branch of the Royal New Zealand Foundation of the Blind, the gallery organised a number of special screenings for the community. At the same time, it hosted a talk by vision impaired New Plymouth District Councillor Lance Girling-Butcher, who gave an insightful and moving talk entitled A Blind Perspective on the Visual Arts.

"I'm saying to galleries, 'Don't be blind to the needs of disabled people. We don't have to see or hear something to appreciate it," Lance says.

The gallery also offered its first Sign Language-interpreted exhibition tour in conjunction with Sign Language Awareness Week in 2009 and is now committed to offering a similar tour for every exhibition.

Hannah Leahy, Marketing and Audience Development Manager for the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, says that with one in six New Zealanders having experience of disability, accessibility has become an important issue for the gallery.

“Acknowledging that we have a responsibility to these sectors of the community but also limited resources, we started by talking to people and finding out what initiatives would best meet their needs. We are committed to doing the best we can with the resources we have.”