Art beyond sight

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If one has the will to bring about a change, one can. Eyecan is one such project that aims to change the world for the visually impaired. An ongoing exhibition “Eyecan” at Galerie Arteterne, Lado Sarai Village, showcases 15 works done by visually impaired children.
Started by a young advertising professional, Swasti Ranjan Ray, the initiative aims to show the vibrant and colourful world to blind kids by engaging them in art.
Swasti, a creative director (art) with JWT, has always been interested in working for social causes. And it was this intention that took him to a blind school where he started teaching art to the students.
“The starting point of the project was the realisation that unlike many other countries, art is not a subject in blind schools in India. The visually impaired students are taught everything from language, social studies, science and maths to music and yoga, but not art,” says Swasti, who after working at the school for a few weeks wanted to take the issue forward.
Thus, for further research, he went to Japan to hold a collaborative exhibition with the Chiba Prefecture Blind School, Tokyo. There, he was exposed to the various instruments that the Japanese use to teach art to their blind students.
“Art is an important subject for them, as they think it gives the visually impaired kids an idea about their surroundings,” says Swasti, who after his learning experience in Japan decided to experiment and explore it in India.
With help from few organisations working for the blind, Swasti developed pastel colours with Braille caps attached to them. “The Braille caps help the kids recognise the colours,” says Swasti, who till now has 50 Braille colours.
He has also made a drawing board with mesh net as the base so that when the blind students draw, they can figure out the object they are drawing.
After developing the products, he conducted workshops with blind students in collaboration with the Institute for the Blind, Amar Colony for about three months. The visually impaired students in the age group of 7-14 years used the Braille pastels to draw various objects, which are now displayed at the exhibition.
The exhibition has got a good response with some paintings selling for more than `4,000. Swasti now wants to introduce these colours to blind students all over the country. “I even want to develop Braille watercolours and oil colours,” he concludes.