Collaborative Audio Description workshop

Join us for this one-day workshop at Yorkshire Sculpture Park, as we pool our expertise and experience to collaboratively create new audio interpretations of artwork on display at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park.

This workshop is open to blind, partially blind and sighted participants. Led by writer Joe Rizzo Naudi and artist and educator Sally Booth, both of whom are registered blind, the workshop will use new and experimental techniques to describe, interpret and share experiences of sculpture.

Return transport from central Leeds to Yorkshire Sculpture Park is provided, along with lunch and refreshments. Please ensure that you have appropriate clothing and footwear for outdoor activity.

This workshop is part of a three-year research project, Beyond the Visual: Blindness and Expanded Sculpture. The project, a collaboration between the Henry Moore Institute, Shape Arts and University of the Arts London, was the recipient of the inaugural Arts and Humanities Research Council Exhibition Fund. The project will culminate with a landmark 2025 exhibition at the Henry Moore Institute, foregrounding work by blind and partially blind artists.

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About Beyond the Visual

Beyond the Visual: Blindness and Expanded Sculpture is a ground-breaking collaborative research project spearheaded by Dr Ken Wilder (University of the Arts London Professor of Aesthetics), Dr Aaron McPeake (artist and Associate Lecturer at Chelsea College of Arts) and Dr Clare O’Dowd (Research Curator at the Henry Moore Institute), together with Shape Arts, the UK’s leading disability-led arts organisation. The project is the recipient of the Arts and Humanities Research Council’s (AHRC) inaugural Exhibition Fund, a major grant supporting innovative, collaborative exhibition approaches. The three-year project will culminate in a free exhibition at the Henry Moore Institute, in November 2025.

As part of the project, the Beyond the Visual Research Season will explore engagements with contemporary sculpture using senses other than sight, challenging the dominance of sight in the making and appreciation of art and investigating wider questions around the nature of artworks and the varied ways in which they can be experienced. The Research Season aims to rethink not only the under-representation of blind and partially blind arts practitioners but also the relationship between artworks and audiences, exploring what is gained from creative practices that emphasise a broader approach to sensory experience.

Access information

We want to make this workshop as accessible as possible, however due to the distance and terrain of the workshop route, we advise it is best suited for motorised wheelchairs rather than manual. YSP have a limited number of off-road mobility scooters available for the workshop, which must be booked in advance by emailing [email protected].

Unfortunately, the workshop does not include BSL interpretation. Blind and partially blind people are strongly encouraged to attend, and audio description is integral to the event. Assistance dogs are welcome throughout YSP. Please bring appropriate footwear, as some walking off paths will be involved.

Please contact [email protected] in advance with any accessibility requirements, and any questions you might have regarding this event.

Banner image: Henry Moore, ‘Large Two Forms’ 1969 (LH 556) at Yorkshire Sculpture Park. Photo: Jonty Wilde.