Scenario | Dialogue in the Dark

Scenario ›

The Dialogue in the Dark exhibition serves as a platform to experience “otherness”.

A reversal of roles is created: sighted people are brought out of their familiar environments, losing the sense they rely on most – their sight. Trained blind people guide them, providing them with security and a sense of orientation – transmitting a world without pictures. The blind and partially sighted guides open the visitors’ eyes in the dark to show them that their world is not “poorer” – just different.

While the exhibition environments have been carefully crafted, the physical space is not the focus of the experience; it simply provides a frame for interpersonal connection.

Before embarking on the journey through darkness, visitors are shown how to use a long cane and made aware of general health and safety regulations. Visitors are helped to feel safe and secure. Anything that emits light or sound is covered or silenced.

Then the journey begins… Read more

Scents, sounds, temperatures and textures help construct a sequence of places. The tour group, which generally does not exceed eight people, passes through an entrance area where light levels are progressively reduced, thus gradually entering complete darkness. There a blind staff member greets the group and serves as their guide for approximately an hour. Any visitor wishing to leave can be led out immediately, but that has hardly ever occurred.

Dialogue in the Dark has varying layouts. What they all have in common is that they are completely dark and completely safe.

Most exhibitions offer a park with bushes, trees, a fountain, bridges, benches and different types of terrain. Winds blow, birds sing, plants perfume the air, and the rush of a stream completes this invisible landscape. Pictures form in your mind’s eye and inspire the imagination to combine these non-visual impressions with your mental images. The group explores the area, gaining confidence.

Step by step, visitors overcome their initial insecurities and prepare to experience the second area, which features a city theme, dominated by the noise of traffic, market clamour and construction equipment. The din makes it challenging to navigate past houses, signs, cars and bikes in order to find your way to the pedestrian crossing. The city is often considered stressful, but thanks to the blind guide’s ability to lead the group, everyone finds their way out of the chaos.

To relax, the next stage is usually a boat ride. Visitors climb aboard via a footbridge, take their seats, and experience a brief voyage with wind, spray, waves, the cries of seagulls and the sounds of passing ships.

Dialogue in the Dark exhibitions may include a supermarket, a gallery with sculptures to touch, or a sound room, where visitors relax on high-performance loudspeakers so that music can be sampled as a whole-body experience.

At the end of every exhibition, visitors reach a café, called the Dark Cafe. Here you may order refreshments, then enjoy the opportunity of conversation with blind employees. The blind are very much in demand, as visitors seek answers to the many questions that have arisen during the tour.

Dialogue in the Dark is based on a flexible system and can be adapted to whatever sort of room is available. The themed areas are variable, too. During the Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy, for example, instead of the boat trip, visitors experienced an excitingly fast ride in a bobsled.