The Online Club: Beyond the Visual – Blindness and Expanded Sculpture
Why not listen to sculpture, touch it, or smell it?
Sculpture speaks to our body and appeals to all our senses. How might the lived experience of blindness make us rethink what sculpture is? What can blind artists teach us about expanding the ways sculpture engages us through senses beyond the visual?
After a three-year research project funded by the AHRC, a collaboration between the University of the Arts London, the Henry Moore Institute in Leeds and Shape Arts, the Henry Moore Institute presents the groundbreaking exhibition Beyond the Visual, celebrating sculptures by blind and partially blind artists and sighted artists, such as Henry Moore and Barry Flanagan, who value sensory engagement beyond just the visual. Challenging entrenched museum conventions, all the works in the exhibition can be touched.
Speakers:
Dr Aaron McPeake (IE), a blind sculptor who teaches at Chelsea/Camberwell Colleges of Arts, will tell us about his creative process and his involvement in Beyond the Visual as co-investigator of the research project.
‘Imagine your lived experience is one with no or only limited vision. How would you respond to the world in sculpture? How would you evolve strategies to practically make it?’
Dr Ken Wilder (UK) is a sighted artist and writer, Professor of Aesthetics at the University of the Arts London and the Rootstein Hopkins Chair of Design. He is principal investigator of the research project. He has a particular interest in the spatial relationship between artwork and beholder.
Beyond the Visual (28 November 2025 - 19 April 2026) was curated by Henry Moore Institute research curator Dr Clare O’Dowd, with project investigators Wilder and McPeake.
Join our Zoom Meeting on Monday, 23 February 2026, 20.00 CET.
Hosted and modereted by curator Anne Berk.
After the lectures get together and networking in smaller groups.
The event will be held in English. Participation is free of charge, all you need is a PC, tablet or smartphone with an internet connection. Please register with the button "Register Now!" on the left of this page to receive the link to the Zoom meeting.
