Since September, image blowers have regularly come to the Pavillon Blanc Henri Molina in Colomiers to support visually impaired people. An ideal method for making culture accessible to audiences with visual disabilities.
Everyone has the right to culture. Since September, the Image Blowers service the Souffleurs de Sens association took over the cultural events of the media library, the Pavillon Blanc Henri Molina in Colomiers. Volunteers come to support visually impaired people as needed, thus offering an accessibility solution for these culturally disadvantaged audiences. The principle is simple: like guides, the image prompters describe the scenic or artistic works to visitors with visual disabilities.
A service not to be confused with audio description, as Victor Dobin, head of the Image Blowers system, explains: “In general, an audio description is present in the control room for an entire concert hall or pre-records a message during an exhibition. She knows the work and communicates via a microphone with visually impaired people who wear headphones. In blowing, it’s different. We discover the works at the same time as the person we are accompanying. And our service is individualized, on demand. But the two remain complementary. » Thanks to this initiative, culture becomes an inclusive terrain, offering everyone the opportunity to immerse themselves in the artistic world, regardless of their visual abilities.
Image blowers, individualized support
The creation of this service came from an observation. Victor Dobin says: “This system responds to a demand for access to places of culture by people with visual disabilities. » Requests reinforced by a recently published study. “In February 2023, theHomer study looked at the cultural consumption of audiences with visual disabilities. She then reveals the main obstacles to access to culture. Those interviewed pointed out the absence of audio description (or poor quality), the difficulties of access to cultural places or the digital inaccessibility of online content. They also highlight the lack of training for reception staff. »
The Souffleurs de sens association predates this study and has always focused on the accessibility of cultural places. But the data revealed in 2023 supports its ambitions. Victor Dobin specifies: “We will therefore be interested in what we call specific needs and the way in which we can provide a response to this demand. And it varies from person to person. » For several years, the association has been training art students, artists and even cultural professionals in guiding and blowing in order to perfect the support.
Volunteers in Colomiers
The association was first contacted by Toulouse City Hall as part of its “City for All” system, in 2022. Souffleurs de Sens thus trained volunteers and raised awareness among professionals and visually impaired people. “We have a total of 65 volunteers in Toulouse who are able to provide support in partner cultural places. »
Then on September 29 and 30, the association launched a first call for volunteers from Toulouse to provide support at the Henri Molina White Pavilion in Colomiers as part of the “Beau game, bad genres” exhibition. It was the director of the establishment who contacted Souffleurs de Sens in order to improve the accessibility of the premises. The volunteers then responded for this test phase. Two conclusive days since the City of Colomiers then validated the partnership with the association during the Municipal Council meeting on Wednesday, November 8.
To benefit from it, nothing could be simpler. A visually impaired person must first reserve their place for an exhibition or concert of their choice at a partner venue, specifying that she will be accompanied by an image prompter. She will only have to pay for one place, that of the accompanying person being covered by the cultural establishment. All that remains is to contact the association: “Then, we launch a call for volunteers to take part in the event. Then, we give him the beneficiary’s contacts so that he can prepare the exit. »
The volunteer must then question the person’s needs and desires and their visual capacity. “Before the visit, we ask her if she prefers that we describe the staging, the scenography, the costumes or the sets… We make sure to bring her what really interests her,” explains Victor Dobin. The image prompter will then describe everything that is happening either on stage or in the exhibition so that the person accompanied can make their own interpretation of the works.
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