Explore Hong Kong landmarks through paintings you can hear and touch
Central Beyond Vision exhibition aims to reach both sighted and visually impaired visitors with tactile art accompanied by audio descriptions
Dealing with vision loss all her life has shaped many of Joyce Chan Lok-yee’s choices, from mundane ones like how she gets to school to larger decisions like pursuing a language and culture associate degree at Polytechnic University’s Hong Kong Community College.
“I have always been interested in language, that is why I picked it as my major. It was also because it’s easier for me to understand words and phrases, as it’s almost impossible for me to handle calculations and formulas, biology or chemistry, because without sight, it’s hard to understand the teaching materials,” she said.
The 21-year-old takes the bus to her college in Hung Hom because navigating her way through MTR stations “isn’t really an option” for her. “It’s hard to follow the tactile guide paths because there are lots of turns and exits that consist of many rides up and down the escalators, especially when it gets super crowded.”
And while she is interested in words and culture, art exhibitions present a different set of challenges.
“For the visually impaired, we don’t understand images, so when you tell me there’s a line, I don’t know what that is, or when you talk about the different shapes of the clouds, because I have never seen one my entire life. We get words with Braille, spelling out the alphabet one by one,” Chan said.