Blind and visually impaired people were guided through the Dunedin Public Art Gallery yesterday to explore Sound Full: Sound in Contemporary Australian and New Zealand Art.
The audio and visual exhibition comprises abstract works by 16 New Zealand and Australian artists aiming to draw attention to the connections between art, music and movement.
To those unable to see, it offers the chance to appreciate art by other means.
Members of the group donned earphones connected to a video and were told about accompanying imagery, used microphones to talk tenderly to growing plants, and moved in front of a video sensor to orchestrate sound and images on a large screen.
Tour guide Lynda Cullen, the gallery's visitor programmes co-ordinator, forgot to wear her "noisy shoes" but managed to steer the group around the exhibition's nine display areas.
Ms Cullen said sight impairment did not detract from group members' experience.
"Everybody loved it. It's really important that it's enjoyable and not all serious, and to show that art appreciation can be fun," she said.
The hour-long tour is free and open to all.
On Friday, Ms Cullen and a sign language interpreter will guide deaf and hearing impaired people through the exhibition, which runs until November 11.
Ms Cullen plans to organise a weekend tour of the exhibition for the blind and visually impaired in coming weeks.
