On June 1, 2022, on International Children's Day, the Dara Charitable Foundation together with museums across Kazakhstan: the East Kazakhstan Regional Museum of Fine Arts named after the Nevzorov Family in Semey, the Karaganda Regional Museum of Fine Arts, the Pavlodar Regional Art Museum, the Museum of Fine Arts and Applied Arts named after M. Shaimardana Sariyeva presented a presentation in Atyrau (hereinafter referred to as the Museums) - the results of the project “Discovering the World: Creating an Accessible Environment in Museums in Kazakhstan Stan Stan”.
The goal of this project is to help blind and visually impaired children, as well as adults, get acquired with works of art through special verbal descriptions (audio descriptions) and tactical models.
By the way, audio description — one of the most important means of transmitting information to a blind person: a verbal description of an object or phenomenon that helps him feel that he is not missing anything important in life.
The Dara Foundation is firmly convinced that all children have an equal right to education and development, and strives to improve the quality of life of children with special educational needs. The idea of preparing an audio description of museum exhibits is only part of the larger “Discovering the World” project, which aims to provide access to the knowledge, creativity, cultural and spiritual heritage of our country for children with special educational needs, in particular, for blind and visually red children.
As part of a joint project with the Museums, audio descriptions covered more than 90 works of art in Russian and Kazakh languages. Fine and applied art from Kazakhstan, the CIS countries and Russia, as well as works from Western Europe, are presented. When preparing the audio recording, the content and description of the exhibitions were very delicately worked out, using words that would be understandable and accessible, as well as of interest to children, and at the same time would maximize the beauty of the object exhibited by the museum. The museum buildings themselves and the street approaches to it were also verbally described. The total length of the audio tracks was more than 10 hours.
In addition, local sculptors and artists have made more than 20 tactile models in a planar volume for Museums that convey the image of the exhibits as much as possible. Also, for the first time in Kazakhstan, 2 and 3D tactile models of paintings made for the East Kazakhstan Regional Museum of Fine Arts named after the Nevzorov Family will be presented.
It is also important that the project involved blind accessibility experts and trained museum staff to work with blind and visually impaired visitors as part of field training with employees of the Dara Foundation. I would also like to note that the texts for the paintings and exhibits were prepared by professional audio descriptors - employees of the Gala Global Group, who understood special training.
The results of the project prove that audio description should become an indispensable part of the life of our society. It is necessary to describe feature films, cartoons, theatrical performances, mass sports shows, and concerts. We are coming to understand that in the future, cultural and sports organizations need to include in their strategic plans issues of accessibility and universal design that considers differences in human capabilities as the norm.
It is important to note that funds for the implementation of the project to prepare audio descriptions in the above museums were raised thanks to the Darabilim charity auction held in the summer of 2021, and in Atyrau, with the support of PricewaterhouseCooper LLP. Public figures, opinion leaders, business representatives, and ordinary compatriots with an active civic position and a desire to help tool part in the auction. It is noteworthy that in addition to professional announcers, well-known fellow countrymen from each region, as well as more than 70 invited friends and sponsors of the Dara Foundation, were involved in recording the audio description.
For reference:
Dara Foundation - a charitable private foundation that implements projects aimed at improving living conditions and expanding development opportunities for children with special educational needs and children in orphanages, as well as at developing inclusion in Kazakhstan.
DaraBilim Auction - the annual charity auction of the Dara Foundation, which aims to collect donations for systemic projects benefiting children with special educational needs and orphans.
East Kazakhstan Region Museum of Fine Arts named after the Nevzorov Family - one of the largest art museums in the country and a leading research, cultural and educational center in the field of fine arts.
Pavlodar Regional Art Museum - 1965 museum dedicated to Kazakh painting, sculpture and crafts.
Karaganda Regional Museum of Fine Arts - owner of a “golden” collection of works by famous represented artists and a leading research, cultural and educational center in the field of fine arts.
The Museum of Fine Arts, Arts and Crafts named after A. Shaimardana Sariyeva, Atyrau — - is the cultural and educational center of the region. The main goal of the museum is to comprehensively implement various types of activities (fund, scientific, informational) aimed at preserving and promoting works of Kazakh art for a wide audience.
Gala Global Group LLP — The leading company with the widest range of translation services in Kazakhstan, has been operating since 2006. It provides professional translation services from 86 languages around the world and participates in digital accessibility projects. Certified according to ST RK ISO 9001:2016.
Photo report from the event here https://disk.yandex.kz/d/43u-7D6XA0fl9A
