Vision Australia CEO Ron Hooton was recently interviewed by the NGV Magazine to discuss Dark Memory Lane. That interview has been included below:
Can you tell us a little about your Community Hall event? What can visitors expect?
We want to showcase how people with vision loss and blindness take on the world.
In Dark Memory Lane, people will be able to walk in the shoes of three clients with varying levels of vision loss. You will be given simulation glasses that mirror each person’s eye condition so you can experience what it is like to walk in their shoes and interact with the world.
We want to illustrate how support, care, expert advice and technology can help clients come to terms with their vision loss, then journey towards understanding not just how they can live, but thrive with low vision.
Some of our readers might not be familiar with Vision Australia. Can you tell us a little bit about the organisation?
Vision Australia is a leading national not-for-profit organisation that helps more than 30,000 Australians with low vision and blindness every year.
We’re the people you come to when vision loss, big or small, starts to impact daily life. We help people achieve independence, stay safe and increase their ability to participate in daily life.
We offer everything from professional advice, emotional support and moments to connect with peers and retraining to adjust to life with vision loss.
In Dark Memory Lane, gallery-goers are invited to see what it’s like to live with blindness or low vision. Why did you decide to share this experience with Melbourne Now?
It’s important to understand how others perceive and view the world.
We hope by walking in the shoes of someone with vision loss, it will normalise the experience and show that with a few adjustments and a bit of help from experts like Vision Australia, life is not that different to someone who is fully sighted.
We also want people to come away from the experience with a new perspective on the implications of a vision loss diagnosis. There are so many ways Vision Australia can show, teach and share with people how they can continue doing the things they love with just a few life hacks, tech and expert advice.
We also think it's an opportunity to build empathy, understanding and check negative bias towards people with low vision and blindness. Biases hold people with a disability back.
For our community, it’s most stark in the workplace. The unemployment rate for people who are blind or have low vision is 50 per cent. That means that of those who are able and want to work, only half will be given a job. A lot of our clients have said prospective employers have made them feel like ‘not of value to society’ and that the employment process is both ‘demeaning’ and ‘disheartening’. That should be enough to make us all look at ourselves closely.
Do you have a favourite artist or work in the NGV Collection to which you often return? Or a memorable exhibition?
I’m a bit of a technology aficionado, so any art that uses new and inventive ways of using technology or the digital realm is something I love. The popularly of artificial intelligence is also making for some interesting discussions on art and style, so I’m excited to see what your next Triennial showcases.
I know for our clients, art is a very important part of their lives, even when their vision starts to deteriorate.
Accessible exhibitions where people can touch the art, hear pieces vividly audio described or view art that makes use of contrasting colours is something I hope more galleries consider in the future.
Also, promoting the work of artists with disabilities or those who have lived experience is something I’m passionate about.
One of the most popular items we sell at the Vision Australia store is the yearly large print calendar which we fill with the artwork of blind and low vision artists of all ages.
We would love to work with major galleries to showcase these amazing artists and their work in the future.
Dark Memory Lane details:
When: Friday August 11
Time: 1pm-3pm
Where: Ian Potter Centre, Federation Square
Free entry no bookings required. For more information visit the NGV Melbourne Now website here.