The Indra and Harry Banga Gallery Audio Description Tour and Touch Tour was successfully held on 18 November 2023 for the exhibition, The Grand Gathering of the Century: Zodiac Heads from the Yuanmingyuan and Important Treasures (Click HERE for the exhibition). 13 people who are visually impaired along with their family participated in the event under the help of student volunteers.
The event is co-organised by the Department of Linguistics and Translation, the Indra and Harry Banga Gallery, the Hong Kong Blind Union, and the Hong Kong Audio Description Studies Association with the aims of promoting inclusive services for people who are visually impaired and enhancing students' skills in language, audio description (AD), and translation.
The event consisted of two parts. First, a student docent provided AD services for the participants explaining the exhibits and describing the visual elements of the exhibition for example, highlighting the East-meets-West architectural feature of Haiyantang (Hall of the Clam Seas) of the Yuanmingyuan, and the mechanical system of the Great Fountain water clock. After that, participants had a chance to touch the replicas of some of the bronze heads along with AD explanations provided by the student volunteers. Before the event, the student volunteers had received training from the Hong Kong Blind Union, and the Hong Kong Audio Description Studies Association on how to interact with people who are visually impaired and how to audio describe for art galleries.
Majority of the participants responded positively about the event. In the participant satisfaction survey, more than 90% of the participants are satisfied about the arrangement and found the event useful in enhancing their understanding on cultural heritage and the cultural exchange between the East and the West.
