About Windows of the Soul
Who is looking out of the windows?
What do they see?
Do they see bare winter trees floating like the skeletons of fish in a sea of cloud?
Do they see evening shadows lengthening like fingers reaching for tomorrow?
Do they see stars blinking shyly one to another?
Do they see goblins and gargoyles lurking at the foot of a bed?
Do they see fireworks fizz, flare and float?
Do they see spiders spinning without webs?
Do they see zigs perpetually zagging?
Do they see Monsieur Bonnet making a nuisance of himself, again?
Do they see the colours of the rainbow turning into the letters of the alphabet?
Do they see a robin in the garden and shed a tear of remembrance?
...
Excerpt from Paul White’s 26 Shining light - a poem created in collaboration with the Windows of the Soul Team
Hear more about our journey in an interview with Toby Davey at Royal National Institute of Blind People:
How do you describe your visual experience to others? How can you make someone understand that subtle changes in daylight mean you can no longer see? Would they know why you keep bumping into things or why you need to wear your sunglasses inside. What if you could show them the world through your eyes.
Windows of the Soul is an online and physical art exhibition seeking to convey the visual experiences of those living with sight impairment.
A team of volunteers has collaborated to produce this physical and online exhibition to initiate public engagement and start conversations about the realities of living with sight loss. Within the group are artists with sight-impairment, who have produced work based on their visual perspective. Team members have also collaboratively developed art with one of the founding artists through an iterative process of design and feedback.
The exhibition explores visual impairment through Braille art, traditional paintings, print work, tactile work, icons, sound art, prose and animation. Through this website, you will be able to experience the artwork representing different eye and systemic conditions, all of which affect sight in different ways. You will be able to learn more about our team members’ personal journeys and see the world through their eyes.
Watch one of our artists describe her journey and how this is represented in her artwork: