During workshops, participants will together create a film presenting the culture of Iceland and Poland and Wroclaw and Reykjavik. Workshops consist of lectures combined with practical exercises. The film will contain an audio description in Polish, English and Icelandic.
The first cycle of workshops was held in mid-November in Iceland, and the Wroclaw workshops will last till the 5th of December.
‘Iceland and Poland against exclusion from culture’ is a project that started last year and will last till 2016. It is an international artistic exchange based on the idea of an audio description – i.e., an additional commentary to films, plays or any other cultural events that explains what a visually impaired person cannot see.
Not to ignore any spectator
‘Integrative workshops are extremely popular,’ says Agnieszka Durejko from CK Wrocław Zachód. ‘Their participants are visually impaired persons and healthy persons. The role of workshops is recognised increasingly often by employees of cultural institutions, who realise that they cannot ignore any single spectator, and an audio description makes it easier for the disabled to participate in culture. Our film shows with an audio description are always watched by a full audience of 280 people,’ says Agnieszka Durejko. ‘They attract persons from the entire Lower Silesia: Kamienna Góra, Jelenia Góra, Bolesławiec, Lubań, Świdnica, and so on. This is the only opportunity for them to see a film in spite of their impairment. We want to expand our offer with filmed theatrical performances and live theatre shows with an audio description.’
The project was inaugurated last year by Agnieszka Holland, whose film ‘W ciemności’ (‘In Darkness’) was shown in Reykjavik with an audio description. As a part of that project, the audience in Wroclaw watched and listened to audio descriptions for Icelandic films, such as ‘The Deep’ (‘Djúpið’/ 2012) – a film directed by Baltasar Kormàkur, one of the most outstanding Icelandic film directors. The film tells a story that happened in March 1984, when the ice-cold ocean off the coasts of southern Iceland became the place of a dramatic test of character and strength for local fishermen after their boat had sunk. On the other hand, the Icelandic audience could take part in a concert of a blind artist Katarzyna Nowak, watch ‘Wałęsa. Człowiek z nadziei’ (Walesa. Man of Hope) by Andrzej Wajda with an audio description and see ‘Mój trup’ (‘My corpse’) – a monodrama by Bogusław Kierc based on poems by Adam Mickiewicz. On that occasion, the latter were translated into Icelandic for the first time.
Audio description for museum employees
The project will also include workshops during which participants will learn to create audio descriptions for theatrical performances and exhibitions. Apart from that, there will be Polish and Icelandic theatrical presentations and exhibitions.
‘We will run audio description workshops for museum workshops,’ tells Agnieszka Durejko. “There is already much interest in them, because there are still too few audio describers – those who specialise in describing exhibitions. We and Icelanders are slowly beginning to catch up on audio descriptions, although we still have much to do in order to reach European standards. In Great Britain, an audio description is standard practice in cinemas, and the disabled have over 600 cinemas at their disposal there.’
For more about the project, see:
