DIALOGUE IN THE DARK
- »The only way to learn is through encounters«
Martin Buber, I and Thou - Practicing Living Dialogue
The idea is simple: In completely darkened rooms blind people lead small groups of guests through an exhibition in which everyday situations are experienced altogether differently, without eyesight.
In the dark, the daily routine becomes a new experience. A reversion of roles is created: sighted people are torn out of their familiar environments; blind people provide them with security and a sense of orientation transmitting a world without pictures. The impact is remarkable: Dialogue in the Dark have been presented in the last years in 25 countries throughout Europe, Asia and America.
Since April 2000 people have been experiencing Dialogue in the Dark in Hamburg.
Although the exhibition was initially sponsored by public funds and only for a limited time, it has long outgrown this project status: In 2007 Dialogue in the Dark became an independent limited company, as a social entreprise, which is successfully expanding into the international market.
Close to 6000 blind people have been able to find steady employment in the Dialogue exhibitions; in Hamburg there are 40 blind employees, working as guides, trainers or in other roles.
- Information on the global organisation and growth plans:
www.dialogue-in-the-dark.com