The Arches and Terra Incognita Presents AS I SEE IT Walking Tours of Glasgow Today

The Arches and Terra Incognita announce AS I SEE IT -- visually impaired volunteers offer an alternative view of Glasgow in unique city walking tours this month.

Terra Incognita's Artistic Director, Victoria Beesley is working with a group of visually impaired volunteers to create a unique walking tour of Kelvingrove Park, Glasgow that will be guided by people with sight loss and visual impairments. Through a series of weekly workshops, these tour guides have explored their relationship with Glasgow - its smell, taste, feel and sounds - highlighting a side of the city that many sighted people miss, and they are now preparing to share their perspective of Glasgow with a wider audience in a specially-created walking tour.

Victoria Beesley, Terra Incognita Artistic Director, said: "I recently became aware of the difficulties in navigating Glasgow for people who've experienced sight loss. I wanted to find out more about their experiences and create an environment where their voices are given priority."

Emmanuelle Adesegun, Tour Guide, said: "I like meeting and sharing stories with people. I am very much looking forward to talking with everybody on our walking tour."

In partnership with The Arches and funded by Awards for All and Glasgow Arts, As I see it celebrates Glasgow and the relationship visually impaired people have with the city, whilst also raising awareness of the daily challenges that face visually impaired people. The walks serve as a platform for the stories and experiences of the tour guides and to initiate discussions on how Glasgow can better serve its visually impaired population.

The project will culminate with the tour guides leading an audience of up to 10 people for each Walking Tour on Saturday 8th November. The tours will also be available as an audio download so that audiences are able to listen to the walks and participants' stories independently.

DETAILS:

The Arches and Terra Incognita present As I See It

Today 8 November 2014 | 11:30am, 2pm and 3:30pm | Free, but ticketed

www.thearches.co.uk/events/arts/as-i-see-it | 0141 565 1000 | 253 Argyle Street, Glasgow G2 8DL

Route: The route starts at the War Memorial of the Sitting Soldier it will then go round Kelvingrove Park, guided by the four Tour Guides taking in the Bandstand and finishing at the Stewart Memorial Fountain.

Tour Guides:

• Emmanuelle Adesegun - originally from Nigeria he worked as an engineer before his sight deteriorated.
• Joseph Curran has lived in the Gorbals all his life and will recount some Glasgow history as part of the walk.
• Frank Duffy - a professional percussionist, he will be focusing on the Bandstand as part of the walk. He performed there before it was refurbished and has performed there since it has been re-launched
• Katherine Steer grew up in the Highlands before moving to Glasgow to train as a nurse, where she had a varied career which included working as a midwife.

To post a comment, you must register and login.