A clay sculpting workshop without visual interference

To explore form, concept, feeling, and material in a new light.

To set the imagination free to roam.

To invite the subconscious and other senses into the creative process.

And let touch be the primary pathway to shaping form.

“Touch, Sculpt, Knead” workshop is a series of experiences that awaken imagination through clay sculpting – building a structure in the dark where participants can only feel, shape, and connect using their sense of touch.

By engaging in this hands-on experience, the workshop offers a chance to uncover capabilities, differences and ‘linguistic’ interactions among the senses, thereby eliminating preconceived notions about the limits and capacities of human perception. 

A week-long interactive exhibition at APD will follow the workshop series. Participants’ creations will be placed in closed boxes, inviting visitors to explore them solely through touch. The image of the artworks will be maintained until the final day of the exhibition, when the contents will be revealed in light.

Who can join:

– Blind or visually impaired individuals aged 15 and above who are interested in creative activities. No prior art experience or skills are required. (Travel expenses will be covered by the organizers and volunteers will be on-site to assist)

– Creative practitioners, visual artists, sculptors

The event is part of the “Touch, Sculpt, Knead – Seeing with Hands, Imagining in the Dark”, an inclusive art project initiated by curator Trần Lương, organized by the Center for Art Patronage and Development (APD) in collaboration with Vietnam and Friends, with the support of the Goethe-Institut Hanoi. Through activities including hands-on workshops, interactive display, documentary presentations, and discussions involving the participation of both blind/visually impaired and sighted people, the project also creates opportunities for dialogue and increases awareness and understanding between sighted and blind/visually impaired people.

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About Vietnam and Friends

Vietnam and Friends (VAF) is a Vietnamese non-governmental organization based in Hanoi. Founded in 2011, Vietnam and Friends has been working to support disadvantaged people, especially the visually impaired in Vietnam and take care of environmental problems. VAF cooperates with several partners to carry out their volunteer projects, e.g. with schools, support centers and other local associations as well as with international NGOs.

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The project “Touch, Sculpt, Knead – Seeing with Hands, Imagining in the Dark” was developed as a result of the Goethe-Institut Hanoi’s “Open Call: Inclusive Art” cooperation programme. This programme aims to address the concerns of people with disabilities in Vietnam and to highlight the inclusive potential of the arts and how everyone in society – both able-bodied and disabled – benefits from greater inclusion.