The Latvian Academy of Culture is starting an international project on the accessibility of culture and arts
The Latvian Academy of Culture (LAC) in cooperation with partners from Poland, Romania, Lithuania and Cyprus has launched an ERASMUS+ strategic partnership project ‘Audio Description against Exclusion’, which focuses on the accessibility of culture and arts for people with hearing and visual impairments. The aim of the project is to improve the qualifications and skills of experts employed in the fields of culture and arts in adjusting the cultural offer and creating audio descriptions and subtitles for cultural consumers with hearing and visual impairments.
Within the framework of the project, the first of four workshops took place in Kaunas Cultural Centre of Various Nations (Lithuania) from 19 to 23 October, 2021, during which 25 participants from 5 partner countries developed their competencies in creating audio descriptions for 2D and 3D visual artworks, as well as in adjusting art exhibitions for people with hearing and visual impairments. Within the workshops, Latvia was represented by the assist. prof. of the Latvian Academy of Culture and the curator of the Contemporary Art Collection of the Latvian National Museum of Art (LNMA) Astrīda Rogule, the production assistant to project manager of the LAC Creative Activity Centre Laura Ozoliņa, as well as by the representatives of the cooperation institutions of the LAC – the art researcher and curator at the Rucka Artist Residency Agnese Zviedre and the curators of educational programmes at the LNMA and the Art Museum RIGA BOURSE Anna Pūtele and Lilita Pudule.
In 2022, three more workshops are planned in creating audio descriptions and subtitles in the fields of performing arts and audiovisual art in Bucharest (Romania), Riga (Latvia) and Limassol (Cyprus). While at the end of the project, an informative seminar is planned in November, 2022 on the accessibility of culture and arts in Latvia, which will be available for everyone interested in this subject.
A study carried out in 2017 by the project initiators the Wrocław Cultural Center shows that, despite clear guidelines for making culture accessible to people with disabilities, it is also necessary to provide appropriate qualifications and skills for those cultural professionals who would adapt the current offer to the needs of the people with hearing and visual impairments. The project partners are all convinced that every citizen of the EU has the right to equality, non-discrimination and the opportunity to take an active part in cultural activities, which can only be achieved through the representatives of cultural institutions by ensuring that audio descriptions and subtitles are available in all cultural events and for all cultural products.
The project is implemented with the support of the EU ERASMUS+ KA 204 (Strategic Partnership) programme. Its leading institution is Wrocław Cultural Center (Centrum Kultury Wroclaw Zachod) (PL) with partners - the Latvian Academy of Culture (Latvijas Kultūras akadēmija) (LV), Kaunas Cultural Centre of Various Nations (Viešoji įstaiga Kauno įvairių tautų kultūrų centras) (LT), DOREA Educational Institute in Cyprus (CY) and REPLIKA Educational Theater Center (Asociația Culturală Replika) (RO)
More about the project: https://lka.edu.lv/en/international-cooperation/international-projects/erasmus-projects/audio-description-against-exclusion/