The exhibition 'Correspondances' by Ronny Delrue was the occasion for a new project with the pupils of the blind and visually impaired school BUSO Sint-Rafaël in Ghent.

BUSO Sint-Rafaël is a special school offering full-time education to visually impaired adults. The students learn echolocation and Braille, amongst other things, but also follow regular education and there is an art class. Since 2018, S.M.A.K. has organised regular projects with the people who follow these classes.

In 2019, for example, we initiated a new artistic exchange with the Sint-Rafaël school in collaboration with BLANCO/NUCLEO and SLAC Academy Leuven. Ronny Delrue’s exhibition ‘Correspondances’, which was shown in the museum, inspired the start of a correspondence between the pupils, students and artists connected to the aforementioned organisations. The participants did not know with whom they would be in dialogue, and small sculptures were the only means of communication. Contact was made in this way, three times per person. Whenever someone received a creation from a fellow participant, they were asked to make a new sculpture in response. In so doing, their answer not only needed to be visually interesting but also provide a captivating tactile experience. The sculptural correspondences are shown here together for the first time.

‘Blind Date / Sculpture Exchange’ is a collaboration between S.M.A.K., BLANCO/NUCLEO, BUSO Sint-Rafaël and SLAC Academy Leuven.

BLANCO/NUCLEO
Naomi Kerckhove, Joke Raes and Judith Herman

SLAC Academy Leuven
Leo Anthoon, Heidi Belmans, Lien Derudder, Bea Durand, Aagje Florizoone, Sofie Hoebeeck, Micheline Vanden Driesch, Fie Vandevin, Geertrui Van Overwalle, Mimi Vangindertael, Marie Olbrechts, Piet Vers, Marleen Dekempeneer, Ria Verboomen, and Jaak Bosmans

BUSO Sint-Rafaël
Alexander Batyr, Brigitte Reynaert, Linda Geldhof, Nejad Maziar Mohammadi, Jonas Naye, Marleen Van den Eede, Dirk Van Dingenen, Britt Roskam, Christel Van Bossche, Sandra Van Vaerenbergh, Ann Kalayani Vinonsajeev Selvadurai, Dimitri De Broyer and Annemie Vermeulen

With thanks to: Martin Desloovere, Hannelore Maet, Soetkin Everaert, Anneleen Pruvoost and Jonas Nachtergaele

Pavilion design: Olivier Goethals