Project

"We look too often without seeing, we use too often without realizing." (in italics) You are cordially invited to confront how we deal with the (remaining) space we share and the consequences this has for people with visual impairments. "We look too often without seeing, we use too often without realizing" When I arrived back in Antwerp in September 2020, after a five-year stay on the Maltese islands, I was struck by how much the public space had shrunk. Building frenzy was rampant. Cars seemed to take up even more space. Pavements had been partly transformed into cycling superhighways. What remained for the pedestrian had become an obstacle course: a remaining space that is strongly subject to privatization by the government, by businesses, and by ourselves. The neighborhood where I live contains a number of day centers, residential facilities, and learning centers for people with visual impairments. A considerable group of people commute daily to the activity center and day school of the *Samenwerkende voorzieningen voor blinden en slechtzienden de Markgrave*. And that doesn't always run smoothly. Fixed and learned routes are regularly disrupted by unexpected debris. So often that people become discouraged or fall into depression. The lack of knowledge about 'blindness' is therefore considerable. Sighted people don't seem to feel called upon to consider the impact they have by ad hoc intervening in public space. Or as Richard Sennett describes it: "*the threat of being overwhelmed by difficult social interactions is dealt with by fixing a self-image in advance, by making oneself a fixed object rather than an open person liable to be touched by a social situation*". We look too much at ourselves and that has to come from somewhere. You are cordially invited to confront how we deal with the (remaining) space we share and the consequences this has for people with visual impairments. 'Common Space' is an interactive installation with shared authorship between: Nadia Heylen, Farah Deville, Christiane Braspenning, Hajar Chahchahi, Els Van den Bosch, Bart Konings, Gert Vervloet, Guy Huygh, Paula Coppens, Rudy De Gauw †, Bram De Rijcke, Claudia Maes & Stefan Kolgen