by the El Reportero’s news services
“You can look but you can’t touch.” That’s one of the first rules of museums, which house priceless works of art. But what about the community of blind and visually impaired who use their sense of touch to experience the world? The Unseen Art Project is an initiative to make art more accessible and inclusive by using 3D-printing technology to create replicas of masterpieces that can be touched ’till your heart is content.
“There are many people in the world who have heard of classical artworks their whole lives but are unable to see them,” says Marc Dillon, a Helsinki-based designer who wants to make works like the Mona Lisa touchable. In order to make his vision a reality, Dillon has recently established a crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo. He hopes to raise enough money to create an online repository where artists can contribute 3D data of artworks and anyone with a 3D printer will be able to print it out.
With the price of 3D printers drastically coming down in recent years, Dillon’s project has the potential to “touch” a large population of people who have an interest in art but have never been able see it. As the campaign points out, “It would be a revolution to get blind people going to art galleries, people hate them because there is nothing there to touch!” (via The Creators Project)
Cartagena Film Festival to pay tribute to Philippine director Mendoza
The International Film Festival of Cartagena (FICCI) will pay tribute to the work of Philippine filmmaker Brillante Mendoza with the screening of nine of his films, during the next event in March.
FICCI organizers praised the importance of the films made by Mendoza, who approaches the reality with rawness and tackles the harsh social events of the country with a bold and innovative vision on issues that are usually avoided by most commercial filmmakers.
A report issued by the promotion department of the festival indicates that participants will have the opportunity to appreciate the films made by Mendoza, a director who began his career as a production designer for film and theater and art director in advertising.
There are four films that will be premiered in Colombia during the festival, running from March 2nd to 7th, Masajista (Masseur) 2005, which won the Golden Leopard at the Film Festival of Locarno (Switzerland); Calor de verano (Summer Heat) 2006, El profesor (Professor) 2006 and Hijo adoptivo (Adopted son) 2007.
The tribute also includes the screening of two films, which earned him recognition in consecutive years at the Cannes Film Festival: Servicio (Service) 2008, and Kinatay 2009.
The tribute will be completed with Lola 2009, and Tu vientre (Your belly) 2012, which competed for the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival, along with his most recent film Trampa (Trap), which won special mention by the Ecumenical Jury at the Cannes Festival in 2015.
Mendoza, 56, has made 20 films, many of which have been prizewinning at major international festivals, and he recently received the title of Knight of Arts given by the French Government.
