The Bechtler Museum is highlighting multisensory art with a new exhibition.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — When you think of going to a museum, you may think about the experience of seeing a piece of art for the first time — noticing all the little details that make the artwork stand out. But what if you can’t see it?
A new exhibition coming to the Bechtler Museum of Modern Art in Uptown Charlotte is aimed at reimagining that experience to include multiple senses.
“Collection, Reframed: We Are Here, Beyond Vision” runs from July 2 to Sept. 22.
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The exhibition brings together New York artist Janet Biggs and North Carolina dancer and choreographer Davian Robinson, who is visually impaired. Biggs and Robinson worked with the museum’s curator Katia Zavistovski to assess how other senses could be used to appreciate art.
Working alongside specialists including a spatial audio engineer, a physicist, and mathematicians, the team has created installations that turn the museum itself into a living, breathing part of the artwork.
In the piece “Hidden Within,” Robinson navigates the museum using echolocation — the same technique used by bats and dolphins. The piece also includes footage from Peru’s Amazon headwaters and Virginia Tech’s silent drill team, all exploring how we discover information around us using various senses.
In another piece, three artworks from the museum’s permanent collection are reimagined as a sound installation. A painting by Maja Godlewska, a bronze sculpture by Barbara Hepworth, and a tapestry by Pablo Picasso were photographed, then the data from those photos were converted into auditory representations. The museum said this approach creats “an immersive sensorial experience.”
On July 12, the museum will host “Misregistration,” a dance performance highlighting the strengths of people with disabilities using alternative methods of communication like touch and echolocation.
The full list of pieces in the exhibition is as follows:
General admission tickets to the museum are $10 for adults; $7.50 for seniors, college students with school ID, and educators; $5 for those ages 11 to 18; and free for children 10 and under as well as military personnel. It’s not yet clear if this exhibition has an increased ticket price.
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