Blinde und Kunst celebrates its 25th anniversary
By Siegfried Saerberg I. Darkness as the womb of “Blinde und Kunst e.V.” (BuK) 1 In the year 2018 the association “Blinde und Kunst” [BuK] - blind people and the arts - celebrates its 25th anniversary. BuK was founded in 1993 in Cologne as a nonprofit organization of blind, visually impaired and sighted artists, as well as blind or visually impaired people who are interested in the arts. Audio: Leslie Ann Hewitt sings “Lilac Wine”, recorded 2013 in Cologne © Blinde & Kunst. BuK includes musicians, composers, writers, actors, sculptors and those who are just interested in culturally [de]constructing/presenting blindness in a new way. Its rise coincided with and inspired the beginning of the “darkness-movement” in Germany. By this term I mean activities such as “dialogue in the dark” and several dark restaurants and cafés presented and organized by blind people. 2 Thus, guiding sighted people into the dark in order to get on equal terms with them was our initial aim. We