An intervention of fundamental art knowledge though haptic art for the blind

Social inclusion has always been neglected for blind people, especially towards art accessibility. This study investigates the function of tactile art through the touch senses and the exploration of art accessibility for blind people and visually impaired communities with the 3D-printed tactile flashcard as a prototype. It examines the feedback and the experience through art context. Information has been gathered from a research interview with the representative of the Malaysia Association for the Blind (MAB) in Kuala Lumpur to recognise the problems and issues of blind people and art. The objective of this study is to identify an in-depth review of the underlying factors of human haptic art knowledge within the context of elements of art and the principles of design, to construct strategic research tools using the procedural verbal protocol analysis and finally to formulate a theory of visual art imagery for blind people and visually impaired community, through the design activities that were conducted in the Malaysia Associaton for the Blind (MAB) and Association of Blind Muslim Malaysia (PERTIS), Kuala Lumpur, through their natural environment setting. A face-to-face, semi-structured interview was conducted to gain feedback, and a response was made. Two design activities were delivered to the participants. Design activity 1 was to understand their perspective of their exposure to art through art education, galleries, and museum access in Malaysia. Design activity 2 was their response towards the 3Dprinted tactile flashcard prototype with the understanding of the fundamental language of art through the elements of art and the principles of design. However, before that, a pilot study was conducted in the Formgiving Lab, UiTM, to test and establish the 3Dprinted tactile flashcard as a prototype by artists and designers. This study has the potential to close the gap between the unsighted and sighted groups of people towards art accessibility. The study contributes haptic art knowledge for the blind community to learn, create and express art using the fundamental art language to be explored so that society can gain insights into their emotions, expression, creativity and perspective. The prototype is concerned with the semantic approach of conveying emotion, which is used in projecting the characteristic. Moreover, this community could contribute towards the creative arts industry by becoming potential designers and artists from the prototype as a tool towards art accessibility.