Workshop: Echolocation: a Journey into the Non-Visual, Sensorial Mode of Being in the World

By Thomas Tajo

Brussels: 12 April 2017

Echolocation is the method to detect and identify objects and recognise the nature of the environments around us using the acoustic information. What we do is actively produce tongue-clicks. By interpreting the echos that come back from our tongue-clicks we can find out the nature of the environment we are in, and we can detect and identify objects around us with the information contained in the echos.

So using Echolocation as a means to demonstrate the effectiveness and beauty of our non-visual mode of perceiving and interacting with the world I want to seduce you into the non-visual world of the senses and the non-visual mode of being in the world and perceiving and interacting with the world.

In this workshop, you will discover...

• How the non-visual mode of being and perceiving the world has the potential to counteract the objectifying view of the world promoted by vision-dominated culture that keeps everything at a detached distance.
• How non-visual mode of being in the world and perceiving and interacting with the world can bring us back to ourselves, to our own bodies and the sensual world, from the parched deserts of the visual images.
• And how the non-visual mode of perceiving and being in the world can change the way we interact with the social and natural worlds much more intimately, in a much more deep and meaningful way.

About Thomas

Thomas Tajo became blind at the age of 8 or 9, and taught himself to actively echolocate. For the last few years he has been travelling across Europe giving echolocation and mobility lessons and workshops to organisations for the blind, families of blind children, and to both individuals and groups of blind children and adults. He teaches in English and Dutch.

Thomas has participated in echolocation research at various universities in the Netherlands, Belgium, France and England, and has worked together with other noted echolocation trainers such as Daniel Kish, Tom Dewitte and Juan Ruiz.

He also gives talks and workshops to researchers and artists who are interested in experiencing and exploring the world non-visually, teaching them how to explore their environment through the use of echolocation and other non-visual senses.

 

 

Practical Information

When? Wednesday, 12 April 2017 from 18h45-21h00

Where? Timesmore Boulevard St Michel 47, 1040 Brussels

Public transport: Metro: Montgomery; Tram: Boileau

See map below or here...

How much? A contribution of €12 to cover expenses including materials, drinks, snacks, etc.

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Want to come?

Please reply to your invitation e-mail or follow this link to sign up for for this workshop.

Participants

1. Jeffrey Baumgartner
2. Andy Whittle
3. Thomas Tajo
4. Inge Ysebaert
5. Margaret Ledoux
6. Antony Joseph
7. + Guest
8. + Guest
9. + Guest
10. AS
11. IR
12. Benedicte van Nierop
13. Stephen Lawson
14. Olivier Dierickx *
15. Miriam Tessens *
    
    
16. Sascha Siegmund **
17. Daisy Tsvete **
18. Gordon Buhagiar **
19. Filip Roekens **
20. Frank Barendregt **

Notes

* Registered on Facebook

** Registered as "Interested" on Facebook which, in practice, means they probably won't come. But we appreciate their enthusiasm and support nonetheless.

 

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