GUANGZHOU, Feb. 1 (Xinhua) -- After becoming blind 35 years ago, it was the first time for Zhu Jianping to visit the Guangdong Museum for an art exhibition.
Instead of seeing the exhibition, Zhu heard it.
Following the tour led by Chen Yuan, an exhibition guide at the museum, Zhu passed through the gallery and stopped in front of a painting, a self-portrait by famous Dutch painter Rembrandt.
"I saw many paintings of Vincent Van Gogh when I was young," Zhu recalled. "But I have never seen exhibitions since I lost my sight, for fear of bringing troubles to others."
In January, the Guangdong Barrier-free Promotion Association organized an event to invite the blind to visit the museum and "see" an art exhibition with the help of exhibition guides.
Zhu and 10 other blind individuals participated in the event.
"On the dark red wall, there is a picture about the size of an A4 sheet of paper, with a beam of yellow light falling down. In the picture, the young Rembrandt wearing a black beret looks at the audience. His left cheek is illuminated by light and his red lips are slightly opened, seemingly surprised," exhibition guide Chen vividly described the painting.
With Chen's description, Zhu imagined the picture in his mind.
"The description is very pictorial," Zhu said. "There are so many famous paintings on display and the visit is worthwhile and meaningful," said Zhu, who wrote two novels about his experiences after going blind.
In 2018, the Guangdong Museum conducted training programs for exhibition guides and commentators for the blind, in order to meet the demand of such patrons. Since then, groups can make an appointment for such a service in advance.
"The vivid explanations of museum guides deliver more visual information to the blind and as a result help them build graphic images," Chen said.
"Such an attempt is great," Fu Minghui, a professor at Sun Yat-sen University, said after following the special tour. "The exhibition commentator tries to help the blind better enjoy visual arts."
Guangdong will release more policy measures to create a friendly barrier-free environment for the 5.4 million disabled people, said Zhang Yongan, chairman of the Guangdong Disabled Persons' Federation.
