CHENNAI: Like many persons with visual impairments, Priyanga, a Masters student at Dr Ambedkar Law College, used to find it distressing to walk alone on unfamiliar roads. She would not be able to recognise who or what was on her path. This was the case until last year, when she received an AI-powered assistive device via Project Drishti, an initiative of the Rotary Club of Madras East (RCME) launched in collaboration with the Aravind Eye Care System, in September 2021. The device, which was created by former Defence officer Ramu Muthangi, now helps her in identifying known people through its pre-saved facial recognition ability and warns her of any potential challenges on the roads she navigates.
“People who suffer from total blindness require more help than others, on a daily basis. With the device, I can navigate by myself and even read and interpret text better. I keep hearing about such gadgets that will help us be more independent but they are rarely affordable. I’m grateful that Project Drishti is contributing these spectacles to us for free,” Priyanga said at the Art of Eye event held by the RCME at the Art Houz gallery on Tuesday.
The event marked the launch of an online auction by the contemporary art gallery which has put 70 works of art on sale to raise funds for the project, which aims to sponsor the device to 200 more persons with visual impairment this year. The proceeds will be split between the project beneficiaries and the artists. The art available for this charity auction is by modern Indian artists, including Gita Hudson, Karishma Wadhwa, Kasa Vinay Kumar, and Hanumanta Rao. The auction page on the Art Houz website features the artwork, details about the artists, and also displays the fixed base price and three bidding rates. Prospective buyers will also be able to view a live bid being made on the page, explained Poornima Shivram, gallery curator, Art Houz. “To experience art, one employs different lenses to see, perceive, and find meaning from it. Thinking about this correlation between art and vision is what led Art Houz CMD Vincent Adaikalraj to get on board Project Drishti,” she detailed.
Renowned visual artist and writer Parvathy Nayar, who was the chief guest, resonated with the gallery curator in understanding how art can be used to provide the visually challenged a sense of connection to the world. “It is humbling to see that the project is providing hope to those with vision loss through such a poetic process. Art isn’t just bought to make the home beautiful. It is a means of connection to our contemporary world. Nobody really knows the world — we use lenses to look at the world, and to look at art, either for pleasure or education. Art is a prism to see the world,” she described while donating her ‘Made and Unmade’ work, a hand-drawn pencil on canvas art, to the auction. She chose the particular work, which is a black and white representation of a handmade sheet of paper as seen under a microscopic lens, as it references lenses and the ability to look at the world differently.
Speaking on the occasion, Srinivasa Rao, president, RCME, said that the Rotary organisation’s top priority has always been in identifying social welfare causes and making a material impact on the lives of those who can benefit from their humanitarian initiatives. “Everyone experiences a voyage of discoveries through life, and for those who suffer from blindness, these experiences can be severely hampered. We hope to aid and enable their journeys through art and the generous hearts who will buy the art,” he shared. RCME’s CSR and fundraising chairperson Sujitha Arvind noted that their initiative was catching the attention of large corporates, and hoped that it would lead to more people in need being included under the project.
The e-auction is on until April 16 on arthouz.com/auction. The art is also on display at Art Houz, Nungambakkam.
