'Push / Pull' – Blind Community Day

Special Event

8 May 2025

Small, soft pink pom-poms arranged on a textured pink fabric surface to spell out the phrase "can touch this" in Braille. The arrangement is precise and deliberate, inviting tactile interaction while maintaining a playful, monochromatic pink palette.

ACE warmly invites members of the blind and visually impaired (BVI) community to explore Shan Michaels’ Can Touch This – a tactile installation co-created with and for the BVI community in South Australia.

When

Adelaide Contemporary Experimental

8 May 2025

9:00am to 4:00pm

Access

Visitors are welcome to explore the space freely, play dress-ups, build cubby houses, and experience the textured surfaces, soft sculptures and soundscapes designed for touch. You’ll also have the opportunity to create new elements to add to the installation and make it your own.

This relaxed, drop-in event is open to people of all ages. Parents, teachers, support workers, wheelchairs and Guide Dogs are welcome.

Feature Image: Shan Michaels' studio (2025), detail, Adelaide Contemporary Experimental. Photography by Lana Adams.

Artists

Antony Abbracciavento,

Elyas Alavi,

Emiko Artemis,

Stephen Atkinson,

Troy-Anthony Baylis,

Alycia Bennett,

Jingwei Bu,

Patrick William Carter,

Luna Chan,

Allison Chhorn,

Amber Cronin,

Dylan Crismani,

Eleen Deprez,

Stephanie Doddridge,

Adam-Troy Francis,

Paul Gazzola,

Alex Grant,

Sasha Grbich,

Dominic Guerrera,

Ray Harris,

Aidan Hughes,

Matt Huppatz,

Heidi Kenyon,

Kirsty Martinsen,

Monte Masi,

VNS Matrix,

Shan Michaels,

Ariella Napoli,

Alexandra Nitschke,

Chris Reid,

Yasemin Sabuncu,

Fiona Salmon,

Cynthia Schwertsik,

Gabriella Smart,

Soundstream,

Trudy Tandberg,

Sione Teumohenga,

Sarah Tickle,

Henry Wolff,

Shirley Wu,

Robert Wyatt,

Jake Yang,

Yasser Yassin,

Shenshen Zheng,

Students from South Australian School for the Visually Impaired

Curators

Henry Wolff,

Danni Zuvela

About the Exhibition

Featuring a program of live, experiential, post-object and otherwise ‘non-haveable’ art encounters, and unpacking Adelaide’s leading role as the historical world centre of post-object art today, Push / Pull asks: What kinds of encounters are possible, when the shock of the new is a local tradition?

Support

Adelaide Contemporary Experimental (ACE) is supported by Create SA and Creative Australia.
This project is supported by City of Adelaide and History Trust of South Australia. Shan Michaels is supported by Arts Queensland.
Special thanks to project partners the South Australian School and Services for the Visually Impaired, and The Mercury.