To help blind people feel less alienated, NPO «WHITE CANE», which helps visually impaired people adapt to social life, and Yekaterinburg annual street art festival «Stenograffia» created something that, until now, could only be experienced through eyesight: the first ever Braille graffiti.

A Braille-art gallery combining visual symbols with Braille text appeared on the facade of the Yekaterinburg city philharmonic.

The gallery showcased the stories of three famous blind people set against their achievements:

- The story of musician Ray Charles and his classic “Hit the Road, Jack”;

- The story of record-setting runner Marla Runyan and a stadium;

- The story of programmer Mikhail Pozhidaiev, who created an operating system for the blind, and a circuit board.

Each story consisted of the protagonist’s biography and an inspiring message: “Art / Sport / Science doesn’t care whether you’re blind or not. What’s important is to see your own potential. NPO «WHITE CANE». We see possibilities in everyone.”

After learning about the first ever street art for the blind, the people of Yekaterinburg were invited to go beyond the gallery and create their own Braille-art objects by using a familiar sticker pack format.

70 publications around the world;

$350 000 PR Value;

30 000 000 Coverage;

$0 Media Budget;

Thousands of stickers combining written text and the Braille alphabet pasted by citizens all over Yekaterinburg;

Request for Braille-art gallery production from Astrakhan (another Russian city).

This work is relevant for PR category because Braille-art project builds communication between visually impaired people, Non-profit organisation "White Cane" and the outside world.

TA and objectives:

For the blind citizens of Yekaterinburg: show them that visual impairment does not have to stand in the way of social achievement.

For the seeing citizens of Yekaterinburg: make them think about the differences in how the visually impaired perceive the same environment.

For both: create common ground and tools for meaningful interaction between the two groups.

Approach:

Create common ground for communication through art that combines visual elements with braille to tell the stories of famous blind people and their great contributions to society.

Create a tool for communication easily accessible to both social groups to allow effortless dialogue between strangers by combining written text and braille.

According to unofficial sources there are over 14 000 blind people in Yekaterinburg.

Most of them are lonely, passive and socially inert.

For the visually impaired to be closer to society, they need to be able to experience the same things as the seeing.