Imagine being able to hear colours, smell flavours, or see temperature. That's what visitors to a multi-sensory immersive art exhibition at OXO Tower Wharf got a glimpse of.
A Taste of Synaesthesia showcased works by international artists expressing how they experience the neurological condition, where the senses are blended.
The show is the finale of Brunel University London’s 2023 Artist in Residence Valeria Perboni, who sees her own synaesthesia as a gift.
“This is to raise awareness around what synaesthesia is,” she said. “Not from a psychology or neuroscience perspective, but from a lived experience, artistic, personal narrative perspective.
“It’ll cover how its peculiarities affect all aspects of life, not only for synaesthetes themselves, but also for everybody else in the way we perceive our senses, their embodiment, the connections between them, how they connect to our sense of self, our creativity, and our way of expression.”
Synaesthesia is a neurodiversity where people process information differently, blending senses like tasting words, smelling shapes and hearing in colour. An estimated one in 2,000 people have it and it is linked to artists such as Van Gogh, Kandinsky, Billie Eilish and more... They all have it used it in their art.
“When I listen to music or perform, there is always something else happening”, said Valeria who is also a singer, actress and opera director. “I see colours, feel textures, sometimes even experience pain.”
A showcase of multi-sensory digital art, sound art, installations and live performances, the event features synaesthetic artists from all over the world alongside Valeria’s own work including the SYN installation from her Brunel residency.
“A Taste of Synaesthesia provides the opportunity to present some fascinating examples of the vast diversity of human sensory perception,” said James Wannerton at UK Synaesthesia Association. “These things make our world a richer and more beautiful place. It also helps promote the exchange of new ideas, ongoing debate and suggests new approaches to future research to provide explanations and explore solutions within art, science and health and wellbeing.”
Also backing the event, global arts group supporting neurodiversity Journey Through The Senses said Valeria’s finale “celebrates the vast universe of human neurodiverse and sensoreal perception through the lens of art, performance, science, technology and interactive installations. We are proud to support this exciting event through sponsorship and through a collaboration with some of our inspiring artists."
Presented by Valeria’s company, Nine Lyrae Productions, along with UKSA (UK Synaesthesia Association) and JTTS (Journey Through The Senses), A Taste of Synaesthesia, showed at The Bargehouse Friday October 27.
