As part of the upcoming exhibition “A Case for Sensory Decolonisation: Autistic Escape”, at the 2023 Venice Architecture Biennale in conjunction with the European Cultural Center’s Time Space Existence collection, Magda Mostafa, the curator of the exhibition and author of the Autism ASPECTSS Design Index, is inviting individuals on the autism spectrum to share their sensory experiences from cities around the world. Central to this exhibition is the autistic voice, and submitted experiences will be considered for display as part of the “Sensory Atlas” to be displayed in Venice.

The objective of this work is to raise awareness about the sensory overstimulation our cities and built environments impose on their inhabitants, and the role that overstimulation may play in the comfort, agency and access of neurodiverse and autistic individuals inhabiting these spaces. The message this exhibit hopes to convey is that our cities, through their sensory overloads, can be disabling, and it is time to build a code of sensory protocol that takes the neurodiverse and autistic experience into consideration. 

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Submissions can include photographs, videos, audio recordings and personal testimonies illustrating overloading sensory experiences in the everyday lives of autistic individuals from around the world. These should be shared through the Sensory Atlas Submission Form linked below. All work submitted will remain the copyright of the author of the work, with acknowledgment and attribution of that authorship included in the exhibit, with permission for the curator to share this material in exhibits, publications, lectures and promotion of the event, with attribution to the authors of the contributors. An accompanying digital version of the exhibit will also be available as part of the ongoing “Sensory Atlas” project.

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The deadline for submission is February 15th.

 

Please contact the.sensory.atlas@aucegypt.edu should you have any questions.