Dialogue in the Dark: A Unique Experience in Holon 

Since opening in Israel in 2004 in Shimon Peres Park, adjacent to the Holon Children’s Museum, Dialogue in the Dark has had more than 200,000 visitors, including school children. One of 14 such facilities located around the world, its aim is to overcome prejudice against the disabled, particularly the blind.

Founded by Andreas Heinecke, a sighted German PhD philosopher, who had devoted 20 years devising programs to combat prejudice in Germany, he thought that, he, himself was free of it. However, he felt that a colleague of his, because of his disability, could not possibly enjoy a happy and fulfilled life, an assumption which proved to be mistaken. This led Heinecke to conduct a simple experiment: he took sighted friends into a totally dark room where they sat with his blind colleague, drank coffee and chatted. He concluded that his colleague’s world was not poorer, only different, and that because of the lack of understanding of their potential, the disabled suffered more from ignorance, unequal rights and uncertainty than from the disability itself.

Dialogue in the Dark is intended to facilitate open exchange leading to a reduction in prejudices, clichés and stereotypes. One of its stated purposes is to help people take leave of their inhibitions and confront their feelings. It has been used as corporate ice-breakers to encourage communication, and with children’s groups to recognize prejudice. The basic premise of the program, to overcome prejudice against the disabled, is achieved by gaining an understanding, even if in only one hour, of how one can compensate for lack of sight by sharpening other senses.

At the Holon facility, Liran, a 31-year old blind guide, takes participants through a series of pitch-black spaces. Each is given a blind person’s walking cane and, from the moment the first dark room is entered, one can move only by moving the cane in front and shuffle carefully from room to room in the direction of Liran’s pleasant voice, which, apart from the stick, is the only guide. It is an utterly disorienting experience. Without Liran’s voice, even those with a keen sense of direction cannot tell where they are and where they are going.

The first space is covered with dirt and pebbles and there are recorded sounds of birds, frogs and crickets, as well as a waterfall. The participants figure out that they are in a park, a recognition that is reinforced when one bumps into a tree trunk. Participants are encouraged to sharpen their senses by identifying the sounds. Then Liran informs them that they will enter a “cabin” at the “edge” of the park – a room with some furnishings. Some participants are able to identify a chair, a coat, shoes and some books.

The next space is the deck of a “ship”. The participants find their way, with Liran’s verbal guidance, from the “dock” to benches on it. During the voyage, the ship even rocks a little in the “waves.” Even some spray from the waves is provided and Liran jokes about getting seasick. When they leave the ship, they have to cross a “street” and the recorded sound of traffic is frightening. Although these sounds are recordings, one feels utterly helpless crossing the street, since, at any moment, the sound of a car approaching makes one flinch. Without Liran’s verbal guidance, it is difficult to guess in which direction one is going.

Next is a visit to a “vegetable market,” where participants start to use their increasingly heightened sense of feel to figure out what vegetables are in the bins. They then make their way to a “cafeteria” where another guide and Liran serve sodas, bottled water, juice and candy. Participants are required to bring change and pay for the refreshments after determining which coins they have in their pockets and distinguish between the 10-shekel coin and the 5-shekel one.

During refreshment time, Liran answers questions and relates his own personal history. He encourages participants to express their own observations. They invariably rank their experience at Dialogue in the Dark as an important and unique one in which preconceived notions have been put to rest and sensitivities have been heightened.

Open Sunday to Friday from 9 am to 1 pm and Monday to Thursday, from 4 pm To 6 pm; reservations must be made in advance (1599-585858). English-speaking guides are provided. The minimum age for visitors is 9, and the ticket price is 45 NIS.

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