[Artbeyondsightmuseums] Film review - paradigm shift?

[fnugg at online.no]

Hi,

I have just read the film review of "Than Than Gopal", an Indian film 
about a boy that is blind. And
I got a pretty big surprise while reading it. After years of reading 
articles this is the first that I have
ever read in the general media that seems to take the idea of artists 
being  blind as a matter of fact.
  In the article the reviewer writes:

"In real world, there are accomplished blind painters, and there is 
nothing wrong in showing the protagonist aspiring to be an artist"

It seemed such an "off the cuff" statement, if you could call it that. I 
thought it was a sign that beliefs are really changing - that the 
reviewer took it as a given that Gopal could of course be an artist.

However the next statement is, one might say, the proverbial " taking 
one step back"  part of the "one step forward":

    "but Warli painting is the wrong sort of art for a 
visually-challenged person. It is very geometric, and will be impossible 
for a   blind person to learn quickly, if at all."

But besides that do you think it shows a paradigm shift in views about 
visual impairments and the arts?

What do you think?

FILM REVIEWS: BLIND MAN’S BLUFF
http://www.punemirror.in/entertainment/marathi-reviews/FILM-REVIEWS-BLIND-MANS-BLUFF/articleshow/49587055.cms

Regards,

Lisa