SOUND OF READING. BRAILLE
World Design Capital Frankfurt RheinMain 2026
An installation for eyes, ears and hands.
By Isabel Naegele and Klara Kletzka
On this page you will find information about the layout of the room and what you can see in it.
From the museum entrance, a braille trail leads to the center of the foyer. The right-hand trail leads to two rooms; in the room on the right, you’ll find the installation SOUND OF READING. BRAILLE.
On the open door is a poster with a black background and white text: SOUND OF READIN. / An installation for eyes, ears, and hands / An installation for eyes, ears, and hands.
Horizontally along the left edge of the poster it reads: An installation by Isabel Naegele and Klara Kletzka.
Horizontally along the right edge of the poster, the logos of the collaborating partners are listed in white from bottom to top: DIALOGMUSEUM Frankfurt, Mainz University of Applied Sciences, Designlabor Gutenberg, Dialog im Dunkeln – Association for the Promotion of Social Creativity Frankfurt e.V., World Design Capital Frankfurt RheinMain 2026, State of Hesse, City of Frankfurt am Main, Kulturfonds Frankfurt RheinMain.
In the center of the poster is a large white circle. Above it are additional small white circles forming Braille characters.
Open the curtain in the doorway and take just one step forward, because about one meter in front of you there is another curtain. Do not go through the second curtain; it is only there to divide the space. A small light illuminates a poster in front of you with white text on a black background, containing instructions for the installation. To your left, on the wall, is another poster with black text on a white background, providing information about Braille.
Exhibition Instructions
Take your time and find somewhere to settle in. Leave the noise of the Hauptwache behind, if only for a moment. Watch Petty as she reads. What do you see? And above all, what do you hear? What sound does a page make? What does a text sound like when it is read by touch?
Start with the informational text on the wall to your left.
Infotext About the Braille Skript
The Braille writing system did not become established until 1854. Two years after Louis Braille’s death in France and after many conferences, it became the international writing system for the blind. Louis Braille’s invention not only revolutionised the level of education for the blind, but also made it possible for them to communicate autonomously. The transfer of Braille into languages with Latin characters, such as French or English, is easy to understand. More surprising is the idea that a language such as Japanese can be transcribed into Braille. In the 1920s, various phonetic systems were used to translate the many languages of India into Braille.
UNESCO, founded at the end of World War II to promote a culture of peace and moral solidarity among humanity, recognised in 1950 how the phonetisation of Braille could promote literacy and independence. The vision of a unified phonetic Braille system did not find worldwide support until 1987. In 1988, the newly founded World Braille Council developed a uniform system and standardised procedure to transcribe many of the languages of the world into Braille.
Not all blind and visually impaired people can read and write Braille fluently. Today, new media such as voice-over and audio playback are increasingly replacing the Louis Braille writing system. For many, however, it remains the key to the haptic experience of the book, the key to writing and thus to self-determined textual expression. With its own aesthetics, it remains an expression of blind culture.
In March 2020, in the midst of the Covid 19 outbreak, we received the news that Braille had been recognized as a cultural asset of disabled self-help by the UNESCO Commission and included in the list as an Intangible World Heritage.
A narrow shelf is mounted beneath the poster. On it are exhibition catalogs in German and in easy-to-read language for the exhibition A TOUCH OF TYPE: From Secret Writing to Code.
The instructions are posted on the curtain, across from the door.
Installation Instructions
Take your time and find a spot. Leave the noise of the Hauptwache behind you. Watch Petty as she reads. What do you see? And above all, what do you hear? What sound does a page of a book make? What does a text sound like when you feel it with your fingers as you read? Can you hear what’s being read?
How to get further into the room:
Feel your way along the right wall until you reach the end. On your left, there are benches and a few cushions on the floor. Take a seat there if you’d like.
In front of you are two screens, almost as high as the ceiling, both showing the same film (description follows).
Sit down and listen to the film, relax for a moment, or let it inspire you.
Description of the film
The black-and-white film is called SOUND OF READING. BRAILLE.
It shows how Braille is read using the fingers.
The video is shown on two screens.
You see a close-up of Petty Waagö’s fingers as they move over the raised dots of a large book. Her nails are painted black.
This allows you to observe how the reading process works.
You can hear the sounds created while reading.
For example: opening the book, feeling the dots, reading, and turning the pages.
These sounds make the experience special.
The installation counteracts visual overstimulation, offering a space to linger, to listen contemplatively, to relax, and inviting reflection on questions of perception. It pays homage to the binary Braille writing system, a fundamental component of blind culture, which has enabled blind people worldwide to access education and participate in society.
How to get back outside:
Stand up and follow the benches to the left until you reach another wall after about 2 meters. Use your left hand to feel your way along the wall until you return to the entrance/exit..
At the entrance door, you will find the installation imprint again:
Imprint
CEO DIALOGMUSEUM: Maureen Ekizoglu
Reading Braille DIALOGMUSEUM: Anne Petrine Waagö
Technician DIALOGMUSEUM: Lucas Hainz
Project assistance DIALOGMUSEUM: Lizzy Jäkel
Concept & Design: Isabel Naegele, Hochschule Mainz
Project-Management: Klara Kletzka, Dialog im Dunkeln e.V.
Realisation Media Installation: MESO digital interiors
Max Wolf, Johannes Bietz, Cornel Brand, Kilian Pfifferling
Video & Audio Recording: Constantin Urban
Animations: Saehyeen Shin
Print & Paper: Marco Moll, Hochschule Mainz
Tutor: Lara Baltes
Special thanks to: Andreas & Max Benjamin Spamer
A cooperation project by DIALOGMUSEUM Frankfurt, Instituts Designlabor Gutenberg/Hochschule Mainz and DIALOG IM DUNKELN —Verein zur Förderung der Sozialen Kreativität Frankfurt e.V. as part of WDC 2026. WDC 2026 is funded by the State of Hesse, the City of Frankfurt/Main and the Kulturfonds Frankfurt RheinMain.
