In April 1943, The Little Prince appeared for the first time in the US, published by the American publisher, Reynald & Hitchcock. From 9 to 9 April 2013, a unique exhibition entitled Once Upon a Time… The Little Prince was held at the Hôtel de la Salle (Musée des Lettres & Manuscrits / Aristophil) in Paris to launch the international celebrations of the 70th anniversary of this famous tale by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.
On this occasion, the Antoine de Saint-Exupéry Youth Foundation presented the exhibition The Little Prince in Relief, in partnership with Paris-based science museum Cité des Sciences et de l’Industrie, French publisher Gallimard and the association Arrimage, intended to promote a never-before-seen project: making the poetry of this tale, which associates text and illustrations, accessible to blind and visually-impaired children and grown-ups by creating a tactile version.
In a society where images occupy an increasingly important place, the question of access to art and culture for blind persons is fundamental. Through this innovative project of putting into relief Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s original drawings, which magnificently illustrate the most translated French work of literature in the world, blind persons will be able to discover it on an equal footing with sighted persons for the very first time.
The adapted version of the drawings of The Little Prince also constitutes a formidable pedagogical tool for promoting tactile reading. This philanthropic and civic project will constitute a new field for sharing and transmission between sighted and blind persons, in the spirit of the universal humanist values that pervade this emblematic work.
Watch the report by European news channel EuroNews and BFM :
