The story of Dialogue in the Dark began in Germany, 1986. In a broadcasting corporation, Dr. Andreas Heinecke was trying to develop a rehabilitation programme for his colleague, who had lost his eyesight in an automobile accident. Look, here’s Andreas in the picture.

Andreas made new friends with blind people, and was surprised by their senses and talents. They gave him new insights into humanity. He was sad to see that the society was so prejudiced against them, but he realized that the prejudice was not exactly malice. Instead, it was ignorance, a lack of interaction with those who were ‘different’.

So Andreas recalled the words of Martin Buber the philosopher: ‘the only way to learn is through encounter.’ To overcome misunderstanding about the blind, there had to be an opportunity, so that the sighted could connect with the blind. Darkness, Andreas thought, would be the ideal context for such encounters, and Eureka! –Dialogue in the Dark was born.

In 1988, the first Dialogue in the Dark exhibition opened in Hamburg. In 1996, Dialogue in the Dark flew out of Germany to open temporary exhibitions in museums and festivals. Eventually, permanent exhibitions were put up around the world: Frankfurt, Munich (Germany), Milan (Italy), Atlanta (US), Guadalajara (Mexico), Holon (Israel) and so forth.[See DiD Worldwide]

To date, Dialogue in the Dark has been presented in over 150 cities; more than 6 million visitors worldwide have experienced what it means to hear, smell, taste and touch without being able to see.