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Dialogue in the Dark ("Dialog in the Dark" in American promotional materials) is an awareness raising exhibition and franchise, as well as a social business. In ''Dialogue in the Dark'', blind guides lead visitors in small groups through different settings in absolute darkness. Through this visitors learn how to interact without sight by using their other senses, as well as experience what it is like to be blind. The exhibition is organized as a social franchising company, which offers the exhibition as well as business workshops, and has created jobs for the blind, disabled, and disadvantaged worldwide. The exhibition aims to change mindsets on disability and diversity, and increase tolerance for “otherness”. Since its first opening in 1988 over six million visitors from more than 25 countries have experienced ''Dialogue in the Dark'', which has provided over 6,000 blind people jobs.〔()〕 ==History== The founder, Andreas Heinecke ( *1955), had both Jewish and German ancestry. At the age of 13 he realized that members of his mother’s family had been victims of the Holocaust and members of his father’s family had been supporters of the Nazi regime. This realization started a lifelong search for answers such as: What is the process of marginalization and exclusion? On what ground do we judge people and feel inferior or superior? The impact of his search for answers was the start of his quest for tolerance, open dialogue and exchange, and created the ground work for the creation of the Dialogue in the Dark exhibition. The foundation stone for the social enterprise ''Dialogue in the Dark'' was laid in 1986. At that time Andreas Heinecke worked as a journalist and documentary writer for a broadcasting corporation in Germany. One day he was assigned to organize a formation for a 28 years old journalist, who had lost his eyesight in a car accident. Initially confronted with awkward feelings, Andreas started to realize that his pity was misplaced. He discovered being blind is another form of life that contains lots of capabilities. To his surprise it was the blind colleague who showed him how to cope with fundamental changes in life, forcing him to question what makes a truly valuable life. Thereafter he was fascinated by the world of blind people, and he was shocked by the discrimination against them, to which they are still exposed today. This inspired the concept of overcoming the barriers between and promoting exchange between blind and seeing people that is the basic idea of Dialogue in the Dark. In December 1988 ''Dialogue in the Dark'' had its premiere in Frankfurt, Germany. For more than 10 years it toured throughout the world as a travelling exhibition in places like museums or as a special event in a fair or festival. Since then the exhibition has been turned into a franchise, headed and owned by the brand owner Dialogue Social Enterprise. The first permanent exhibition was established in Hamburg, Germany (Dialog im Dunkeln) in 2000. There have been exhibitions in more than 150 cities in over 30 countries in America, Asia, Europe and the Middle East. Meanwhile there are now permanent exhibitions in Japan, Italy, Israel, Austria and the USA. The most recent being the temporary exhibition in New York City which opened on August 2011. Andreas Heinecke, was announced Social Entrepreneur by Ashoka (2005) and the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship (2007). 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Dialogue in the Dark」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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