Theoretical and search considerations, and tyflopedagogic practice above all, make us see the culture of people with visual disabilities as an important way of educational and rehabilitation activities implemented in the spirit of inclusion, i.e. social inclusion in important communication links whose one of the areas is culture.
Based on a descriptive and critical analysis of small literature on the subject, as well as participant observation and personal experience of the author, the subject of the specific nature of the reception of works of culture by people with visual disabilities and the conditions and possibilities of nonvisual ways of sharing them have been considered.
Tactile and auditory ways of providing visual arts: Braille system, typhlography and audio description have been presented as corresponding to the specificity of cognitive processes of visually impaired people. The importance of the Internet for participation in the culture of visually impaired people has been marked, recalling selected exemplifications.
Based on the considerations undertaken, the postulates of practical and research actions have been drawn up in the field of interdisciplinary issues of inclusive participation in the culture of people with visual disabilities.

Economic and Social Conditions of Demand for Cultural Goods and Services and Their Consumption

The paper contains the demand side of the market for cultural goods and services, with a focus on performing arts especially the analysis of their consumption from the demand theory, which attempts to explain the motives and consequences of consumers’ decisions. The consumption of cultural goods and services is determined by many factors, and their identification is the purpose of this study. Among them there are social determinants, including education and age of consumers and economic, such as price and income. The starting point for the analysis is fact that cultural goods and services in the economy are normal goods, so the demand for them increases with increasing consumer income and decreases with the demand decrease. They are also luxury goods, which means they are purchased only when the amount of income will satisfy customers’ basic needs. The paper contains also review of results of research conducted by foreign authors to demand determinants for cultural goods and services. Selected determinants are presented using statistical data on participation in culture of citizens of the European Union. However it was not possible to present an insightful analyzed of determinants and their dynamics because of limited availability of data.

„Croaking Reality” – (Small) Cultural Consumption in the Light of Objective Data and Subjective Justifications

Representative surveys, carried out by the Central Statistical Office reveal how low is in Poland the scale of participation in culture: expenses connected with culture represent about 3% of household expenditure, and 1/3 of this amount is spent on television. Almost half of householders didn’t buy a book in year, 60% of Poles didn’t go to the cinema and 90% didn’t go to the theatre. In the same time, participation in culture is shown as a condition for social and economic development. The gap between absence of participation in culture and promoting culture is depicted in more detail in terms of statistics illustrating the scale of absence and in diagnosis of barriers. But this analysis leads to next questions – on the one hand about the apparent shallowness of these barriers, on the other – about the need for different way of task posed questions, new methods which break with the traditional questions about the museum visit or buying newspapers. As the culture changes, we should change tools of researching culture. Perhaps the picture will continue to indicate the dominance of absence, but maybe will penetrate beyond the enigmatic „I did not feel the need” to participate.