Project helps blind get a feel for art
Greek museums are not particularly user-friendly for people with special needs. Some of the buildings may be equipped with ramps, but there are no provisions for people with other disabilities, such as the visually impaired. That is why it was very satisfying to hear about the State Museum of Contemporary Art in Thessaloniki’s program «Touching Art.» The program is being carried out in collaboration with the Ilios Foundation for the Protection of the Blind in Northern Greece and the Central Macedonian Union of the Panhellenic Association for the Visually Impaired. «Touching Art» is part of an international program, titled «Art Beyond Sight,» in which museums around the world help the visually impaired to «feel» prints of paintings that have been rendered in relief form. The outlines and other elements have been done in cardboard and other materials that in a way replace colors. The captions accompanying the works are in Braille. The program has already been used for three exhibitions outside Athens. Now art lovers in the capital also have an opportunity to feel their way through art at the exhibition «The Five Eras of the Russian Avant Garde,» now on display at the Museum of Cycladic Art through October 20. In total, there are 32 «Touching Art» works displayed alongside the originals of the great Russian avant-garde artists.
