Handmade multi-sensory typhlographics at POLIN Museum
What is it?
Sensory tools that look like small works of art and allow you to “feel” the temperature of the colour used, the texture of the brushstrokes, the mood and emotions recorded in the paintings of painter Wilhelm Sasnal (available at the temporary exhibition Wilhelm Sasnal: “Such a Landscape” from 2021/2022).
The typhlographics were prepared by POLIN Museum staff in collaboration with the Foundation for Accessible Visual Culture – Wielozmysły and groups of visually impaired people.
Why is it important? / How can it help the professionals of the cultural sector?
Handmade typhlographics, accompanied by audio descriptions, enhance the experience of art for blind individuals. The materials used are pleasant to the touch to make the interaction with art more enjoyable. These enriched typhlographics, with added commentary and context, provide blind individuals the opportunity to understand and interpret the artworks more fully.
Tool name
Tool type
Website
Accessibility features
Multi-layered sensory tools made of wood, sand, fabric scraps
Multilingual support
PL
Public targeted
Blind and partially sighted visitors
Open source / free / paid / other
The service of the guide (who gives a tour of the exhibition using typhlographics) is free of charge
User Interface (UI) adaptability
n/a
Platform compatibility
n/a
Installation and setup
n/a
Updates and maintenance
n/a
User support and documentation
Typhlographics are supplemented by audiodescription available on audio guides.
Integration with other tools
Audio guide
Accessibility standards compliance
n/a
One/two examples of a project where the tool has been used
The temporary exhibition Wilhelm Sasnal: “Such a Landscape” from 17/06/2021 to 10/01/2022
User feedback/success stories
“Many times the question is asked if a blind person likes to go to a painting gallery at all, likes to encounter visual art, likes to look at paintings or photographs… and of course it depends on the individual person; I like it very much and I am very happy with all the facilities I get every time I go to any space, because without these facilities every single painting gallery, every single exhibition would simply be silent. Words, or auto-description, are unbelievably important… Thanks to auto-description I returned to the museum in general, and I started to look for exhibitions which, even though I could no longer see, still spoke to me, still offered me something, still stimulated my emotions, still made me a little bit richer, a thinking person who came out of such a gallery or exhibition and had a lot of questions.”
Statement by a blind visitor Robert Więckowski, literary and cultural studies scholar, journalist, co-founder of the Culture Without Barriers Foundation, which has been working since 2012 to make culture accessible to people with disabilities.
The whole interview in Polish can be watched here