In order to enable all vulnerable groups to experience fine art as equally as possible, the Gorizia Museum, in cooperation with the inter-municipal Society of the blind and visually impaired Nova Gorica and KUD Artes, set up an exhibition in the premises of the Mercator Center Nova Gorica, where we opened the largest international tactile Gallery in Slovenia.
The exhibition, which is part of the official program European capital of Culture 2025 Nova Gorica-Gorica, is divided into two basic parts. The first part was named the world that exists, where existing examples of good practices from Slovenia and Italy are presented. Copies, models and adaptations of works of art are presented, with the help of which visitors can present the history of art from ancient Greece to the present day.
The maximum, as many as eight exhibits, were borrowed from the Omero Museum in Ancona, and three from the Anteros Museum in Bologna, where they are actively engaged in the conversion of two-dimensional forms into typefaces. We also visited both museums, and cooperation with Italian museums gave us a direct insight into the best practices of tactile exhibitions in neighboring Italy. The Society for the preservation of the Basilica of Aquileia Foundation, in cooperation with Gruppo mosaicisti Ravenna, acquired for the exhibition a type copy of the Mosaic and reproduction of motifs from the Basilica of Aquileia.
The exhibition also presents objects created as a result of the cooperation of the Gorizia Museum, the inter-municipal Society of the blind and visually impaired, as well as individuals and institutions that prepared adapted copies or reliefs. In 2021, Kristina Naglost received Valvasor's recognition for the typeface of Tonet Kralj entitled The meeting, and the typefaces of Chernigov's prints were created in cooperation with the Academy of Fine Arts and design of the University of Ljubljana (ALUO). Here are the mentors of mag. Bostjan Drinovec and Kristina Rutar engaged students in the direction of unique design to prepare ceramic reliefs.
A considerable number of copies were also created on the initiative of the Gorizia Museum. Thus, the student Tjasha Cigoj prepared a stone copy of the Rusjan monument, while the students of the Forestry and woodworking school from Postojna prepared a typical model of the Solkan bridge. The project was led by Professor Marko Nabergoj. We are also proud of our cooperation with the rest of the world: the students of the art Lyceum from Ladina di Fassa (Trentino, Italy), under the mentorship of Professor Titian Deflorian, prepared seven typical relief copies of famous works from 20. century. We placed four of them in the central part of the exhibition, and the rest in the occasional part. We have also agreed with the Lyceum Ma Fabiani from Gorizia, where students will prepare type copies for the gallery in the second part of the school year 2024/25.
The Slovenian Impressionists were brought closer to the visitors with a relief of the work of Rihard Jakopic's sheep. The aforementioned relief and other didactic aids were created at the aluo Restoration Department under the mentorship of mag. Tamare Collet Roasts. In agreement with the National Gallery and with the cooperation of the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Engineering from Ljubljana, we obtained a typical three-dimensional version of the coffeehouse by the painter Ivana Kobilca, and in cooperation with the Coronini Cronberg Foundation we produced a copy of Messerschmidt's head. Together with the Carinthian gallery of Fine Arts, we have prepared two copies of Begi alter's Vrana and helped to make the gallery there more accessible for blind people.
Thus, in the first exhibition space, we demonstrated the power of cooperation, because only with the help of a participatory approach it is possible to prepare such an overview of typical exhibits. The project has always had an important educational function, as we prepared trainings on the topic of blindness and low vision for the participating students. The educational significance of the exhibition was upgraded with a very special cooperation: we made contact with the University of San Jose from the USA and the Faculty of Education in Maribor. Together with professors Lara Ervin-Kassab (SJSU) and Jerneja Hercog (PEF UNI MB), We have enriched the exhibition with an inclusive pedagogical program for school groups, teachers and families.
The second part of the exhibition, which the participating partners are even more proud of, is called the world that is being created. This involves the experimental collaboration of artists and users to create custom artwork. With the help of the Artes Association and two curators, Alfredo de Locatelli and Primoz Pugl, we invited as many as 17 artists from Slovenia, Italy and Croatia to the project. We invited sculptors, painters, printmakers and conceptual artists. The selection of materials was also so fortunate that the range of 17 works of art at the exhibition is very diverse. An essential part of this experiment was training at two meetings, where artists learned the basics in the field of blindness and visual impairment, attended guided tours of the blind and visually impaired, and finally gave their works of art to the touch. With this we wanted to encourage the participants to adapt their usual artistic process in such a way that the newly created works of art are suitable for typing. Most of them have already captured the essence of adaptation in the submitted drafts, but with some we have worked out this step together.
From the very beginning, we were also aware that documenting meetings and later visits to studios and exhibitions is essential for understanding the project itself. The first meetings were filmed in our own direction, and later we invited the Academy of arts of the University of Nova Gorica to participate. Experienced professor Jasna Hribernik took over the reins in the production of the video. Thus, in 2024, filming took place on the field: the exhibition the wrong ship of Damijan Kracina at the Bozidar Jakac Gallery in Kostanjevica na Krki, a visit to the studios of Bostjan Drinovec, Zora Stancic, Primoz Pugl and Boris Zaplatil, and we met some other artists together with the blind and visually impaired at the exhibition Silva Lapidea, which was on display in neighboring Gorizia until March. In June, we added two very intense moments to the video material, first the burning of the sculpture of Damian Kracina in the solkan quarry, and later the filming of the workshop of the artist Giulia Iacolutti in Pordenone (Italy). The way here blind children coped with clay and formed individual emotions in it left a deep mark on all those present. Knowing that the exhibition video itself will not be accessible to everyone, we subtitled it and added sign language in three languages, and prepared an audio description of the film for blind users. For adaptation, we turned to the Society of the Deaf and hard of hearing of the Northern Primorska region and other specialists in content adaptation.
Before the start of the 2024/25 academic year, we officially concluded another planned partnership with the Faculty of Education of the University of Primorska. Under the mentorship of Professor Mateja Maljevac, students of inclusive pedagogy prepared texts for sound descriptions for the exhibited works, which was later translated and recorded in the studio, thus preparing sound descriptions in as many as three languages.
Through joint efforts, the exhibition was created, which not only opens the door to adaptation in other museums and galleries, but also establishes a platform for new forms of integration and creation. With this project, we have proven that through education and cooperation it is possible to create sustainable solutions for accessibility and to expand the boundaries of understanding of art, which includes all visitors regardless of their abilities.
David Kozhuh
Photo By Katarina Brezan
Da bi vsem ranljivim skupinam omogočili čim bolj enakovredno izkušnjo likovne umetnosti, je Goriški muzej v sodelovanju z Medobčinskim društvom slepih in slabovidnih Nova Gorica ter KUD Artes postavil razstavo v prostorih Mercator centra Nova Gorica, kjer smo odprli največjo mednarodno taktilno galerijo v Sloveniji.
Razstava, ki je del uradnega programa Evropska prestolnica kulture 2025 Nova Gorica-Gorica, je razdeljena na dva osnovna dela. Prvi del smo poimenovali Svet, ki obstaja , kjer so predstavljeni obstoječi primeri dobrih praks iz Slovenije in Italije. Predstavljene so kopije, makete in adaptacije likovnih del, s pomočjo katerih lahko obiskovalcem predstavimo zgodovino umetnosti od antične Grčije do današnjih dni.
Največ, kar osem eksponatov, smo si izposodili iz Muzeja Omero iz Ancone, tri pa iz Muzeja Anteros v Bologni, kjer se aktivno ukvarjajo s pretvorbo dvodimenzionalnih oblik v tipne reliefe. Oba muzeja smo tudi obiskali, sodelovanje z italijanskimi muzeji pa nam je omogočilo neposreden vpogled v najboljše prakse taktilnih razstav v sosednji Italiji. Fundacija Društvo za ohranitev bazilike v Ogleju je v sodelovanju s podjetjem Gruppo mosaicisti Ravenna za razstavo pridobila tipno kopijo mozaika in reprodukcije motivov iz bazilike v Ogleju.
Na razstavi so predstavljeni tudi predmeti, ki so nastali kot plod sodelovanja Goriškega muzeja, Medobčinskega društva slepih in slabovidnih ter posameznikov in institucij, ki so pripravili prilagojene kopije oziroma reliefe. Za tipno sliko Toneta Kralja z naslovom Srečanje je Kristina Naglost leta 2021 prejela tudi Valvasorjevo priznanje, tipne kopije Černigojevih grafik pa so nastale v sodelovanju z Akademijo za likovno umetnost in oblikovanje Univerze v Ljubljani (ALUO). Tu sta mentorja mag. Boštjan Drinovec in Kristina Rutar angažirala študente smeri Unikatno oblikovanje k pripravi keramičnih reliefov.
Precejšnje število kopij je nastalo tudi na pobudo Goriškega muzeja. Tako je študentka Tjaša Cigoj pripravila kamnito kopijo Rusjanovega spomenika, dijaki Gozdarske in lesarske šole iz Postojne pa so pripravili tipno maketo Solkanskega mostu. Z dijaki je projekt vodil profesor Marko Nabergoj. Ponosni smo tudi na sodelovanje s tujino: dijakinje umetniškega liceja iz kraja Ladina di Fassa (Trentino, Italija) so pod mentorstvom profesorja Tiziana Defloriana pripravile sedem tipnih reliefnih kopij znanih del iz 20. stoletja. Kar štiri smo umestili v osrednji del razstave, preostale pa v občasni del. Dogovorjeni smo tudi z Licejem Max Fabiani iz Gorice, kjer bodo dijaki v drugem delu šolskega leta 2024/25 pripravili tipne kopije za galerijo.
Slovenske impresioniste smo obiskovalcem približali še z reliefom dela Ovčice Riharda Jakopiča. Omenjeni relief in drugi didaktični pripomočki so nastali na Oddelku za restavratorstvo ALUO pod mentorstvom mag. Tamare Trček Pečak. V dogovoru z Narodno galerijo in s sodelovanjem Naravoslovnotehniške fakultete iz Ljubljane smo pridobili tipno tridimenzionalno verzijo Kofetarice slikarke Ivane Kobilca, v sodelovanju s Fundacijo Palača Coronini Cronberg pa smo izdelali kopijo Messerschmidtove glave. Skupaj s Koroško galerijo likovnih umetnosti smo pripravili dve kopiji Begićevega Vrana in pripomogli k temu, da je tudi tamkajšnja galerija dostopnejša za slepe osebe.
Tako smo v prvem razstavnem prostoru prikazali moč sodelovanja, saj je le s pomočjo participativnega pristopa mogoče pripraviti takšen pregled tipnih eksponatov. Projekt je imel ves čas tudi pomembno izobraževalno funkcijo, saj smo sodelujočim študentom pripravili izobraževanja na temo slepote in slabovidnosti. Izobraževalni pomen razstave smo nadgradili s prav posebnim sodelovanjem: navezali smo stik z Univerzo San Jose iz ZDA in Pedagoško fakulteto v Mariboru. Skupaj s profesoricama dr. Lara Ervin-Kassab (SJSU) in dr. Jernejo Hercog (PEF UNI MB) smo razstavo obogatili še z inkluzivnim pedagoškim programom za šolske skupine, učitelje ter družine.
Drugi del razstave, na katerega smo sodelujoči partnerji še bolj ponosni, imenujemo Svet, ki nastaja. Ta vključuje eksperimentalno sodelovanje umetnikov in uporabnikov pri ustvarjanju prilagojenih umetniških del. Ob pomoči društva Artes in dveh kuratorjev, Alfreda De Locatellija in Primoža Puglja, smo k projektu povabili kar 17 umetnikov iz Slovenije, Italije in Hrvaške. Medse smo povabili kiparje, slikarje, grafičarko in konceptualne umetnike. Tudi izbor materialov se je tako posrečil, da je nabor 17 likovnih del na razstavi zelo raznolik. Bistveni del tega eksperimenta je bilo najprej izobraževanje na dveh srečanjih, kjer so umetniki izvedeli osnove s področja slepote in slabovidnosti, prisostvovali so vodenim ogledom slepih in slabovidnih ter ne nazadnje dali v otip svoja umetniška dela. S tem smo želeli spodbuditi sodelujoče, naj svoj običajni umetniški proces prilagodijo tako, da bodo novonastala likovna dela primerna za tipanje. Večina jih je že v poslanih osnutkih ujela bistvo prilagajanja, z nekaterimi pa smo ta korak dorekli skupaj.
Že od samega začetka smo se tudi zavedali, da je dokumentiranje srečanj in kasneje obiskov ateljejev ter razstav bistvenega pomena za razumevanje samega projekta. Prva srečanja smo snemali v lastni režiji, kasneje pa smo k sodelovanju povabili še Akademijo umetnosti Univerze v Novi Gorici. Vajeti pri nastajanju videa je prevzela izkušena profesorica Jasna Hribernik. Tako so se v letu 2024 zvrstila snemanja na terenu: razstava Napačna ladja Damijana Kracine v Galeriji Božidar Jakac v Kostanjevici na Krki, obisk ateljejev Boštjana Drinovca, Zore Stančič, Primoža Puglja ter Borisa Zaplatila, nekatere druge umetnike pa smo skupaj s slepimi in slabovidnimi spoznali na razstavi Silva Lapidea, ki je bila do marca na ogled v sosednji Gorici. Junija smo k video materialu dodali še dva zelo intenzivna momenta, najprej sežig skulpture Damijana Kracine v Solkanskem kamnolomu, kasneje pa še snemanje delavnice umetnice Giulie Iacolutti v Pordenonu (Italija). Način, kako so se tu slepi otroci spopadali z glino in v njej oblikovali posamezna čustva, je pustil globok pečat na vseh prisotnih. Ob zavedanju, da razstavni video sam po sebi še ne bo dostopen za vse, smo ga podnaslovili in mu dodali znakovni jezik v treh jezikih ter pripravili zvočni opis filma za slepe uporabnike. Za prilagoditev smo se obrnili na Društvo gluhih in naglušnih Severne Primorske ter druge strokovnjake za prilagajanje vsebin.
Pred začetkom študijskega leta 2024/25 smo uradno sklenili še eno načrtovano partnerstvo, in sicer s Pedagoško fakulteto Univerze na Primorskem. Pod mentorstvom profesorice dr. Mateje Maljevac so študentke Inkluzivne pedagogike pripravile tekste za zvočne opise za razstavljena dela, kar smo kasneje prevedli in posneli v studiu ter s tem pripravili zvočne opise v kar treh jezikih.
S skupnimi prizadevanji je nastala razstava, ki ne le odpira vrata prilagajanju tudi v drugih muzejih in galerijah, temveč hkrati vzpostavlja platformo za nove oblike povezovanja in ustvarjanja. S tem projektom smo dokazali, da je z izobraževanjem in sodelovanjem mogoče oblikovati trajnostne rešitve za dostopnost in širiti meje razumevanja umetnosti, ki vključuje vse obiskovalce ne glede na njihove sposobnosti.
David Kožuh
Foto: Katarina Brešan