Accessibility to state cultural heritage
Overcoming architectural, cognitive and sensory barriers has in recent years been one of the most extensive interventions made by the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Tourism, including through the establishment of a Ministerial Commission which in 2008 published the Guidelines for overcoming architectural barriers in places of cultural interest.
The General Directorate of Museums continues in this effort to give relevance to projects and interventions related to the accessibility of the places of state culture, already begun and sustained in recent years by the former General Directorate for the Valorization of Cultural Heritage.
Physical, sensory and cultural accessibility are in fact indispensable requirements to make the places of culture fully accessible to all visitors to the Italian heritage.
Below are the most significant projects, coordinated by the Chief Executive Gabriella Cetorelli of the Directorate-General.
A.D. Art: An information system for the quality of the use of cultural goods by people with specific needs
Born to provide reliable and verified information on the real state of accessibility of state assets, the project envisaged the design, implementation and dissemination of a system of analysis and detection of architectural features and services aimed at visitors with specific needs in Italian cultural sites.
The project benefited from the support of a group of Italian experts and a permanent technical table set up at the Ministry, and was also able to count on the contribution of the leading associations representing people with disabilities and various European organizations that recognized it as ” an Italian excellence to export. ”
As part of the project, a training-information course was also set up for Administration employees, delivered in the FAD mode on MiBACT’s moodle platform, consisting of 22 educational modules on legislative and technical issues related to accessibility to cultural heritage.
A.D. Art aims to network public and public archaeological state museums and archaeological sites, and will soon be supported by speaking planes that will allow easy “reading” of the sites affected by the project.
Accessibility cards of the first 100 places can be consulted in Italian and English on the site www.valorizzazione.beniculturali.it
An elevator for Michelangelo
Curated by the Superintendence for Architectural, Landscape, Historical, Artistic and Ethnoanthropological Heritage for the Provinces of Florence, Pistoia and Prato, the project has been tackled, through the monitoring of structures, the theme of overcoming architectural barriers in the monumental complex of the Medici Chapels Florence.
In particular, there was an elevator connecting the Cripta entrance to the first floor where the Chapels of the Princes and the New Sacristy are located.
A retractable platform has also been created that allows you to overcome the ineliminable steps that are part of the original structure.
Extended access path in the archaeological area of Tarquinia
Conducted by the Superintendence for Archaeological Heritage of Southern Etruria, the project, prompted by a timely feasibility study, today allows everyone to visit the famous Tomb of the Pulcella, a masterpiece of the 5th century. B.C. with its beautiful frescoes. It is one of the most important dromos tombs in the necropolis of Tarquinia, UNESCO heritage.
The project envisaged an easy access path and a multisensory workstation with a light panel with information about the tomb, aids for hearing impaired people with a translation into Italian Sign Language (L.I.S.) and audio support for blind people.
Accessibility path expanded to the archaeological area of the Roman Forum and Palatine
Curated by the Special Superintendency for the Archaeological Heritage of Rome, the project has allowed a sloping slope to be made to the archaeological area of the Palatino, allowing to easily overcome a steep climb, originally connected by high stairs.
Project Hendrick Andersen and Olivia Cushing. Between utopia and reality
Curated by the Superintendence at the National Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art, the project aimed to enhance the life and works of the Norwegian sculptor, painter and urbanist of Norwegian origin Hendrik Christian Andersen.
The project envisaged the presentation of approximately three thousand digitized images of the first half of the twentieth century, the result of a careful archive search. A virtual speaking book was also created, which traces the salient phases of the artist’s lively existence and a virtual visit of the museum house, to the discovery of the most important works of the master and the valuable building that hosts them, also in Italian language signs (LIS), as well as a tactile route for the blind.
The memory of the beautiful
The project realized by the General Directorate in partnership with the Superintendence at the National Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art in Rome, dedicated to people with Alzheimer’s disease, consists of a series of guided tours suitably prepared for patients and their caregivers. Studies have highlighted how art and creative occupations can play an important role in therapies addressed to these patients because they act on emotional circuits that, compared with cognitive ones, remain preserved longer in the course of the disease, improving the mood and self-esteem of individuals affected by this pathology.
Ostia Ancient city without age. Exit to painted domus
In the archaeological site of Ostia Antica, the project has funded a tour itinerary that ensures equal enjoyment of the area for all visitors.
It was intended to achieve greater accessibility of the western peripheral area of the archaeological complex (Regio III), affected by the presence of numerous domus decorated by fine mural and mural paintings, thanks to a careful design, curated by the technical officers of the Special Superintendency for Goods Archaeological of Rome.
The itinerary, largely paved with golf-car, today allows a crowd with precarious walking access to the entire Garden Garden Area and the adjacent insulae (Muse’s Insula, Yellow Wall Insula, Ierodule Insula) .
During the trip, visitors can take advantage of comfortable resting places, with ergonomic seats made using ecological materials that allow for full enjoyment of the place.
Highly understandable communicative communicative devices, expressly provided, were deployed throughout the tour itinerary.
In addition, the “Ostia Antica città senza età” App was created, enabling a multimedia itinerary to accompany the visitor on a virtual tour to the discovery of an entire residential district of the ancient Roman city.
Culture without obstacles
The “Barrier-free Culture” online public consultation aimed at heritage users has been intended to finance a place of state culture identified among the Italian excellence, for the realization of a physical and / or sensory access path, in order to allow it to be full fruition by all visitors.
The National Archaeological Museum of Cagliari presented the project “A Liquid Museum” aimed at making structural adjustments based on the principles of design for everyone, as well as multimedia courses.
The second and third place of the classified culture was financed under the same project: the National Gallery of the Marches of Urbino and the Museum and the Park of the Miramare Castle in Trieste.
Several national and technological aids have been created at the National Gallery of the Marche in order to facilitate the approach of the public with specific needs. A path has been traced to reveal the Palace and the works of the Gallery offering tactile sensory experiences together with multimedia technologies. In addition, a video – videoguide was created, in the form of an interactive book (e – book), with translation into Italian LIS (Italian language of the works), with the choice of subtitles both in Italian and English for the foreign visitors.
The Miramare Palace Museum and Park of Trieste has created a braille park guide and smart guides with a specific graphical interface for blind, visually impaired, hearing impaired and disabled motorists, to enable everyone to interact effectively with the museum and the surrounding environment independently, in accessible spaces.
Also, financed by the Directorate-General, is building an elevator within the Castle, which will make the monument visible in all its plans.