ART BEYOND THE VISIBLE IS NOW ACCESSIBLE TO EVERYONE IN KROMBERK
MOUNTAIN MUSEUM
Kromberk, March 22, 2025: After the Goriška Museum opened the Museum in June 2023, at the initiative of the GO! 2025 began to develop an exhibition project that is part of the official European Capital of Culture 2025 Nova Gorica – Gorizia programme, and invited the Inter-Municipal Association of the Blind and Visually Impaired Nova Gorica and KUD Artes to join the partnership, yesterday at the Mercator Centre Nova Gorica put the result of creative and innovative cooperation on display and touch to the public.
The exhibition is divided into two sections: “Stet that exists” includes customized copies, models, and tactile reliefs that allow visitors to travel through art history from ancient Greece to the present day. Eight exhibits were borrowed from the Omero Museum in Ancona, and three from the Anteros Museum in Bologna, while the rest of the works were created in collaboration with Slovenian and foreign galleries, academies and high schools, which created interpretations and copies of the highlights of Slovenian and world art. This interaction continues, so we will add more good practices in the coming months.
A unique contribution to accessible art, however, is “The World in the Making.” 17 artists from Slovenia, Italy and Croatia stepped out of their usual creative processes and created works of art just for this exhibition. Dragan Abram, president of KUD Artes: “Everyone we invited accepted this challenge and carried out their work to the end. A wide variety of materials are covered, from metal, stone, wood, ceramics, plastics, rubber and others. At first, I expected that certain things would have to be simplified, because visitors would not only look, but also touch, but I was really surprised to find that if a person has a sense of art, whether he is blind, visually impaired or sighted, he perceives it exactly the same.”
The main message of the exhibition is that art is not only a privilege for those without disabilities, but a right of all. That through collaboration and reflection we can overcome barriers and create a space where art is not only seen, but also felt. “From the very beginning, we were aware that accessibility is not only substantive, but also physical. The exhibition space is practically free of architectural barriers, allows parking for people with disabilities and offers an equal experience for all visitors,” said the project manager, curator pedagogue at the Goriška Museum, David Kožuh, who emphasizes that the project was not limited only to the preparation of the exhibition, but also included the process of education.
Vladimir Peruničič, director of the Goriška Museum: “I am glad that we have gathered enough courage and strength to carry out an exhibition that goes beyond what has already been seen. The success of this experiment is by no means self-evident. With the exhibition, we are also expanding our museum horizons, because we are going beyond our own rules that we should not touch the exhibited objects. The way we do it is also a valuable experience for us.”
The crowd gathered at the grand opening, which was accompanied by a number of distinguished guests, was as colorful and international as the exhibition itself. Dr Asta Vrečko, Minister of Culture, also addressed the audience: “The greatest victory of art and culture is when it crosses walls and goes among people and creates new worlds, insights and communities between them. Our job is to create opportunities for accessibility. Such projects are demanding and pioneering, and it may seem that they appeal to a narrow group of people, but in reality this is the essence of art – creating a world of the possible, the possible, stimulating the imagination and a new exhibition space outside the classic gallery frames is, like the European Capital of Culture, a place where our differences connect us.”
Igor Miljavec, President of the IMFS Nova Gorica: “Nova Gorica has a strategic accessibility plan and is an example of good practice for Slovenia. 25 years ago, when I started leading the association, we only dreamed of it, today we have a professional team, including a typhlopedagogue, and last but not least, it is with great pleasure and pride that we are opening an exhibition that is friendly to all vulnerable groups.”
Mija Lorbek, MSc, director of the GO! 2025: “Being able to enjoy art is not a given. However, the content of the tactile gallery should not be limited to vulnerable groups. We can all learn a lot from them; how to feel things in a different way and how to go beyond your limits.”
The exhibition was accompanied by a catalogue in Slovenian, Italian and English with contributions from some established experts in the field of accessibility of fine arts, equipped with QR codes that lead to audio descriptions of individual works of art. In addition to the above, students of the Academy of Arts of the University of Nova Gorica have created a video that will tell the story of the project even after the end of the exhibition. To make it accessible to everyone, we took care of subtitles, sign language and audio descriptions.
In addition to the visual arts, the groundbreaking event with movement and music was enriched by performers who also transcend borders: the blind student Zara Smrtnik sang, the blind dancer Jana Führer enchanted in a duet with the professional dancer mag. Igor Sviderski, and the equally blind Mila Vučko makes her dreams come true with a beaked flute.
We toasted the art beyond the visible with the wine of the Brda Cellar, which printed a label in Braille on the bottles for this occasion.
SCHEDULE: The new exhibition, which we want to become permanent, is on view Monday through Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. and from 1:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.