Open days make gallery and accompanying programmes more accessible to a wider audience. On this year's This Merry Day of Culture, the permanent collection is brought closer to blind and visually impaired visitors. Our first tactile adaptation of a painting has been installed in the permanent collection. In the future we wish to augment the collection with similar adaptations and copies of sculptures meant to be touched. This will enable a unique and personal experience of works of art, not just for blind and visually impaired visitors but also for other visitors.
For the tactile adaptation we have chosen a painting that Mihael Stroj painted around 1855. According to our survey, the portrait of Luiza Pesjak is among the most popular pictures in the National Gallery of Slovenia. It is characterized by melancholic and romantic mood of the subject and by her elegant wear with characteristically Biedermeier fashion accessories.
Several co-workers contributed to the project; especially valuable was Barbara Kotnik, who is working for the project Accessibility of cultural heritage to vulnerable groups. The author of the tactile adaptation is Tjaša Krivec, who transferred the most important features of the Stroj's picture to the innovative UV print. With embossed contours and six different relief structures, she defined all the crucial elements of the portrait.
To the tactile adaptation and the legend on the display counter we added samples of three kinds of fabric - silk, plush, and fur, which Mihael Stroj so convincingly painted in the portrait. To the upper corner we chained a quizzing glass similar to the one in the picture, which can be used as a magnifying glass with the magnifying power of five. An audio narration, a large-format text, a text in Braille, and corresponding English translations have also been added.
Design of the tactile adaptation
Tjaša Krivec
Project leader
Kristina Preininger
Partner of the project Accessibility of cultural heritage to vulnerable groups
Barbara Kotnik
Design of the display counter and the legend
Ranko Novak
Quizzing glass fabrication
Cristoph Steidl Porenta
Technical Works
Tina Buh, Luka Hribar
From 3 December 2014
Narodna galerija
Prešernova 24
1000 Ljubljana