In a listed building at 198 Doiranis Street in the Athens district of Kallithea is a museum that is different from any other, according to ANA.
Instead of hiding exhibits in glass cases and keeping visitors a safe distance away, it actively encourages them to handle and feel the items on display, literally inviting them to get “in touch” with the top examples of Greek culture and civilization through the ages.
The so-called Tactual Museum founded by the Lighthouse for the Blind of Greece was created to allow the visually impaired to become acquainted with Greece’s cultural heritage using their sense of touch. The exhibits are faithful replicas of original artifacts on display in Greek museums that range from the Cycladic and Minoan eras of prehistory to the Geometric, Archaic, Hellenistic and Roman periods of Greek history.
It is now one of five tactile museums on the planet, allowing the non-sighted to become acquainted with masterpieces such as the Venus of Milo, Praxiteles’ Hermes, the Charioteer at Delphi and a model of the Athens Acropolis, among others.
For the sighted that visit the museum, it is an opportunity to discover how to develop their sense of touch and to enter the world of the visually impaired for a short while. They can learn about the museum’s history and what a visual disability is. They can use a mask to cover their eyes and try to find their way around the museum with a white stick and a companion, attempting to understand the artworks by touch rather than sight.
The museum also features has a Byzantine-era section and galleries designed to sensitize the public to the Olympic Games and the Paralympics, as well as a pottery and sculpture workshop for the sight-impaired.
It gets nearly 1,000 visitors a month with free entrance for those with a vision disability and two euros for everyone else. It operates by appointment, at telephone number 210 9415222, from 9:00 until 14:00.
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Photo Source: pxhere.com/
