The Accessibility of UGM for Blind and Partially Sighted Visitors

Some years ago, it was hard to imagine that the visual arts could be suitably presented to blind and partially sighted people. When the initiative came in to welcome this target group to our premises in 2011, we began researching how to present our artworks to them as authentically as possible. We received help from the experts who were already paving the way for the blind and partially sighted to the world of visual arts. Dr. Aksinja Kermauner encouraged us to freely use the word "look" when talking to them. The academic painter Katja Bednařik Sudec and her project group SOdelujem introduced the concept of multi-sensory tours to our exhibitions. Dr. Jerneja Herzog and her students of art pedagogy from the University of Maribor prepared several tactile models of the exhibited artworks. In cooperation with Radio Maribor, we have been preparing audio descriptions of artworks from the UGM Collection, which can be listened to online at home or directly in front of the artworks with the help of a smartphone or tablet. The key person building bridges between the Maribor Art Gallery (UGM) and the people with visual impairments has been Darinka Lozinšek, a member of the Maribor Intermunicipal Association of the Blind and Partially Sighted − MDSSMB , who has been encouraging members of associations of the blind and partially sighted throughout Slovenia to visit exhibitions at the UGM.

Sound descriptions can be listened to by the blind and partially sighted here.
Audio descriptions are also available for listening on the Youtube channel here.

List of audio descriptions:
1 − Živko Marušič, Dreams
2 − Petra Varl, Swimmer
3 − Nataša Prosenc Stearns, The Coast
4 − Elsa Oeltjen Kasimir, Boat
5 − Ivan Grohar, Chapel (Chapel in Crngrob)
6 − Avgusta Šantel Jr.., Flowers in a Vase
7 − Ivan Kos, Girl with Orange
8 − Tone Kralj, My Wife
9 − Jakob Savinšek, Portrait of H.
10 − Rudolf Kotnik, Cut-up Field
11 − Metka Krašovec, Ascending Water
12 − Slavko Tihec, Aquamobil (Kinetic Object: Concentrates III)
13 − Dragica Čadež, Variations on Folding
14 − Miran Mišo Hochstätter, Nature Morte No. 2
15 − Janko Andrej Jelnikar, Headless Man
16 − Metka Kavčič, Tablecloth
17 − Zdenko Huzjan, Pillow of Earth and Heaven
18 − Sandi Červek, A Painting
19 − Darko Golija, The Sucking Position