Touching art
An international reference point in aesthetic education for the blind and visually impaired, the Omero Museum is today a unique and “barrier-free” space where everyone can experience art through touch.
The Omero State Tactile Museum
Established in 1993 by the Municipality of Ancona with the contribution of the Marche Region, inspired by the Italian Union of the Blind, the Omero Museum was recognized by Parliament in 1999 as a State Museum with Law number 452 of November 25, 1999, confirming its unique significance at the national level.
In the summer of 2012, the Museum began moving into the eighteenth-century halls of the Vanvitelliana Mole in Ancona, making part of the permanent collection accessible and activating the Documentation and Research Center, educational workshops, and offices.
The creation of the new Omero Museum at the Mole is a long process, still ongoing, aimed at creating an innovative and multisensory exhibition path, technologically advanced and developed over 1500 sqm with a total of about 300 works.
The Exhibition Path
Currently the exhibition path occupies the spaces below the level of the internal courtyard with direct access from the perimeter courtyard of the Mole: these are 450 sqm destined in the future to host the “Made in Italy” section curated and realized by the Tod’s corporate group, in line with the purposes and exhibition methods of the new Omero Museum.
The setup offers about 150 works from the permanent collection organized in chronological order, as adopted in the previous location.
The path includes true-to-life copies in plaster and resin of famous sculptures from Greek classicism to the early twentieth century, passing through Etruscan, Roman, Romanesque, and Gothic art; the Renaissance of Michelangelo; Bernini’s Baroque; Canova’s Neoclassicism. One room is dedicated to the “Sculpted Movement” from the Louvre, aimed at celebrating the body in motion through five actions: effort, dance, running, flight, and fall.
The exhibition path ends with original works from the rich contemporary art section featuring Italian and international artists from figurative and informal areas: Valeriano Trubbiani, Girolamo Ciulla, Edgardo Mannucci, Umberto Mastroianni, André Barelier, Sergio Zanni, Pierre Carron, Pietro Annigoni, Aron Demetz, Francesco Messina, Loreno Sguanci, Vittorio Morelli, Sanzio Blasi, Roberto Papini, Floriano Bodini, Rosario Ruggiero, Felice Tagliaferri. This section has recently been prestigious enhanced by acquisitions of famous sculptors such as Consagra, Martini, Marini, De Chirico, Pomodoro.
The collection, accessible and tactile, offers an overview of plastic and sculptural art of all times. Arranged along a functional path, it is also stimulating for all those interested in exploring the connection between art and multisensoriality. Escalators are present to explore sculptures by touch at height, educational aids for the blind and visually impaired such as relief boards and information sheets on the works, available in Braille and large print.
Architectural models and archaeological finds are in storage or under restoration, waiting to be relocated in the final setup of the new Museum.
It is also possible to admire in the Leopardi Room of the Vanvitelliana Mole the recent gift from Maestro Michelangelo Pistoletto to the Omero Museum, the large work “Recycled Italy”.
To encourage a synesthetic approach to reality, the Museum, with its many years of experience, organizes numerous educational activities for schools, families, and groups with guided and blindfolded visits, and accessible workshops on themes of sensory education, contemporary art, diversity, and archaeology. It also offers a free permanent art training service for the blind and visually impaired and refresher and training courses for teachers and operators.
The Museum is equipped with a bookshop, a conference room, and a rich Documentation Center, open for consultation and specializing in the fields of special pedagogy and accessibility to museum heritage for people with disabilities, with publications on the theme published by the Museum itself.
Finally, its cultural promotion activity is clear and expresses itself through exhibitions, cultural reviews, conferences, consultations, projects, seminars, and collaborations and cultural exchanges in Italy and abroad.
Information
Entrance to the museum: free.
Visits and activities are paid (3 euros per person) and by reservation.
All initiatives are free for disabled people and their companions.
Information about the Omero State Tactile Museum
Mole Vanvitelliana, 28
60121 Ancona (Ancona)
0712811935
info@museoomero.it
https://www.museoomero.it
SUMMER HOURS: from June 15 to September 15: Tuesday to Friday 6 PM – 10 PM; Saturday and Sunday 10 AM – 1 PM and 6 PM – 10 PM. Morning: open by reservation for groups. Closed: Monday, August 15.
free
Source: MIBACT
