Deborah tells us about the importance of art for the blind.
"I believe that a person with a visual impairment, through touch and the use of the other senses, can get closer to the vision the artist wanted to give or wants to give of his work".
Speaking is Deborah Tramentozzi, blind, who in 'Beyond the dark', the first episode of 'Art for the blind', the project dedicated to art for the blind supported by Sifi (Società industria farmaceutica italiana), tells how and why art can also become accessible to the visually impaired and blind.
"Vision is a panoramic sense- continues Deborah- so the sighted person very often only looks at the work of art for a moment, without lingering. Touch, on the other hand, is that particular sense that requires more technical time and helps to appreciate those details that may escape sight.
To me- says Deborah again- It has happened that I have been confronted with sighted people in front of the same work and I have noticed details that they had not grasped and seen them stunned, because they had not realised something that had perhaps always been there.
I like to think that if the artist has included even the smallest detail in his work, he has a reason...'.
The project 'Art for the blind' has the specific objective of making the reproduction of a priceless historical monumental work of Imperial Rome, the Ara Pacis, accessible to the blind and visually impaired, rendered in a multisensory mode, for a moment in which not only cultural, educational and didactic values but also social benefits are expressed.
"This initiative,' explains Sifi, 'marks an improvement in the quality of life for the visually impaired, who for the first time become the protagonists of the emotions that works of art give and the beneficiaries of their historical testimony, as in the case of the symbol of peace that Augustus wanted to consign to history,' he concludes, 'in an evocative meeting place such as the Ara Pacis Museum.
Read also the article 'Art for the blind'
Dr. Carmelo Chines
Direttore responsabile
English 
Italian