Together with the UIRS team, we visited the tactile gallery in Kromberk.
The tactile gallery The Art Beyond the Visible is the first of its kind in Slovenia – visitors can not only see artworks but also touch them, opening up an entirely new, multisensory way of experiencing art.
The tactile gallery is the first of its kind in Slovenia – visitors can not only see but also touch the artworks, opening an entirely new, multisensory way of experiencing them. The gallery focuses primarily on art perceived through touch, ensuring full accessibility to those who usually cannot experience art – the blind and visually impaired – while offering an alternative and enriching encounter for everyone else by engaging a sense not usually foregrounded in art appreciation.
The project is the result of a decade of development and collaboration. The Goriški Muzej took over the exhibition in June 2023 and, together with the Intermunicipal Association of the Blind and Visually Impaired Nova Gorica and KUD Artes, brought it to fruition. Key figures include David Kožuh (project leader), Igor Miljavec (president of the association), Mija Lorbek (director of GO! 2025), and Vladimir Peruničič (director of the Goriška Museum).
All four Slovenian universities and several secondary schools participated in the project. Tiflopedagogical training was organized for students, artists, curators, and other professionals, leading to the realization of the exhibition, which forms part of the European Capital of Culture Nova Gorica – Gorizia 2025 programme.
The exhibition is divided into two sections.
First presents tactile interpretations of artworks from antiquity to the present, created in collaboration with museums from Italy (such as Omero in Ancona and Anteros in Bologna) and numerous Slovenian institutions, academies, and schools.
Second features original works designed specifically for tactile experience, contributed by 17 artists from Slovenia, Italy, and Croatia.
A notable example is the tactile interpretation of a graphic work by Avgust Černigoj, translated into relief-fired ceramics by students of the Academy of Fine Arts and Design, University of Ljubljana, under the mentorship of Dr. Kristina Rutar and Boštjan Drinovec.
The exhibition is installed in the Mercator Center in Kromberk and will remain open until 13 December 2025.
Worth a visit!