Professional morning event to raise awareness about cultural outreach for people with disabilities

©Direction de la Communication / Manuel Vitali

For several years, the Nouveau Musée National de Monaco has launched visits and workshops that are accessible to audiences with disabilities.

As part of the “AGORA – the museum as a meeting place – LAB#3 at Villa Sauber, which spotlights public programmes and outreach, the museum’s visitor teams hosted a professional morning event on Thursday 20 March to raise awareness among cultural organizations in the Principality.

After a general introduction by the NMNM’s Visitor Manager Benjamin Laugier and Cultural Coordinator Coline Matarazzo, Lionel Galfré, Technical Advisor for disabilities at the Ministry of Health and Social Affairs, recalled the Government’s commitment to improving the inclusion – everywhere – of people with disabilities living in the Principality, insisting that it concerned everyone.

Offering full access to exhibitions is not only about allowing physical entry to a space; it is about giving everyone the opportunity to experience, feel and understand the art, regardless of their sensory, motor or cognitive abilities.

Four museum partners took part in an information session about the different kinds of disabilities and outreach tools and services: Arrimage for visual disabilities, represented by its Chair Claude Garrandès; AMAPEI (Association Monégasque pour l’Enfance Inadaptée) for mental disabilities, represented by Luc Denis, General Manager and Céline L’Hospital, Department Manager; La Roseraie Psychiatry and Medical Psychology Unit, represented by Dr Frédéric Comparon, Deputy Head of Department and Psychiatrist, accompanied by Sabrina Mazzola, Art Therapist, and Melahat Zorlu for hearing disabilities.

After these presentations, participants took part in two hands-on workshops to test the experience of a visit as a visually impaired or hearing impaired visitor.

The goal of the event was to encourage cultural venues to take the steps necessary to welcome visitors with disabilities who can access, discover and perceive the art in an exhibition. The workshops, attended by the Department of Cultural Affairs, the Museum of Prehistoric Anthropology, the Grimaldi Forum, the Oceanographic Museum of Monaco, the NMNM and the CFM Indosuez, mobilised cultural stakeholders to raise awareness about presenting exhibitions to visually impaired and hearing impaired audiences as well as people suffering from psychiatric and other mental disabilities.