museums
Accessibility, or putting people at the center
The article interprets accessibility as a systemic approach that crosses all museum functions, transforming it into a social infrastructure oriented towards well-being, participation, and recognition. Through the case of the Uffizi Galleries, it is shown how cultural mediation and inclusive design can redefine the relationship with diverse audiences. The establishment of the Department of Cultural Mediation and Accessibility marks a shift towards practices based on direct experience, listening, and co-construction. The tools activated – from Activity Bags to digital narratives, from tactile paths to multisensory experiences – respond to different needs by enhancing a plurality of languages and perceptions. A model of the museum emerges as a relational space, where accessibility becomes a continuous and shared practice of cultural citizenship.
Thin places: the fairy tale as the golden key to accessibility
This article proposes the use of fairy tales as an interpretative and design tool for accessibility in museums and cultural venues. Through concrete experiences, it demonstrates how the fairy tale structure – comprised of thresholds, stages, and transformations – can guide inclusive and multisensory exhibition itineraries. Fairy tales thus become a tool capable of integrating different languages (visual, corporeal, and auditory), facilitating audience comprehension and emotional engagement. From this perspective, accessibility is not simply the removal of barriers, but a cultural and ethical practice that enhances a plurality of perceptions and narratives. Finally, the symbolic and political dimension of fairy tales opens up alternative visions of society, promoting justice, reciprocity, and social transformation.
Museum accessibility: a duty, not an option
The article proposes accessibility as a dynamic and universal process, implying everyone and not single categories of audience. The museum is understood as an institution serving society, called to engage with communities and build shared narratives. Through concrete experiences gained in various museums of Sicily, multisensory approaches, multiple languages, and accessible tools integrated into daily practice are explored. The experiments described show how inclusion can transform places, roles, and relationships. The museum thus emerges as a living space of participation, responsibility, and civic cohesion.
Accessibility practices for temporary exhibitions
The article describes the actions of the Museo dell'Ara Pacis towards an increasingly accessible, inclusive, and participatory exhibition design. Through progressive experiments, initially aimed at specific audiences and then extended to all, accessibility becomes a structural part of the cultural project. Multisensory devices, multiple languages, and collaborations with organizations and communities transform the visiting experience. The exhibitions thus configure themselves as spaces of relationship, choice, and active interpretation. Accessibility emerges as a lever for innovation and rethinking the museum as a public service.
Accessibility in museums: an investment that creates the future
The text reflects on the numerous impacts related to considering accessibility as a strategic principle to redefine the public role of museums. Accessibility policies build proximity, capable of creating trusting relationships and fostering new forms of participation. In this sense, the opening to the sensory-perceptual dimension in the visit paths enriches the museum narrative, welcoming new audiences; as well as the use of technologies as enablers of meaning. All these accessible interventions produce measurable returns, also in terms of economic sustainability: a mature managerial reading of the phenomenon shows how these interventions generate value in the medium-long term. Accessibility also produces effects on the level of social sustainability, expanding cultural citizenship, reducing inequalities, and generating relational well-being. Accessibility is therefore a fundamental lever for the future of museums and, above all, an investment that produces the future.
Co-designing culture: ethics and complexity for a more accessible museum
The author, Miriam Mandosi, reflects on the meaning and construction of co-design processes for cultural accessibility in the museums. She conveys the ethical implications and outlines the various phases, from ideation to the ongoing maintenance of the action.
Beyond the Frames: Museums, Identity, and Intersectional Perspectives
Simone Briatore reflects on museum narratives through the lens of intersectionality and the relationship established with the audience.