Museum for All

One of the characteristics that noticeably burdens a person’s condition of disability is the reduced possibility of interacting with the environment, of moving freely in it, of getting to know it. We know how important it is for a child, any child, to be able to move around to get to know and learn. The Ability association Onlus of Milan reminds us of this with many of its initiatives for children with serious disabilities. The main objective of this association – born in 1988 by some parents and administrators in response to the lack of references that left families alone – was precisely to promote the growth of children in this condition, defend their rights and support their families. In our country, the dominant perspective with which we look at disability is often still linked to the medical condition alone, neglecting the importance of the environment and sociality in which we live. At The Ability we work to facilitate these interactions and relationships in every possible context of life, dealing not only with therapy or school settings and architectural barriers in cities, but opening our gaze to public spaces.

This is how it was born Museum for All, launched with the De Agostini Foundation, so that places of culture were accessible not only physically but also cognitively to a public that, until then, had been excluded. The possibility of facilitating access to those with intellectual disabilities took shape in 2014 with the pilot project of the Leonardo da Vinci National Museum of Science and Technology in Milan. “Scienzabile – inclusion and game between science and disability” represented a new way to live the museum experience: tailored materials, specific visits to the collections and inclusive lab activities, with the idea that everyone has different skills that need to be enhanced in a context of cooperation. Since then, the idea has spread to other institutions, allowing the public to experience inclusive museum visits, to perceive the beauty of cultural heritage, to understand it because it is thoroughly explained, to internalize it because it is lived on a cognitive and emotional level.

The Museum for All project is structured in a three-phase path: context analysis, training, and structuring of the visit. In the first phase, a working group composed of experts in cultural heritage and accessibility, and professionals in the psychopedagogical field, analyze the peculiarities of each participating museum. In the second, together with the museum staff, an innovative training and co-design program is developed: the quality of human interaction with the staff is essential for a serene and fruitful visit. Finally, the phase involves the creation of essential tools to ensure an enjoyable and accessible visit, including specific routes and easy-to-read guides. These are already active in museums such as Beni FAI, Palazzo Altemps, Villa Gregoriana in Rome, Museum of the Innocents in Florence, Venaria Reale in Turin, and others listed on the labilita.org website.

In short, all that remains is to cross the threshold of these places that, as cultural and artistic heritage, truly contribute to making us a community. No one excluded.