December 3 is the “International Day of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities” promoted by the Ministry of Culture to underline the importance of access to cultural heritage, respecting the maximum inclusion of each citizen, without limitations or distinctions, also in line with the principles dictated by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
The Archaeological Park of Pompeii has long been committed to ensuring the widest possible enjoyment of the archaeological sites under its jurisdiction by all its public through cultural itineraries and initiatives that are implemented and enriched every year by the increasingly active presence of local institutions and communities.
The “Pompeii for All” route has been active at the Pompeii site since 2016, a facilitated visit itinerary of over 3,5 km – with the removal of architectural barriers where possible – which, from the entrance in Piazza Anfiteatro, allows you to cross the entire ancient city up to the Forum, with access to the most significant buildings and domus.
The facilitated route is linked to a series of initiatives aimed at making the visit experience complete and accessible to all. In some areas of the site, examples of multilevel use of spaces have been tested, with particular attention to the visually impaired. Tactile 3D models and explanatory supports in Braille are present in the environment of a stable, in front of the house of Ceres and at the tannery complex, accessible from Via Stabiana. In the first case, it is a model of the skeleton of a horse found in 1938 by Amedeo Maiuri, while in the other, the tactile supports help to understand how the leather processing was carried out in ancient times.
Since October, the suburban villas of the Great Pompeii, Villa Arianna and Villa San Marco in Castellammare di Stabia have also been adapted with facilitated routes without architectural barriers and with systems for overcoming differences in level, which today allow everyone to comfortably visit the villas and the green areas that surround them and which have been the subject of dedicated enhancement interventions.
Also in the villas of Stabia, but also at the Villa of Poppea in Oplontis and at Villa Regina in Boscoreale, it is possible to use - through the My Pompeii App or through monitors installed in the main rooms - accessible and universal multimedia itineraries in sign language, to remove barriers to understanding and communication. The project "Enjoy LIS Art - Inclusive multimedia itineraries on the artistic and cultural heritage of Campania accessible to deaf people" is promoted by the Campania Region Department of Schools, Social Policies and Youth Policies in collaboration with ENS - National Agency for the protection and assistance of the deaf.
Cognitive-sensory disabilities are, instead, at the center of memoranda of understanding such as the network "Campania tra le Mani. Inclusive itineraries in places of art", coordinated by the University Service for Activities of Students with Disabilities and DSA - Suor Orsola Benincasa University, and made up of public and private museums and trade associations; "Museum for everyone. Accessible to people with intellectual disabilities", a project in collaboration with the association L'Abilità onlus and financed by the De Agostini Foundation, aimed at creating a guide in simplified language Easytoread; and the agreement with the Tulipano social cooperative and the Federico II University, Department of Translational Medical Sciences for the creation of experimental paths of use of the domus of the Park and for the creation of training internships and job placement for people and children with autism and/or cognitive disabilities "I Ragazzi di Plinio", of the Pompeii Rehabilitation Center, through social agriculture projects.
As part of this latest collaboration in Pompeii, a first interactive visual agenda has already been developed, “Pompei in blue – Journey into the house of Menander”, which is proposed as a tool to encourage emotional interaction and enjoyment of the work of art through interactive activities. The agenda is part of the series “Inclusive museum itineraries” which to date offers five museum itineraries at the network of museums adhering to “Tulipano Art Friendly”.
Furthermore, on December 5th at the Palestra Grande in Pompeii, from 10,00:12,30 to 2:XNUMX, a workshop on co-design and inclusive participatory cooperation will be organized, open to visitors to the Park, to young high school students (the students of the XNUMX° E liceo TRED class of the “E. Pascal” high school in Pompeii will participate) and to the young people of the “Tulipano Art Friendly” for the definition of experimental proposals for universal use of two green areas of Pompeii located in Regio II (a garden along the Via di Nocera and a green area along the Vicolo dei Fuggiaschi).
The project proposals and ideas born from the workshop will be an integral part of the future arrangement of the areas for their inclusive use. The Workshop will be led and coordinated by Paolo Mighetto and Maurizio Bartolini of the “Cura del Verde” Area of the Pompeii Park and by Giovanni Minucci of the Cooperativa Il Tulipano.
As part of the initiative, “I Ragazzi di Plinio” will make Christmas wreaths and lavender bags with natural elements collected in the green areas of the domus of Pompeii.
The aim of all these initiatives is to underline the essence of cultural places as an expression of beauty, a source of individual and social well-being, personal and community development and places where the fragility of Art and Archaeology is experienced by people who are also fragile, triggering a virtuous circle where sustainability, inclusion and well-being can find their source in history and culture and promote the valorization of personal and territorial identity.
EDITORIAL TEAM
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