The Uffizi tells deaf people about their works online with sign language

On the occasion of the International Day for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities on December 3, the Uffizi Gallery and theNational Board of the Deaf present Uffizi for All, a project that makes the works preserved by the Uffizi accessible to the deaf through sign language.

The initiative consists of a series of video-descriptions in which Nicola Della Maggiora, a young deaf theater and television actor, provides a description of the various works on display for those who cannot hear a guide, all by simply visiting the video section of the Uffizi’s official website and more specifically by clicking on The Gallery in the Language of Signs. The works presented in the videos include Gentile da Fabriano’sAdoration of the Magi, Leonardo da Vinci ’sAnnunciation, and, of course, Sandro Botticelli’s Birth of Venus, to name a few.

The project, according to director Eike Schmidt, “goes back to the first opening of the Uffizi, under Grand Duke Pietro Leopoldo, in 1769, when everyone could come in to see these great treasures gathered in the museum, not just people from the upper classes. On St. John’s Day, once a year, the Uffizi was open free to all. Now making the Uffizi accessible and inclusive to everyone is really a challenge. We also want to enhance the Sign Language, which is for all intents and purposes a real language.”

Giuseppe Petrucci, president of the National Board of the Deaf, says, "Art and culture is a dynamic and sensitive world in our country, and now, by virtue of a real culture of accessibility, the Uffizi Galleries bring deaf people closer to our cultural heritage. The Ens has for years been attentive to cultural enhancement and usability projects-such as Maps. Accessible Museums for Deaf People and AccessIbItaly - and we are really pleased and proud that, even in these difficult and complex times, initiatives for an ever better social inclusion of deaf people are increasing."

The Uffizi tells deaf people about their works online with sign language

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