Touchin::ART

A Tactile Exploration of Art

07.01 - 01.02.2026

The Basil & Elise Goulandris Foundation, within the framework of the TouchingART programme by the NGO amaka, hosts the multisensory and collaboratively curated exhibition of tactile artworks “A Tactile Exploration of Art.” The exhibition will be presented in the Foyer of the Amphitheatre of the Foundation’s Museum in Athens (level -3), from Wednesday, January 7 to Sunday, February 1, 2026.

The exhibition, which is open to people of all identities and abilities—including both sighted visitors and visitors with blindness—features tactile artworks based on the Foundation’s permanent Collection. It includes audio descriptions in Greek, soundscapes, Braille text and adapted guided tours.

The exhibition seeks to challenge the traditional, visually centred reading of art by activating all the senses and repositioning the body and touch at the core of the interpretive process. Visitors are invited to touch, listen, explore and interact with the artworks, engaging in a multisensory process of understanding in which touch and sound play an equally decisive role.

* For individuals with blindness, the exhibition is accessible with a companion.

The interdisciplinary team of amaka consists of visual artists, musicians, sound researchers, art therapists and psychologists, with experience in approaching art as a tool for inclusion, empowerment and communication, as well as consultants with lived experience of blindness.

The TouchingART creative practice proposes that museum accessibility is an organic, co-creative process rather than a mere service. It is an art therapy–informed practice that explores sensory awareness, the subjective relationship with the image, imagination and memory as components of aesthetic response.

The TouchingART programme is implemented within the framework of the programme “Creative Greece – Promoting Universal Accessibility of People with Disabilities to Culture,” with funding and under the auspices of the Ministry of Culture.

Admission to the exhibition is free.

Contributors

Audio description services and the digital accessibility of the artworks are provided in collaboration with the cultural organisation liminal.

3D printing services are provided by Mind The Map

The TouchingART programme is implemented within the framework of the programme Creative Greece – Promoting Universal Accessibility of People with Disabilities to Culture, with funding and under the auspices of the Ministry of Culture.