Garage Museum of Contemporary Art has become partner in Osoby Vzglyad (Unique Vision), an information resource for blind and partially sighted people.

Alisher Usmanov’s Art, Science, and Sport Charity Foundation, in partnership with Garage Museum of Contemporary Art, has launched a new information resource Osoby Vzglyad (Unique Vision)—a multifunctional Internet platform for blind and partially sighted people, which has no analogs in Russia.

This resource is set to provide access for blind and partially sighted people to the data they need, taking their lives to a new level and encouraging more active socialization. The platform was launched on October 15, 2018, coinciding with White Cane Safety Day (http://specialview.org/).

“Working with blind and partially sighted visitors was the first step towards the development of Garage Museum of Contemporary Art’s Inclusive program. Starting with special guided tours back in 2014, it now embraces a variety of activities, such as adaption of exhibition projects, tactile model production, audio descriptions of lectures, and training programs for the professional community. Since 2015, Art, Science, and Sport Charity Foundation has been the patron of the Museum’s education program, and its inclusive projects in particular. We are so happy that our partnership is evolving, attaining new forms and depths of cooperation”—says Ekaterina Vladimirtseva, Head of Garage Education.

The resource will publish the latest news about inclusive projects, medical and technical innovations in the field of ophthalmology, interviews with audio description educators and psychologists, motivating life stories of people with diverse sight abilities, as well as a schedule of cultural, educational, and sport events across the country, adapted specially for people with sight limitations. The biggest audio description online cinema in Russia will also be available for visitors to the new Internet resource, while all the materials available on the website, can be downloaded both as texts and audio recordings for the convenience of our users.

“Modern Russian society sees the accessible environment as merely a space equipped with wheelchair ramps and elevators. But even today there are a lot of inclusive projects taking place in many cities and technological innovations worthy of discussion and presentation. The problem of isolation of people with different physical abilities also remains pivotal. The Osoby Vzglyad (Unique Vision) platform is aimed at breaking down the wall between institutions that create and promote inclusive environments, on the one hand, and blind people who may not always be aware of their programs and events, on the other. Over seventy organizations across Russia are currently working on the development of this resource”—says Maria Melnichenko, Programming Director at Art, Science, and Sport Charity Foundation.