Sightless people get to know the Kazan Kremlin with tactile models

Audio description: photo in color. Against the blue sky the Transfiguration gate tower of the Kazan Kremlin is seen. It is lit by the setting sun. The rectangular-shaped tower is made of white stone, with a wooden tent-shaped roof. Behind there are high turquoise spires of 6 minarets and the dome of Kul Sarif Mosque.

The facades of the architectural monuments of the Museum-reserve “The Kazan Kremlin” will get tactile copies, accessible for sightless and visually impaired people. The models will be placed in the city thanks to the “Special View” program of “Art, Science and Sport” charity foundation.

“The Kazan Kremlin aims to become inclusive for everybody. We develop and launch inclusive programs since 2018. These tactile models, produced with the grant support, will let the sightless visitors study the architectural monuments of the Kazan Kremlin in details”, says Ilnur Rahimoh, the director of the Museum-reserve “The Kazan Kremlin”.

The tactile models will be introduced to public on September 15 — everybody can sign up for the event via the link.

The guests with visual impairments will be able to study the tactile copies of the facades of Spasskaya tower, Kul Sarif Mosque, Annunciation Cathedral, Syuyumbike Tower, the residence of the President of the Republic of Tatarstan. The models were produced in Olga and Mikhail Shu’s studio. The copies are supposed to be used for inclusive architectural tours and outside events for sightless and visually impaired people.

Kazan got their tactile models as the reward for the victory of the local museum in the competition “Creation of copies of museum exhibits” in the “Special View” program by Alisher Usmanov’s “Art, Science and Sport” charity foundation.

“In the Kazan Kremlin we work with different types of visitors with visual impairments. For sightless and visually impaired guests we provide guided tours ‘Touch the Kremlin’ with the use of the tactile models”, says Daria Muratova, the inclusive programs curator and the head of the department of scientific and methodological work in the Museum-reserve “The Kazan Kremlin”.

The Kazan Kremlin welcomes more than 3 mln of visitors a year.

It is worth mentioning, that previously the tactile copies were provided for five items from the Gulag History Museum, Perm Art Gallery got their own copies for the painting of Russian artists, and Orenburg Governor’s Regional Museum made the collection of the Sarmatian gold accessible for sightless and visually impaired visitors. All these Russian institutions, along with the Kazan Kremlin, became the winners of the grant competition to create tactile copies of their exhibits, which took place in the end of 2021.