Touching and “feeling” art. Multisensory communication of perspective-based paintings for inclusion

Visual impairment / visual arts… an impossible juxtaposition? Given the unlimited possibilities that modern technologies permit, today we cannot avoid a social inclusion-driven research for the fruition of paintings. As Rudolph Arnheim reminds us, art is the evocation of live in all its completeness, purity and intensity, therefore it should not allow barriers; it is then necessary to investigate solutions in order to bridge the gap between the visually impaired and the sighted in the enjoyment of painting. Moreover, in the case of artworks characterized by perspectiva artificialis, the task of reflecting on tactile and multisensory transpositions capable of guiding the blind user in the comprehension of the mechanisms of perspective belongs to the representation specialist. The image metaphorically suggests the need to work on multisensory communication strategies that could allow to “touch” and “feel” a painting centred on perspective. The aim is highly pedagogical: to communicate a perspectival painting, so that even those who normally re- late to art exclusively through sight will real- ize they are able to “see” more.