Leisure

Museums and Galleries

Summary: A list of accessible museum and gallery events

Why not visit a museum or gallery?

An increasing number of venues have services or events accessible to blind and partially sighted people. A selection of just a few of these is listed here and is updated monthly.

Special Announcement:

Open House Weekend 2008 - Audio Described architecture Tours

Sat 20 & Sun 21 September 2008

VocalEyes is proud to announce that we will again be audio describing four of the buildings taking part in this year’s Open House Weekend.

Open House Weekend is an annual event inviting people to experience, explore, and understand architecture, design and the built environment.  This year blind and partially sighted people will again have the opportunity to go on an audio described tour of four of the outstanding and diverse examples of historic and iconic London buildings.

Do come and join us on the audio described tours over Open House Weekend of: City Gate House and 50 Finsbury Square, Lloyds of London, Low Energy Victorian House towards zero carbon dwellings and The Brunswick Centre.

Each tour will be led by one of our Describers with a representative from the Architectural Firm or Building on hand to answer any questions you may have about the building.

This is a rare chance to have a look around some of the iconic buildings which make up the cityscape and architecture of London

Tours should last no longer than 90 minutes.  

Please contact the VocalEyes office on 020 7375 1043 for more details and to book your place on one or all of the audio described tours.

The Open House Weekend audio described tours have been supported again by a generous donation from Ashurst.

The Buildings 
City Gate House & 50 Finsbury Square
Sat 20 Sep – Tour Starts: 11am

Architects - Axis Design & Powell-Tuck Associates/Foster and Partners
Building Dates - 1920/2000

Originally a gentlemen's club by Giles Gilbert Scott, now HQ of Bloomberg and transformed internally. Expansion into the new Foster building increased their presence in this urban block. Key features include ground floor TV studios and glass-and-steel central staircase.

Lloyds of London
20 Sep - Tour starts: 2.30pm

Architects - Richard Rogers Partnership
Building Date - 1986

Home of Lloyd's international insurance market and one of the City's most celebrated buildings, this is - like Rogers' Pompidou Centre in Paris - a key example of British High-Tech architecture. RIBA Award Winner. Sustainable features include many ahead of their time with new initiatives introduced in recent years to further improve energy efficiency.

The Brunswick Centre
Sun 21 Sep - Tour Starts: 1pm

Architects – Patrick Hodgkinson/Levitt Bernstein
Building Date - 1966-71 – 2005-06

Listed 1960s reinforced concrete megastructure conceived as a self-contained environment of flats, shops, cinema and parking. Refurbished 2005-06 by Levitt Bernstein and original architect.

Low Energy Victorian House towards zero carbon dwellings
Sun 21 Sep - Tour Starts: 4pm

Sustainable Energy Academy.
Building Date - 2008


A rare example of a solid-walled Victorian house which has been refurbished with the aim of reducing emissions by 80%.
The challenge was to show how Victorian and other period housing can be bequeathed to future generations so that they benefit from their heritage value without being burdened with the millstone of high emissions in a low carbon future.

British Museum, London

The British Museum has audio description features on their online collections, known as COMPASS.

This website tour features audio description of twenty objects from the collections. Artefacts are described in such detail so as to enable blind or partially sighted people to have a deeper appreciation and understanding of the item being discussed.

The Department of Learning and Information commissioned Vocaleyes to help the Museum construct this tour. Experienced describers wrote the texts in conjunction with the Museum's curators. Links on each page allow you to listen to the audio (mp3) or download it onto your computer. You are of course invited to put them on a portable mp3 player / iPod and visit the objects in the Museum's galleries.

The British Museum have also introduced this facility to Children’s COMPASS, this has been designed from the outset with blind and partially sighted users in mind. A text-only version of most screens enables screen-readers to browse. Children aged 7-11 can browse hundreds of fascinating Museum artefacts and take tours on a wide range of subjects, including key topics from the National Curriculum.

Other provision includes thermal images and Braille books, located next to seating areas, and a handling session where visitors can touch objects under supervision. Contact the British Museum’s Access Officer – Jane Samuels for further information, and the date of the handling session: jsamuels@thebritishmuseum.ac.uk.

For further details on either of the above projects, please email chowitt@thebritishmuseum.ac.uk

Hadrian: Empire and Conflict

2 special exhibition openings:

  • 9.00am Friday 3 Oct

For further information and to book, contact the box office on 020 7323 8181. Tickets: Adults £12; Concessions £10 and a companion goes free of charge

Here is information about other access provisions for the exhibition:

  • Large print booklet with all the text in the exhibition
  • Information in Braille with tactile images
  • Handling desk
  • Audio described tour

BSL interpreted talk by an exhibition curator on Saturday 9 August at 13.15 in the BP lecture theatre interpreted by Fiona McIntosh

For further information go to the British Museum website.

Doddington Hall, Lincoln

Doddington Hall, a family-owned Elizabethan house with walled and wild gardens in Lincoln, has just launched new sensory tours for blind and partially sighted visitors.

Developed with Mark Ellis, a local blind volunteer, the sensory tours take in a feast of sights, smells, sounds and sensations in both the house and gardens. Incorporating tactile diagrams, a wide variety of objects to handle and feel, these tours are designed to be used with a sighted companion or a member of Doddington Hall staff - book in advance by calling 01522 69 43 08.

English Heritage venues

English Heritage manages over 400 historic sites including castles, abbeys and ancient monuments.

English Heritage also produces a free guide for visitors with disabilities. This guide indicates venues with services for blind and partially sighted people, such as audio guides, and venues where sculptures, carvings and stonework can be touched.

For more information, telephone English Heritage Customer Services on 0870 333 1181.

Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge

Verbal Description and Touch Tours

Led by a member of the Museum’s Education Department these ‘Making Sense’ tours combine the opportunity to touch selected objects from the permanent collection with verbal description. The tours can also include verbal description of paintings. If there are specific objects or paintings that you would like to find out about, this can be discussed when arranging your tour. Tours are tailor made for individuals wishing to visit at a time of their choice.

To find out more please contact the Outreach and Access Officer on 01223 764392 or email gmh33@cam.ac.uk

Exhibition

Anglo-Saxon Art in the Round

This exhibition will show for the first time early Anglo-Saxon coins from the De Wit collection, recently purchased by the Fitzwilliam Museum with support from the Heritage Lottery Fund and the Art Fund. These gold shillings and silver pennies display the most innovative range of pictorial and geometric designs drawn from Classical and Germanic sources. Despite the small scale, their bold images of people, animals, plants and geometric motifs are both rich in detail and sophisticated in concept. The exhibition will juxtapose them with contemporary ornamental metalwork drawn from other museums in the region.

Anglo-Saxon Art in the Round Handling Sessions

Fridays at 14:00-16:00

Join curators and education staff in the Anglo-Saxon Art in the Round exhibition for these hands-on sessions.

Also available in the exhibition:
Large print and Braille versions of the Exhibition Guide.

A large print and raised line diagram guide of some of the highlights of the exhibition will also be available. This guide will include navigation and description guidelines for each of the coins featured.

Anyone wishing to visit the exhibition or attend one of the handling sessions is advised to contact the Museum’s Outreach and Access Officer on the contact details provided below.

Telephone: 01223 764392

Email: gmh33@cam.ac.uk

Gallery Oldham

We arrange audio described tours for a number of our exhibitions. These are particularly suitable for people with visual impairments. For more information or to be added to our mailing list for these events, please contact Catherine Bradley on 0161 770 4653 or email catherine.bradley@oldham.gov.uk

The next tours to take place are:

  • 2 October 2008

Geffrye Museum, London

The Geffrye is one of London's most friendly and enjoyable museums. Its setting is in the former almshouse of the Ironmongers' Company, delightful 18th century buildings with attractive gardens and mature trees.

The museum presents the changing style of the domestic interior. The displays lead the visitor on a walk through time, from the 17th century with oak furniture and panelling, past the refined splendour of the Georgian period and the high style of the Victorians, to 20th century modernity seen in a 1930s flat, a mid-century room in 'contemporary style' and a late-20th century living space in a converted warehouse.

The museum is set in elegant 18th century almshouses with a contemporary wing surrounded by attractive gardens, which include an award-winning walled herb garden and a series of period gardens.

Tours and handling sessions for Visually Impaired Visitors

There are 8 places per session, advance booking is recommended. To book a place please ring 020 7739 9893 or email:

Events

Almshouse Visit

Visit one of the Geffrye's 18th century almshouses, which has been fully restored to its original condition, and explore the home of a retired couple from the 1780s and a Victorian Governess from the 1880s. The session includes a room talk and handling session. Sunday 13 July, 1pm and Wednesday 23 July, 2.30pm.

Historic Royal Palaces

Historic Royal Palaces is responsible for the conservation and presentation of the Tower of London, Hampton Court Palace, Kensington Palace, the Banqueting House and Kew Palace.

Historic Royal Palaces extends their welcome to blind and partially sighted people through VocalEyes trained Personal Room Describers

Staff will be delighted to guide blind and partially sighted visitors around Hampton Court, Kew Palace, the Royal State Dress Collection at Kensington Palace and the White Tower and Jewel House at the Tower of London.

The service is available seven days a week but room describers must be booked a minimum of 14 days in advance to ensure availability (there is no additional charge - this is included in normal admission tickets).

To book a personal room describer please telephone:

  • Hampton Court Palace - 0870 751 5175
  • Kensington Palace - 020 3166 6106
  • Kew Palace - 0870 751 5179
  • Tower of London - 020 3166 6266

Imperial War Museum, North

One of the most talked about Museums in Britain today, Imperial War Museum North is about people and their stories, about how lives have been and still are shaped by war and conflict.

The award-winning building by international architect Daniel Libeskind is a symbol of our world torn apart by conflict and is situated at The Quays, a waterfront destination 2 miles from Manchester city centre.

Descriptive Tour

For more information and to book descriptive, touch or signed tours/sessions, contact the Learning and Access Team on 0161 836 4064.

The Lowry, Manchester

We offer free guided tours of the galleries for visually impaired people which include, for example, the content of the painting, its colours, size, style and potential impact on the viewer, as well as placing the painting in its historical context.

Anne Hornsby will be taking tours of the galleries on: 
To be advised


Please meet at the Information Desk opposite the Box Office.  The audio described tours are free of charge, but please call 0870 787 5790 to reserve your place.

If you would like to have such a tour of the galleries on any other date, please book at least 2 weeks in advance by contacting the Box Office on 0870 787 5790.

Large print gallery information is available from the gallery desk.

For more details, please contact the Box Office by the following means:
Tel: 0870 787 5780
Minicom: 0161 876 2002
Fax: 0161 876 2001
Email: boxofficemanagers@thelowry.com

All Lowry-produced print is available in large print format. Please contact Box Office for a copy.

The Lowry Season Brochure is also available in audio format.  You can download a copy above or alternatively contact Box Office to be added to our mailing list to receive a CD version of the brochure.

Manchester City Art Gallery

Manchester City Art Gallery holds regular audio-description and workshop events and has a range of services for blind and partially sighted people including:

  • a described audio guide
  • large print and braille information
  • a large print and tactile map
  • touch objects.

In addition, the gallery has just launched a new described tour of their touch objects in the Gallery of Craft and Design. For more information, or to book a sighted guide in advance of your visit please contact Meg Lewis-Crosby on 0161 235 8855 or email m.lewis-crosby@manchester.gov.uk

Museum of London

The Museum of London has new gallery guides for people with sight problems. The guides will provide introductory information and large print maps to the following galleries:

  • London Before London Gallery
  • Roman Gallery
  • World City Gallery.

The guides are available free of charge from the front desk. For access information, call 0870 444 3850 or email access@museumoflondon.org.uk

National Portrait Gallery

Each month the National Portrait Gallery holds a "Visualising Portraits" session for blind and partially sighted visitors to experience the gallery.

The next sessions will take place on:

24 September, 2pm

29 October, 2pm

26 November, 2pm

For any additional information please ring 020 7306 0055.

National Gallery, London

Each month, the National Gallery holds an "Art Through Words" session for blind and partially sighted visitors.

Each session begins with a description of the painting and ends with a visit to the Gallery. Sessions are free, to guarantee a place telephone 020 7747 5891. Please meet at the Sainsbury Wing Information Desk at 11.30am on the day. Session ends at 12.45pm.

National Maritime Museum, London

A programme of touch talks and tours hosted by members of Museum staff and guest lecturers runs throughout the year. Please contact the Bookings Unit for more information telephone 0208 312 6608, fax 0208 312 6522 or email bookings@nmm.ac.uk Information is available in large-print, braille and audiotape.

National Trust venues

The National Trust is a charity caring for over 200 buildings and gardens, 248,000 hectares of countryside and 600 miles of coastline.

The National Trust admission policy admits the necessary companion of a disabled visitor free of charge, while the normal charge applies to the disabled person. An Admit One card can be obtained for the companion from the Access for All Office.

For further information:

A free Access Guide is produced annually, giving details of the provision of all types of access available at our properties. The book is available in standard or large print and on tape. Sections can also be provided in braille.

To obtain the guide, please send £1.04 in stamps towards package and post to:

The National Trust Membership Department
PO Box 39
Warrington
Cheshire
WA5 7WD

Tyntesfield Country House and Estate, North Somerset

Tyntesfield Country House is managed by the National Trust. An audio guide has been produced in partnership with local blind and partially sighted people and students. The audio guide gives orientation information and descriptions of the building and its collections. Touch tours are also available. To book a tour call 0870 241 4500.

National Waterfront Museum, Swansea

The National Waterfront Museum buildings and exhibitions are designed to be accessible to all and accessible information (braille and large print) is provided in the galleries.

Museum attendants are trained in interpreting the collections and displays for blind and partially sighted people. For more information call 01792 63 89 50.

Royal Academy, London

Share the experience of exploring works of art in the Summer Exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts through tactile interaction and audio description. The Royal Academy offer one-to-one guided tours for blind and partially sighted people. Trained guides can escort visitors around the exhibition and give detailed descriptions of the art works. These tours are free of charge and can be booked by emailing access@royalacademy.org.uk

Royal Museum and Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh

Personal access guides at the Royal Museum and the Museum of Scotland are available free for anyone who may have difficulty seeing the exhibits, reading information about them, or keeping up with guided tours. You can book your own guide by telephoning Wilma Henderson on 0131 247 4206.

Lists of exhibits that can be touched are available from the Information Desks of both museums. To arrange a special tour with handling sessions, call Fiona Ferguson on 0131 246 4206.

Southampton City Art Gallery

Free workshops for visually impaired people.

Touch Tours: for gallery visitors with visual impairments:

  • 5 September, 10.30am-12.30pm
  • 14 November, 10.30am-12.30pm

These ever-popular sessions have shown that visual impairment is no barrier to the appreciation of visual art. The sessions are always inspired by the works of art on show, either from the amazing collection at Southampton or from the superb exhibitions mounted by the gallery. Looking at art in the gallery can include handling the art, drawing, making new work in different media, discussion, and insights into the history, context and techniques of the works of art chosen for the day. Friendly and informal the sessions aim to create a relaxed atmosphere and lively discussion.

As regular visitor Keith Hatter from Winchester says: “Losing my sight to Retinitis Pigmentosa did not mean losing my interest in art. Ideas expressed in art can be communicated by touch and description, especially with the expert help of committed galleries and curators.”

These events are free but please book in advance by calling the Gallery Education Officer on 023 8083 2758 or for more information please email art.gallery@southampton.gov.uk

SS Great Britain, Bristol

An audio for blind and partially sighted visitors has been launched at the SS Great Britain in Bristol. The audio guide, has been developed in partnership with a focus group of people with sight loss, particularly Mark Austen, who originally audited the ship as part of the Talking Images project in 2001.

The audio guide takes visitors through the museum and then guides them onto and around the ship itself. The new audio guide system is provided to registered blind and sight impaired visitors as part of the admission charge. Accompanying sighted guides have free entry. For more information call 0117 926 0680.

Tate Britain, London

A descriptive audio guide is available free at Tate Britain. This has recently been updated to include two new works in the Historical and Contemporary Collections displays.

You can also book a descriptive touch tour that will be planned to suit your interests.

To book all events, telephone 0207 887 8888.

Audio descriptions for Painting of the Month

Take place on the first Saturday of every month at 2pm. Half hour

sessions followed by a 15 minute general talk about the painting. The sessions are free just turn up on the day.

Saturday 6 September

14.00–14.30

Room 16

Graham Sutherland’s portrait of the novelist Somerset Maugham

Audio-described tours

Free audio-described tours can be booked for individuals or groups (exhibition ticket required). Contact the Access Curator to book: Kirsteen.Mcswein@tate.org.uk

Francis Bacon exhibition audio-described tours

11 September - 4 January 2009

Francis Bacon was once described as the 'greatest painter since JMW Turner', and his powerful works are on show in a retrospective at Tate Britain.

Displays tours

Audio described tours of the displays can be booked for individuals or groups. Call 020 7887 8888 to book or email Kirsteen.Mcswein@tate.org.uk

Large Print and Braille

Large print and Braille maps with gallery information, and large print exhibition guides are available from the information desks. Large print captions can be found in the display rooms.

Large print versions of the Tate What’s On guide can be sent to you by calling 020 7887 8888.

If you would like to go onto our mailing list or have any suggestions about how we can improve our offering to visually impaired visitors then please contact me (details below).

Contact:

Kirsteen McSwein

Assistant Curator: Interpretation (Access)

Tate Britain, Millbank, London SW1P 4RG

Tel: (0)20 7887 8922

Tate Liverpool

Exploring Sculpture Tours are available anytime during gallery hours at Tate Liverpool. Discover how some of the sculptural works in DLA Piper Series: International Modern Art are made, handle materials used and touch some of the key works on display.

Henry Moore Touch Tours, offers a special opportunity to explore a selection of his works by touch. Henry Moore’s sculptures are wonderfully tactile.

These tours must be booked at lest two weeks in advance, there is a maximum of ten people. Please book your tour with Mike Stout on 0151 702 7451.

Tate Modern, London

Tate Modern’s I-map project is an online art resource designed for blind and partially sighted people.

Trained members of staff are available to guide blind and partially sighted visitors through any exhibition at Tate Modern.

Touch tours are also available to introduce visitors with sight problems to the thematic arrangement of Tate Modern’s displays in order to engage with ideas, materials and techniques of art since 1900. Tours last approximately an hour and are given by trained guides, usually on a one-to-one basis.

For more information, a leaflet in large print, audio or braille or to book a tour, please telephone 020 7887 8888.

Theatre Museum, London

The Theatre Museum can organise workshops for groups and individuals, exploring the history of theatre through costume, with stories about notorious characters along the way! There can be the chance to handle archive objects and theatrical costumes – and even try them on.

If you are interested in the workshops for young people or adults, please call Sue Rolfe on 0207 943 4806 or email s.rolfe@vam.ac.uk. An access guide can be downloaded from the Theatre Museum website

Tyne and Wear Museums

Tyne and Wear Museums provide a series of pre-visit information packs for blind and partially sighted visitors to borrow before a visit. These information packs, part of the ‘Look, Touch, Listen and Smell’ project are available at five of the Tyne and Wear museums and include:

  • large print, braille, audio CD and audio cassette information on the museum and its facilities
  • large print maps of the museum floors
  • braille and tactile maps of the museum floors.

The five museums involved also have static tactile and visual orientation points.

The Laing Art Gallery now has seven touch models that are accessible to all visitors, which give them a greater understanding of the collections. These include a model of the beautiful stain glass window in the gallery and a carved bench that incorporates motifs from art works in the collections.

Ulster Folk and Transport Museum, County Down

The Ulster Folk and Transport Museum has a series of facilities and services for blind and partially sighted visitors.

The recently opened Flight Exhibition includes:

  • a new customised audio tour for blind and partially sighted people
  • interactive information station
  • tactile maps
  • the handling collection
  • large print and braille information.

A consumer panel of visitors with sight loss worked with Museum staff in developing these services. For more information please contact the museum on 028 9042 8428.

Victoria Art Gallery, Bath

Once a month a free workshop for blind and partially sighted people is held at Victoria Art Gallery in Bath. Each workshop is held on a Thursday between 10.30am and 12pm.

For more information, call the gallery on 01225 47 72 33.

Victoria and Albert Museum, London

The Victoria and Albert Museum has established an innovative programme of touch and audio tours and drawing and photographic courses for blind and partially sighted visitors. These provide an opportunity for handling objects and developing individual art and craft skills.

There are regular special visits to major exhibitions for blind and partially sighted visitors. The visits offer some visual description and some opportunity to touch. The Victoria and Albert Museum website offers up to date information on the latest accessible exhibitions and workshops.

Disabled people are entitled to free admission to the V&A exhibitions with up to two friends. You can also be added to their database to receive events programmes by telephoning 020 7942 2060 or emailing disability@vam.ac.uk .

Wakefield Museums, Galleries and Castles

Wakefield museums, galleries and castles have a programme of touch talks where participants can hear museum experts talk about art, history and archaeology linked to the local area, with opportunities to handle objects and get close to Wakefield's collections.

The touch talks run from 11.30am-12.30pm or 1.30-2.30pm and are free. Booking is essential as places are limited call 01924 305902 or e-mail learningandaccess@wakefield.gov.uk to book a place or to request further information. Sighted escorts and guide dogs welcome.

Pontefract Museum

11 September

Led by the curator of Pontefract Museum Richard Van Riel.

Wolverhampton Art Gallery, Wolverhampton

A tactile sculpture gallery, Sensing Sculpture is open at Wolverhampton Art Gallery.

Sensing sculpture explores sculpture through touch, smell, sound and environment as well as sight, and has interactive exhibits, tactile pathway and information and audio guide.

The Wolverhampton Art Gallery is open Monday – Saturday, 10.30am – 5.00pm. Entry is free. For more information, contact the gallery on 01902 55 20 55

Online audio description radio

The Dog Rose Sound radio station has audio files that can be downloaded which contain news, interviews and audio guides including many for cathedrals.

Additional information

If you are interested in general services at museums and galleries, visit the 24 hour Museum website.

The Art through Touch website has a bulletin board with events specifically for blind and partially sighted people.

For further information about these venues or others offering events or permanent services, please contact RNIB on 020 7391 3285 or at audiodescription@rnib.org.uk

Feedback

Please contact us if you have a particularly good or bad experience at a museum or gallery.

Updated: September 2008

Content author: audiodescription@rnib.org.uk

Last updated: 04/09/2008 18:52

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Your stories

Kirin’s story - Kirin Saeed is a big fan of television. Why can’t all the programmes she wants to watch be audio described? As Kirin says, “All I want is full and equal access to a medium that I love and enjoy so much. Is this really too much to ask?” Kirin’s full story