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Firma Pedro Guerrero, Presidente de Bankinter, y Evelio Acevedo, Director Gerente del Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza sala comunicacion.jpg

Bankinter and the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum launch an accessible tour for deaf individuals, showcasing the art gallery's most famous pieces

The agreement between both parties, signed by the chairman of Bankinter, Pedro Guerrero, and the museum's managing director, Evelio Acevedo, delivers a comprehensive tour for individuals with hearing loss or impairment, giving them the chance to enjoy a selection of masterpieces from the Thyssen-Bornemisza's permanent collection.

 

50 pieces in total are included on a device with sign-language and subtitle functions, making the museum more accessible and more inclusive.

Today, the chairman of Bankinter, Pedro Guerrero, and the managing director of the Thyssen-Bornemisza National Museum have signed an agreement which delivers a comprehensive tour of a selection of the masterpieces from the museum's permanent collection for deaf individuals.

 

Under this agreement, both organisations will provide a comprehensive guided tour for this group, enabling them to enjoy 50 of the art gallery's iconic works and access all of the information about each of them using sign language guides, a device that features a sign language and subtitle functions.

 

Up until now, there were only sign language guides for 18 pieces, but expanding this provision to 32 more works gives individuals with hearing loss or impairment the opportunity to enjoy a comprehensive tour of the museum where they will be able to look at the works and find out more about them completely independently.

 

Through this initiative, these visitors will receive a portable multimedia device for visiting the museum, which contains a series of videos with sign language and subtitles.

 

The tour properly signposts the pieces featuring accessible information, which include masterpieces such as the Annunciation, by Jan Van Eyck; Portrait of Giovanna Tornabuoni, by Ghirlandaio; Venus and Cupido, by Rubens; Waterloo Bridge, by André Derain; Les Vessenots en Auvers, by Vincent van Gogh, or the Hotel Room, by Edward Hopper.

 

As a result, with this contribution, Bankinter is helping to establish this new accessible tour at the museum. This agreement signed by the bank to improve accessibility to the works at an internationally renowned art gallery like the Thyssen-Bornemisza National Museum is part of its 2021-2023 Sustainability Plan 2021-2023, which outlines its scope, environmental and corporate governance actions.

 

At the same time, the Thyssen-Bornemisza National Museum is undertaking this campaign as part of its EducaThyssen project, which it launched in 2009.

 

By expanding its sign language guide, the Thyssen-Bornemisza National Museum is displaying its commitment to ensuring that deaf individuals and people with hearing impairments can enjoy accessible visits to the art gallery. People with hearing impairments are represented by Alma Ruiz de Alegría, the creator and driving force behind Soul & Alegría, cultura y arte para todos los oídos (Soul & Alegría, culture and art for all ears), an organisation that helps to make the museum more accessible and to make it easier to access culture, and which has been involved in creating, advising and intermediating for this project.

 

Soul & Alegría, which is an entrepreneurial and personal project emerging from the experiences of a person with 95% hearing loss, who has experienced barriers to enjoying art, music, culture and leisure throughout her life, has played a huge roll in creating this new tour. Soul & Alegría, cultura y arte para todos los oídos, sets out to fight to deliver full accessibility for the entire hearing-impaired community, driven by the belief that all spaces really should be made accessible through high-performance inclusive tools for individuals with any type of hearing problem.

 

New actions

 

Over the coming months, the museum will translate its audioguides into sign language and produce videos with subtitles, with the aim of officially introducing them next autumn. It will receive support from the Federación de Personas Sordas de la Comunidad de Madrid (Federation of Deaf People of the Community of Madrid - FeSorCam) in its efforts in this area. 

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