estudios durero helps the blind 'see' fine art with 3D printed paintings

estudios durero helps the blind ‘see’ fine art with 3D printed paintings
image courtesy of estudios durero

while most masterpieces hanging on museum walls are strictly off limits from physical contact, estudios durero wants to let gallery goers experience da vinci and el greco with their hands. with the development of their project ‘didú’, the spanish studio aims to opens the doors to the world of photography and fine arts to the visually impaired, offering the understanding of composition and form through three-dimensional relief imagery.

‘a combination of educational, artistic, and technological tools allows us to turn a digital image into an image that can be touched and that makes sense not only to the eyes but also to the touch.’ the team explain. ‘by working on artistic interpretation and analysis of textures, forms and volumes, a production process is defined for each work of art. didú gives the images a new dimension with recognized educational value that has multiple applications in the art world.’

from now until june 28 2015, the museo del prado hosts the exhibition ‘touching the prado’, comprising six works representative of different pictorial genres that can now be touched. the project allows the painting to be mentally recreated as a whole, providing an emotional perception of the work. non-sighted visitors are able to obtain a heightened degree of artistic-aesthetic-creative enjoyment in order to explain, discuss and analyses these works on view.

detail of ‘la gioconda’
image courtesy of museo del prado

a exhibition visitor uses his hand to understand the painting’s composition
image courtesy of museo del prado

the spanish studio aims to opens the doors to the world of fine arts to the visually impaired
image courtesy of museo del prado

visitors to the exhibition percieve ‘vulcan’s forge’ through a 3D printed relief
image courtesy of estudios durero

a visitor analyses ‘still life with artichokes, flowers and glass vessels’ with his hands
image courtesy of estudios durero