In the European Year of Disabled People, we present to you a special museum which grew from a 19th century private collection ond one which stands out with the distinction that it has allways attempted to satisfy the needs of persons with disabilities. On this occasion we are presenting a part of the holdings of the Typhlological Museum (Museum for the Blind) in Zagreb in a representative space at the Mimara museum.
The exhibitions of the tactile Gallery series – as a special form of the Typhlological Museum's exhibit activities – are intended not only for the blind and visually impaired, but for everyone. When we speak of exhibitions, the standard of „You can look, but don't touch!“ is not applicable here. A multysensory approach allows for the awareness of art adapted to people with special needs end the spectrum of biopsychosocial structures for those who can not see, while at the same time allowing those who can see the opportunity of enjoying a world of different perceptions by using tactile – kinestethic senses through direct contact with the exhibited objects.
In the Against the Wind exhibition, one more in the series of exhibitions from the Tactile Gallery of the Typhlological Museum, we give a retrospective cross-section of the artistic work of Ivan Ferlan, regarded as one of the most productive blind sculptors.
A friend of the Typhlological, Ferlan – an artist whose 158 sculptures are owned by the Museum and another 197 are in the museum's holdings – throuh all his pieces shows u san intire world of tangibleperceptions and how distinctive his understanding of objective reality really is.
With a selection of seventy sculptures, mostly in wood, taken from the rich opus of art realizations by Ivan Ferlan, we have evoked the world of a boy from Pelješac Peninsula with a multitude of motifs topped with the belief in the beauty of life which he bestows to us. Following the natural sahpe of the wood, Ferlan shows us and intrigues us with this diversity of experience of a world with such sensibility perheps confirms that that which is unseen is what is important.
The artist sees and expieriences with the palm and fingers, and succeeds in his art and sincerity to elict his vision of reality. An undeniable talent with the support of a man who lost his sight certainly had as a consequence a more complete social integration in a world adapted to those who can see.
We are always enraptured again with the everyday shifting of the borders of possibility for the remaining senses of blind people. By offering the opportunity for tactile entry into the world of art certainly means to ensure a mare balanced expirience of culture.
Željka Bosnar Salihagić