Accessibility & Inclusion

The Museum of Cycladic Art, making a serious&nbsp;commitment to public engagement, has invested in initiatives that reach out multiple communities in the city of Athens, within and beyond the Museum’s walls. Central to our philosophy is to become a cultural institution open and accessible to all and&nbsp;our responsibility to ensure that all of our programs are inclusive to audiences of all ages, abilities and interests as well as&nbsp;tailored to the needs of those previously offered less cultural opportunities.

Focusing on cross-culture and intergenerational efforts, we seek to bring together diverse communities and to develop an ongoing platform for dialogue and relationship building among people sharing or cultivating a passion for art whilst simultaneously responding to issues of social tension and isolation. I

COLLECTIVE WELL-BEING | PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM

The innovative “Collective Well-Being. Personal Development Program” started in November 2022. The ultimate goal of this program is awareness and correct information on mental health issues as well as the cultivation of skills that enhance mental well-being and the quality of life of an individual. In collaboration with <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.epipsi.gr/">University Research Mental Health Institute “Kostas Stephanis”</a>, the program consists of three action pillars, through which the beneficiaries are not only correctly informed but they also have the opportunity to address certain mental health issues and discover the effective role of art on mental health.The program includes:·&nbsp;Three cycles of workshops targeted to adolescents. Each cycle consists of psychological interventions that activate the Museum’s exhibits, art therapy and psychodynamic techniques as well as various artistic activities.· Special guided tours at the Museum’s permanent collections for specific groups, such as school educators, high school students, mental health professionals etc. The goal of the special guided tours is to not only to offer a different experience to the beneficiaries, but also that the exhibits themselves act as stimuli for mental health awareness and a starting point for discussion and interactive activities.·&nbsp;Lectures that are open to the public that also take place online and hence, are accessible in other regions of Greece. The lectures focus on different aspects and themes of mental health issues and aim to inform the public about such issues.The program is supported by the <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.foundationaim.org/en/">Athina I. Martinos Foundation</a>.With the auspices of the Ministry of Culture and Sports.

The program&nbsp;was launched in 2016 and offered&nbsp;a series of free&nbsp;workshops for people with disabilities. During the year 2022 - 2023, the program is supported by the <a href="https://angelicoussisidrima.gr/" target="_blank">Antonios and Ioannis&nbsp;Angelicoussis Foundation</a>. It now&nbsp;includes:

1. Educational workshops&nbsp;for children in&nbsp;special education&nbsp;schools which take place on a weekly basis. The program includes a specialised&nbsp;guided tour at the Museum's permanent collections as well as an artistic workshop that corresponds to the needs of the different participants each time.&nbsp;It is organized by the experienced Museum staff, who specialize in education and art therapy and it gives the opportunity to children to be creative and express themselves.&nbsp;2. Educational workshops outside the Museum, such as at special schools outside of the region of Attica or other organisations for people with disabilities, who cannot visit the Museum.&nbsp;The goal of the program is&nbsp;integration of the&nbsp;beneficiaries into the social nexus and their&nbsp;acquaintance with the Museum and its permanent exhibitions as well as their familiarization with a cultural&nbsp;visit. Through the program&nbsp;expansion, the Museum gives the opportunity to individuals&nbsp;that cannot visit it, to come into contact with and learn about&nbsp;the Cycladic civilisation.

PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES

Starting on Thursday, October 6, individuals who are deaf or&nbsp;hard of hearing will be able to attend Greek Sign Language guided tours in the&nbsp;permanent collections of the Museum. The guided tours will reoccur with a different theme&nbsp;every first Thursday of each month at 18:00.

The guided tours are led by <a href="https://hands-up.org/" target="_blank">HandsUp</a>, the first sign language interpreting agency in&nbsp;Greece, following the Museum's commitment to providing a cultural space accessible to all.&nbsp;

Participation is free, but RSVP&nbsp;is required. You can reserve your spot via email at magiostratiti@cycladic.gr.&nbsp;

The&nbsp;initiative is supported by the&nbsp;<a href="https://angelicoussisidrima.gr/" target="_blank">Antonios and Ioannis&nbsp;Angelicoussis&nbsp;Foundation</a>.

GREEK SIGN LANGUAGE GUIDED TOURS

The program "IN TOUCH" launched in 2022 to enable persons with sensory disabilities (vision and hearing impairment) to access the permanent Cycladic Art exhibition. The program was realized within the framework of the European Erasmus+ Program and is implemented with the support of Eurolife FFH, a strategic partner of the Museum of Cycladic Art. It was designed in close cooperation with the Non-profit Civil Partnership (AMKE) "Me Alla Matia" and HandsUp - the first sign language interpreting agency in Greece - and was launched after a successful pilot run involving focus groups with individuals with sensory impairment.

The program comprises:







1. Τhematic tour and a mobile showcase for persons with visual impairment. The showcase consists of different cases and includes a floor plan of the room, tactile maps of Greece and the Cyclades and exhibit replicas made of marble or resin.





2. Multi-sensory museum kit related to Cycladic Culture. The museum kit contains a book with information in Braille and in large print, an embroidered map, a tactile water map, stones, threads, fragments from replicas of figurines and marble replicas of figurines. A video addressed mainly to the teacher/animator of the program explains how the material contained in the museum kit can be used for a journey through space and time.&nbsp;





3. A series of actions to make the Museum accessible to deaf or hard of hearing persons. The permanent exhibition of Cycladic Art includes a video of a recorded tour in the Greek Sign Language, accompanied by Greek subtitles, and in International Sign, accompanied by English subtitles. The sign language tour covers the main themes of Cycladic Culture and is accompanied by relevant images. In this way, the Cycladic Art Collection becomes accessible to all deaf and hard of hearing visitors, whether Greek or foreign.&nbsp;







The goal of the program is a museum opern to everyone, according to the principles of inclusion, enabling persons with sensory disabilities (vision and hearing impairment) to access the permanent Cycladic Art exhibition.

PERSONS WITH SENSORY DISABILITIES (VISION AND HEARING IMPAIRMENT) | IN TOUCH

The&nbsp;program&nbsp;was&nbsp;launched in 2016 and for three consecutive&nbsp;years, it offered crosscultural workshops addressed to&nbsp;refugee children, mostly unaccompanied minors, and&nbsp;Greek students.&nbsp;During these workshops, children who did not speak the same language and came from completely different social, economic and cultural backgrounds, learned how to use the code of Cypro-minoic&nbsp;script as a common language through art.&nbsp;

he Museum of Cycladic Art is committed to formalise and expand the scope of its community engagement so that it is open and accessible to all vulnerable social groups. Thus,&nbsp;a widely&nbsp;new crosscultural program&nbsp;is offered for&nbsp;children&nbsp;that come&nbsp;from different countries or&nbsp;ethnicities&nbsp;and&nbsp;live in&nbsp;Athens&nbsp;with the support of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.helidonifoundation.org/" target="_blank">Helidoni&nbsp;Foundation</a>. It includes:

1. Educational workshops outside the Museum&nbsp;for children that study in&nbsp;elementary crosscultural schools. Using as a starting point the museumkits of MCA, children of various elementary grades of crosscultural schools will have the opportunity to participate in program tailored made for them, by coming into contact with the Museum and its permanent collections as well as creating their own artworks.&nbsp;

2. Crosscultural educational workshops, 6-weeks each, taking place at the Museum for children from 12 until 17 years old. These workshops are in collaboration with non-governmental organisations&nbsp;<a href="https://www.polyphonica.gr/" target="_blank">Polyphonica</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://ddp.gr/" target="_blank">Network for Children's Rights</a>, both of whom are&nbsp;affiliated with vulnerable&nbsp;children coming from different ethnic backgrounds.&nbsp;<a href="https://cycladic.gr/en/page/taxidi-stis-5-ipirous-files-stin-akri-tis-gis">Read more</a>

<a href="https://cycladic.gr/en/page/taxidi-stis-5-ipirous-files-stin-akri-tis-gis"></a>The goal of this program is coexistence and cooperation between those children. It also aims to bring them into contact with the&nbsp;Museum experience and its permanent collections as well as culture in general.&nbsp;

CROSSCULTURAL EDUCATION

Program for individuals over the age of 65

The program was launched in 2016 with the support of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.timafoundation.org/" target="_blank">TIMA&nbsp;Charitable Foundation</a>&nbsp;and it is addressed to individuals over the age of 65. Since 2016, it has hosted more than 10,000 visitors to the Museum through organised group visits. During the period 2019 until 2022, the program was expanded with the support of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.snf.org/en/" target="_blank">Stavros Niarchos&nbsp;Foundation</a>&nbsp;and TIMA&nbsp;Charitable Foundation as well as the Young Patrons of the Museum. The program includes: 1. Weekly visits to the Museum&nbsp;through the network of senior people’s centers (KAPI & Leshes Filias) that include a free admission to the museum collections and a guided tour, free transfer, as well as a warm welcome at the Cycladic Café.&nbsp;

2. Weekly educational workshops&nbsp;titled “Playing in&nbsp;Ancient Greece and nowadays”, which aim to familiarise the seniors with the&nbsp;'toys'&nbsp;in Ancient Greece and&nbsp;activate&nbsp;their own memory.

3. Weekly educational workshops in non-profit care homes&nbsp;that aim to enrich the lives of seniors that cannot visit the museum. These workshops take place in partnership with&nbsp;<a href="http://seveneleven.me/">seveneleven</a>&nbsp;Theater Company; a company that has knowledge and experience in recreational programs for seniors in care homes.

The aim of the&nbsp;program is&nbsp;to appeal to a social group that is in great need of socialization and entertainment.&nbsp;The Museum's&nbsp;staff participated in an immersive&nbsp;training program implemented by gerontologists in order to successfully respond to the needs of this social group and welcome the senior guests&nbsp;warmly. This approach made the Museum one of the&nbsp;first senior-friendly ones in Greece.

*During the year 2020-2021, due to the pandemic, the Museum offered&nbsp;virtual experiential workshops in&nbsp;non-profit care homes all over Greece.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cycladic.gr/page/diadiktiaka-ergastiria-se-mi-kerdoskopika-girokomia" target="_blank">More</a> **During the period January-March 2020, the Museum offered virtual reality guided tour in non-profit care homes in&nbsp;Attica. This VR&nbsp;application offered the opportunity to people living inside care homes to "live" the experience of a visit at the Museum, to participate in a guided tour of the Cycladic Art&nbsp;Collection as well as to "travel" for a small amount of time across Cyclades and get in touch with the sea and the islands.&nbsp;<a href="https://cycladic.gr/en/page/ikoniki-xenagisi-sto-mousio-kikladikis-technis" target="_blank">More</a>

PEOPLE OVER THE AGE OF 65

INFO

COMMUNITY PROGRAMS

<a href="mailto:magiostratiti@cycladic.gr" target="_blank">magiostratiti@cycladic.gr</a>&nbsp;| Τ. 2107228321 (ext.&nbsp;135)