With the goal of being inclusive, local museums are gathering and implementing a wealth of experience and expertise to break down barriers and make art and culture accessible to everyone. The mission of the association, founded in 2019, is to ensure that museum staff can achieve even more together through exchange, discussion, and sharing of experiences. ARGE Inclusive Museum.
What began as a first meeting during the 2019 Museum Day in Salzburg with the support of the Austrian Museums Association has now grown into an Austria-wide network. Visitors to the website can not only find information about relevant resources and event dates, but also sign up for the newsletter, which features regularly organized online meetings.
Doris Rothauer attended the last meeting in mid-June, which addressed the question: What can museums do – or what is already being done – to develop sensory needs and neurodiversity-sensitive offerings?
Here is a summary of the insights and best practices that are also Blog post from the ARGE website can be read:
- Sensory maps, such as those used in the Military History Museum (HGM), provide orientation to stimuli such as light and noise: Sensory Map HGM (PDF)
- Sensory bags with aids for visitors with sensory needs
- Slow-paced tours or special “Relaxed Openings”, based on formats such as the Relaxed Performances in the Vienna Ronacher
- Easy and simple language in mediation but also in online information and in exhibitions
- Awareness training for employees, especially in visitor services, but also across departments, in order to embed practices well institutionally
- Retreats in the museum, like the Silence Room in the Nitsch Museum in Mistelbach or in the Vorarlberg Museum in Bregenz.
The stress on employees who are confronted with acoustic stimuli on a daily basis was also discussed – an aspect that is often overlooked.
The topic of digital accessibility was also addressed, which the ARGE will devote intensively to at its next annual meeting: on November 12, 2025, at the Salzburg Museum.
For more information and to subscribe to the newsletter, go here.