Danish museums are breaking the traditional “look but don’t touch” rule by inviting blind and visually impaired visitors to experience art through touch. Thorvaldsens Museum in Copenhagen allows guests to feel marble sculptures with gloves, while several other institutions across Denmark have introduced tactile and audio experiences to make cultural heritage accessible to everyone.
For blind visitors, the typical museum experience has always been frustrating. What’s the point of visiting an exhibition if it only appeals to the one sense you don’t have? But that’s starting to change as Danish museums rethink how they present art and history.
Thorvaldsens Museum in Copenhagen now welcomes blind and visually impaired guests to touch several of its marble sculptures. Michael Davidsen, who is blind, recently visited the museum with his guide dog Pluto for the P1 radio program K-Live. He hadn’t been to a museum in years, calling it a completely new experience.
Feeling the Details
Wearing blue latex gloves, Davidsen carefully explored the anatomy of the marble sculpture Vulcan, the Roman god of fire and metalworking. His fingers traced the muscles and even the blood vessels carved into the stone thighs and calves.
His reaction was immediate. He was impressed by how detailed the sculpture was, remarking that this was no small man. Even though Davidsen couldn’t see Vulcan, the muscular legs told him plenty. By running his fingers along the veins and feeling the size of the muscles, he could picture a large, strong man, even though he could only reach up to the figure’s loincloth.
According to Davidsen, the biological definition of masculinity with large muscles was evident. From the details on the legs, he could more easily imagine the sculpture’s upper body, arms, shoulders, and torso. But the head and facial expression remained beyond his reach and imagination. Even with his arms stretched, he could only feel up to the loincloth. Still, he was impressed by how clearly he could sense the structure of the knee.
Art on His Own Terms
Davidsen doesn’t mind missing some details. Even as a visually impaired person, he can still have meaningful experiences. It’s just not on the terms of sighted people, but on his own, and he finds that rewarding. He believes art shouldn’t always depend on sight.
In fact, Davidsen thinks other museum visitors could learn something by turning their attention away from vision. People are incredibly focused on visual impressions these days, he says. Images dominate everything. But exhibitions like the one at Thorvaldsens Museum can give other guests a different perspective on what art can be. There are other ways to experience things besides using your sight, even something as visual as a statue.
Other Museums Opening Up
Thorvaldsens Museum isn’t alone in inviting blind and visually impaired guests to explore through touch. Several Danish museums now offer tactile and audio experiences designed to equalize access.
Tidens Samling in Odense pioneered hands-on accessibility with its project covering the entire 20th century. Visitors can touch original furniture, open drawers, and explore nine period rooms independently. The museum provides tactile floor guides, audioguides narrated by actors in Danish, and welcomes guide dogs. This initiative won the Odense Handicappris in 2015. Keld Nielsen from Dansk Blindesamfund Fyn unofficially called it Denmark’s best museum for the blind, praising it as rare for including disabled people in cultural life without requiring companions.
At the Museum for Papirkunst in Blokhus, visitors previously had access to the exhibition Hand on Origami, where many paper artworks could be touched. The museum also features art created from paper with Braille text.
Vadehavscenteret near Ribe offers open basins where visitors can feel fish and shellfish, hear and touch local bird species, and access audio information about the area’s culture and wildlife.
Gloves and Audioguides
Glyptoteket in Copenhagen allows visitors to explore objects wearing cotton gloves and features the LYT project with sound stories and podcasts. Moesgaard Museum has an enlarged, touchable replica of the Gundestrup Cauldron with audio descriptions, plus exhibits on Grauballe Man. Den Gamle By recreates a 1970s apartment of a visually impaired resident named Henning Eriksen, complete with authentic aids from the period.
Other institutions include FLUGT Museum, which offers equal audio tours indoors and outdoors, and Tirpitz bunkermuseum, which uses audio in dark spaces. The Ledsagerkort from Danske Handicaporganisationer grants free companion entry at many sites. Local volunteer-run collections often allow touching and storytelling as well.
A Small but Significant Group
Denmark has around 3,000 or more blind individuals, defined as having less than 10 percent vision. Dansk Blindesamfund has 3,000 members, but the total blind population is higher. The number has been declining due to better medical treatments. Despite aids like talking watches and Braille converters, employment among the blind dropped from 20 percent in 1975 to 11 percent in 2008. Museums preserve blind-related artifacts, such as foldable white canes from the 1980s at Svendborg Museum.
Museum Visits in Denmark
Museum visits remain popular in Denmark, though skewed demographically. In 2022-2023, 17 percent of Danes visited art museums, with women visiting more than men. Cultural-historical museums drew 14 percent, and natural history museums 5 percent. In 2024, 56 percent of museum visitors were first-timers, mostly international guests. Women, people over 50, and highly educated individuals were overrepresented among visitors. Post-COVID, fewer people visit museums outside their local areas. No specific statistics exist on blind or low-vision museum visits, though national surveys note that easy-read texts aid accessibility.
Davidsen doesn’t consider himself a regular museumgoer, but he would recommend the exhibition to other visually impaired people. Museums that invite visitors to use all their senses open up cultural experiences that were previously closed off. As more institutions embrace touch, sound, and smell, the definition of what a museum can be continues to expand.
Sources and References
The Danish Dream: Thorvaldsen’s Museum: Denmark’s First
The Danish Dream: Best Museums in Denmark for Foreigners
DR: Her må du gerne røre: Blinde kommer helt tæt på kunstværkerne på flere museer
