Modern art and accessibility in Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur

Culture & disabilities

Making art accessible to all

Culture belongs to everyone. The French Law of February 11th, 2005 relating to equal rights and opportunities, participation and citizenship with regards to people with challenges made the accessibility of venues welcoming the public an obligation. In recent years, a growing number of monuments, museums, foundations and modern & contemporary exhibition venues have adapted their tour layouts to make them disability-friendly. As a result, many of our cultural venues are now accessible to all and offer museum content and activities adapted to people with disabilities. Alternatives are also put forward for any areas that are not inaccessible. Many cultural venues in Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur have instigated voluntarily inclusive policies: for example, the Musée Fernand Léger in Biot, Musée Muséum Départemental in Gap, Fondation Luma in Arles and Musée Bonnard in Le Cannet. Various art centres have been taking the lead too: Polaris in Istres, the Centre International d’Art Contemporain in Carros, Centre d’Art Contemporain in Châteauvert and Espace de l’Art Concret in Mouans-Sartoux.

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The “Tourism & Handicap” Label

Awarded to venues catering to specific challenges

“Tourism & Handicap” is the only French national label distinguishing establishments that cater to the needs of visitors with disabilities. The label covers four types of impairment: auditory, mental, physical and visual. The “Tourism & Handicap” website features a browser that allows you to search for establishments per type of disability and geographical area. The “Tourism & Handicap” label offers a three-prong guarantee: rapid identification of adapted sites through the use of pictograms, the presence of trained and attentive staff, and the provision of services that respect accessibility criteria. Four cultural establishments in Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur are now holders of the label for all four types of impairment:

Mucem in Marseille
Musée Granet in Aix-en-Provence
Musée Matisse in Nice
Musée Picasso in Antibes

Other sites have set up their own facilities: for example, the Luma Arles app allow you to prepare your tour by offering details on the accessibility of each area and activity.

Tour suggestions per disability type

The deaf

The Mucem in Marseille schedules regular guided tours in French sign language (Langue des Signes Française (LSF)), led by deaf specialist guides. Bilingual tours for the deaf or hearing-impaired are also available. The Musée National Fernand Léger in Biot offers tours in French sign language led by specialist guides, as well as self-guided tours accompanied by visual guides in French or English sign language. Visitors can discover the collections at the Musée Picasso in Antibes with a French sign language tour using the Picasso Antibes app (the app also offers audio descriptions for the visually impaired). French sign language tours are available at numerous other venues too, including the Musée Muséum Départemental in Gap, Musée Réattu in Arles, MAC in Marseille and Musée Bonnard in Le Cannet.

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The hearing-impaired

The Musée Muséum Départemental in Gap is fitted with hearing loops available at Reception, in the conference room and Micro-Folie room. Some of the tour videos are subtitled. Guided tours at the Fondation Luma in Arles are adapted to hearing-impaired visitors thanks to a wireless hearing loop system. The Polaris Centre d’Art in Istres is also kitted out to welcome hearing-impaired visitors.

The physically challenged

Various venues loan out tour equipment for people with physical challenges. These include wheelchairs and folding seats at the Mucem, folding stools at the Musée Muséum Départemental in Gap, wheelchairs and folding chairs at the Musée Granet in Aix-en-Provence, wheelchairs – including one very wide model – and seating at the Fondation Luma in Arles and wheelchairs at the Fondation Van Gogh.

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Une publication partagée par Mucem (@mucem_officiel)

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Une publication partagée par Musée Réattu (@musee.reattu)

The blind / people with visual impairments

Various facilities for welcoming the blind and people with visual impairments are available according to the venue. These include touchscreens, audio guides and special markings. A special room is dedicated to the discovery of tactile materials (glass, tiles, etc.) at the Musée National Fernand Léger in Biot, allowing visitors to explore the museum’s monumental façade through touch. A tactile version of Fernand Léger’s painting, The woman with black hair, is also on offer. The Musée Réattu in Arles now features a “Musée Parallèle” (parallel museum): a fully-accessible space where visitors with visual challenges can plunge into the heart of a painting, imagine a photo by listening to its description or touch images. The Nouveau Musée National in Monaco regularly produces or reproduces works in relief, while the Musée Museum Départemental in Gap is now equipped with a Swell Form machine. Audio guides are available at the Mucem and Musée Estrine in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence. The Mucem, Musée Estrine and Fondation Luma have installed floor lighting systems. Many venues also loan out magnifying glasses to assist visually-impaired visitors.

The mentally challenged

A cultural venue in a category of its own, 3bisF in Aix-en-Provence is located inside Montperrin hospital. Boasting a dual vocation as a hub of artistic creation and treatment centre, its aim is to make art accessible to the general public and first and foremost its patients. The hospital’s creative spaces welcome exhibitions by artists who work in close contact with the patients. The Nouveau Musée National in Monaco also welcomes people who are hospitalized or undergoing psychiatric treatment. Last but not least, various modern & contemporary art venues in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region offer tours and workshops for people with mental challenges (Musée Muséum Départemental in Gap, Fondation Vasarely, FRAC and more), while others offer easy to read and understand booklets (the Fondation Luma publishes a special booklet on the works on show in the tower and grounds).