The Double Meaning program was created in 2015 to make the Peggy Guggenheim Collection’s artistic heritage accessible to blind, partially sighted, and sighted visitors, through inclusive tours that provide tactile explorations of its works of art.

Double Meaning: In Your Hands

The museum provides a free kit that contains tactile reproductions of various works of art, accompanied by descriptive sheets, written in Braille and high-legibility characters in English and Italian.

The works which are currently on view with tactile reproductions are Surface 236 (1957), by Giuseppe Capogrossi; Upward (1929), by Vasily Kandinsky; Men in the City (1919), by Fernand Léger; and Voice of Space (1931), by René Magritte. Following an evaluation of their state of conservation and tactile legibility, visitors can also request a tactile exploration of two sculptures by Max Ernst and Alberto Giacometti.

Thanks to these materials and the tactile reproductions in the exhibition galleries, blind and partially sighted visitors can visit the museum in complete autonomy.
The kits are available for free at the museum's ticket desk.
We recommend listening to the descriptive texts of the works of view before visiting the museum.

For more information:
doppiosenso@guggenheim-venice.it
+39 041 2405430
+39 041 2405401

Descriptive Sheets

Double Meaning: Tactile Tours at the Peggy Guggenheim Collection Events

From October through May, blind, partially sighted, and sighted visitors can take part in monthly Double Meaning events, which explore a selection of paintings and sculptures in the collection through thermoform and resin reproductions hand-molded by the Center for Educational Material at the Istituto dei Ciechi di Milano.

The tactile tours are led by Valeria Bottalico, an expert in museum accessibility who designed and organized the program. Participants explore a selection of works of art that are part of the museum's permanent collection or are on view as part of temporary exhibitions.
Following the tour, a workshop led by blind artist Felice Tagliaferri helps participants reinforce a mental image of the works they have experienced.

This year’s tours take place at the museum on November 11, December 2, January 27, February 17, April 6, and May 4. Participation is free, but places are limited.

For more information and booking:
doppiosenso@guggenheim-venice.it
+39 041 2405430
+39 041 2405401

Double Meaning Masterclass: The Lure of the Copy

Sculpture workshop

On March 9 and 10, 2024, in occasion of the Marcel Duchamp and the Lure of the Copy exhibition, the museum organizes a special Double Meaning event: an inclusive two-day sculpture workshop for blind, partially sighted, and sighted visitors. After learning about Marcel Duchamp and discussing the reproducibility of art, participants will mold countless replicas of an object. Each of these will then be further worked to create the “infra-thin” differences that will make it a “authentic copy.”

Find out more

Double Meaning: Tactile Tours of the Peggy Guggenheim Collection is organized in collaboration with the Istituto dei Ciechi di Milano and the Italian Union of the Blind and Partially Sighted People, with the supoort of ICOM Italia (International Council of Museums). Double Meaning is also made possible by a generous donation by Florim. The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation’s programs for visitors who are blind or partially sighted are supported by Ornellaia.