THE BONGO ART COMMUNITY
REVOLUTIONISING THE MUSEUM EXPERIENCE FOR VISUALLY AND HEARING IMPAIRED PEOPLE
Çiğdem Aslantaş is a design engineer who loves museums. She’s visited all the major museums around the world. On one of her tours, it dawned on her that people with visual and hearing impairments could not experience magnificent artifacts and creations. I have an idea, she said.
From her network she brought close colleagues in the fields of design engineering, museamology and archeologists and friends in the hearing and visually impaired committee to figure out a solution. And the Bongo Art Community was born! Together this group of volunteers created tactile replicas of ancient artifacts that can be experienced through touch and audio recordings to bring paintings and other visual arts to life in sound, words, stories and tone of voice.
They simulated a museum setting and tested their work with visually and hearing-impaired children and adults. The experience was awe-inspiring and emotionally riveting for everyone. Çiğdem understood they were onto something but what next?
She’d heard from friends about the EU’s Sivil Düşün Programme, so she clicked on the website and submitted a Request for Support in 2020, her first ever request to an EU or other donor programme. She planned to use Sivil Düşün support to produce a video to convince the Ministry of Culture, Ministry of Interior and Ministry of Family and Social Services to let her team conduct a pilot exhibition at the Anatolian Civilizations Museum in Ankara.
It worked! She used the video and her persuasive skills to advocate for making museums not only accessible but experiential and inspiring for everyone. The first exhibition took place in the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations in Ankara and was so successful that the Ministry entered an agreement with Bongo Art to museum accessibility legislation.
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development recognized the Bongo Art initiative as one of the seven best projects in the 41-country competition.
Since receiving the maximum support possible under Sivil Düşün for complimentary initiatives, including one in the earthquake region, Çiğdem has become a mentor to the dünyalar initiative and has leveraged her expertise and network to support many other support owners who are combining design and activism to create impact.
A GOOD IDEA + DESIGN INNOVATION + SIVIL DÜŞÜN SUPPORT: WHAT A DIFFERENCE THEY MAKE!
STORIES FROM SİVİL DÜŞÜN SUPPORT OWNERS
