ST. PETERSBURG, December 3. /TASS/. The State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg plans to supplement its exhibition with sculptures that visitors can touch, Hermitage Director General Mikhail Piotrovsky said on Monday.
"We are thinking to make sculptures that everyone can touch," Piotrovsky added, pointing out that it is going to be copies of the famous exhibits - a practice already tested in other museums of the world.
The Hermitage head also said that these plans are primarily designed for blind visitors and children.
He noted that the Hermitage Museum has been running the "Past at your Fingertips" project for children with impaired vision for many years. This program is based on a course of lessons that present human history from earliest times (the Stone Age) to the Middle Ages "through the prism of archaeology". "It is archaeology, where information is carried by objects that can be 'seen with your hand', using the sense of touch. The course provides a significant supplement to the school history curriculum," according to the press service of the Hermitage Museum.
The Hermitage has also followed a practice of displaying exhibits for visitors with impaired vision. The exhibition called "The Age of Rembrandt and Vermeer: Masterpieces of The Leiden Collection", which opened in September, displays embossed copies of the artwork. The exhibition also offers guided tours in Russian sign language.