The goal of the “Art in Passing” project, which is supported by the Yettel Foundation, is to bring street art closer to blind and partially sighted people through the installation of models made with 3D technology.
The first models that were placed in Vračar in October last year attracted a lot of attention from the domestic and foreign audience and showed how important the integration of blind and partially sighted people is in all areas of life.
Mural models are an innovative approach to presenting street art and graffiti, because by creating works of street art in 3D technology, blind and partially sighted people are able to get to know the works of art on the streets of Belgrade through touch.
“We have always been of the opinion that street art is the freest form of art and that it is accessible to everyone, and in order to make it really accessible to everyone, we decided to create a 3D model of the mural. In this way, we wanted to bring the works on the street closer to the blind and visually impaired and to divert attention of the general public to the needs of this group of citizens and their inclusion in the daily life of the city, and street art is certainly an important part of that,” said Ljiljana Radošević, art historian from the Street Art Belgrade organization.
There are about 12,000 blind and partially sighted people in Serbia who need support in realizing their rights as well as integration into all social flows and daily activities, and cultural life and art are an integral and important part of that. The City Organization of the Blind in Belgrade gathers around 2,000 blind and partially sighted people from the territory of all Belgrade municipalities.
“The ‘Art in Passing’ project is very important because everyone who acts with the aim of adapting something or bringing it closer to the blind and partially sighted population does a lot for us. Through joint work, we all learned from each other and the knowledge we gained in cooperation with the Street Art organization Belgrade are of great importance because they will be applicable in some future projects that do not necessarily have an artistic character,” said Nikola Đorđević, president of the Belgrade City Organization of the Blind.
The third mural for which a 3D model was created was painted by artists Jana and Hope and bears the symbolic name “Love and Hope”. The mural was painted in 2018 with the support of children from “Svrašte”. The wall is located in Cetinjska, opposite the social enterprise cafe-bar “16”, which was opened with the aim of providing support to former users of the Inn after they turn 16 and represents a kind of opportunity for additional education, acquisition of new skills and the possibility of formal employment. First of all, it is another safe location for children who live and work on the streets. Placing a 3D model in this place emphasizes the important message of the mural as well as the location itself.
“Through the ‘Art in the Passing’ project, we wanted to show that art can be accessible to everyone. Thanks to the 3D models of the mural, our blind and partially sighted fellow citizens will be able to enjoy the works of street artists. At the same time, this project reminds us that challenges and obstacles can be overcome when we make an effort together. I would especially like to highlight the contribution of the children from “Svrašte”, who participated in painting this mural. I am very pleased that the Yettel Foundation is part of this initiative because it symbolizes what it stands for we advocate, and that is a more tolerant and better society,” said Milica Begenišić, manager of the Yettel Foundation.
The author of the project is the “Street Art Belgrade” organization, and the project is realized with the support of the Belgrade City Organization of the Blind and the Yettel Foundation.
