OpenRegioCulture - Low-barrier access to culture
The state capital of Wiesbaden was part of an international exchange meeting on the topic of accessible cultural offerings. From September 3 to 5, 2025, the KulturRegion FrankfurtRheinMain welcomed guests from nine European countries as part of the EU project "OpenRegioCulture - Barrier-free access to culture".
The aim of the meeting was to exchange ideas about inclusive cultural formats and to gain new impetus for regional and international cultural work.
The four-year project is co-financed by the European Union's Interreg Europe program and brings together partner regions from Poland, Romania, Hungary, Greece, France, the Netherlands, Latvia, Belgium and Germany. The focus is on the development, implementation and dissemination of methods for designing accessible cultural offerings.
The thematic focus of the meeting in the KulturRegion FrankfurtRheinMain was on offers for blind and visually impaired people. The delegation visited various cultural institutions in Frankfurt and Wiesbaden. In the state capital, the sam - Stadtmuseum am Markt, the Kunsthaus Wiesbaden, the Museum Reinhard Ernst and Schloss Freudenberg were on the agenda. The institutions visited demonstrated exemplary approaches to barrier-free cultural education - for example through tactile objects, guided tours in the dark or exhibitions that can be experienced through the senses.
The participants exchanged their impressions and reflected on the formats shown with regard to their own practice in their home country. It became clear that creative and inclusive offers are possible even with limited resources. A central element was the direct experience of inclusion - for example through dark trails or through the guidance of blind or visually impaired experts.
Exchange at Freudenberg Castle
At Freudenberg Castle, the international guests engaged in discussions with representatives from culture, politics and inclusion work in the Rhine-Main region. An inclusive dance performance with open audio description gave all visitors equal access to the artistic events and opened up new perspectives on movement perception and spatial design.
The exchange continued the following day with a workshop at the KulturRegion office. Under the title "Building Capacity", practical work was carried out to raise awareness in dealing with blind and visually impaired people and to break down barriers in the cultural sector.
Further international meetings are planned as the project progresses. The next stop will be the partner region Zuid-Limburg in the Netherlands in March 2026.