Get a Piece of the Action: Experience Museums from Home with "Call for Culture" Phone Tours
Discover museums right at home via virtual tours - "Virtual Museum Tours" - Delving into Museum Exhibits from Home
It's museum time, but instead of lining up for tickets, just grab your phone and cozy up on the couch. That's the promise of the "Call for Culture" project, now active in over 100 German museums, including the Museum of Applied Art (MAKK) in Cologne and the Hamburger Kunsthalle.
After the Coronavirus pandemic put a halt to cultural visits, the Association of the Blind and Visually Impaired teamed up with several museums and an inclusion office to bring art to you—from your living room to the coffee table. Phone tours for the blind and visually impaired were the first of their kind, but the concept has evolved to cater to a wider audience, reaching those with mobility issues, financial constraints, or social anxiety.
Want to immerse yourself in the work of Édouard Manet or Berlinde De Bruyckere? The Hamburg Kunsthalle is inviting you on a one-hour journey through their halls. The audio tours are free, thanks to funding from Aktion Mensch and the Hamburg Cultural Authority, but costs are still high, so donations are always welcome—from individuals, foundations, and corporations alike.
For Gertrud Feld, a blind art enthusiast from Saarbrücken, "Call for Culture" has been a game-changer. Since discovering the audio tours through the Saarland Association for the Blind, she's been hooked, already guided through the Helmut-Schmidt-Haus in Hamburg, the Museumsinsel in Berlin, and the Herzogin-Anna-Amalia-Bibliothek in Weimar. "With every tour, I discover something new and beautiful," she shares excitedly.
For museum guides like Corinna Fehrenbach, the transition to phone tours has demanded finesse. "When you can't rely on body language, you have to be purposeful with your descriptions," she explains. Emphasizing shapes, colors, textures, and even smells, she immerses her callers in the art experience.
For those missing the human connection, don't worry—the absence of gestures is more than compensated for with close-knit storytelling. In Fehrenbach's words, "I find myself using both hands to tell the story, gesticulating more than I ever would in person."
With over 100 museums offering phone tours, there's a cultural adventure waiting for you, no matter where you are. Dive in and discover the beauty of museums from the comfort of your living room.
- Hamburg
- Cologne
- Berlin
- Museum Island
- Cologne Cathedral
- Hamburg Kunsthalle
- Coronavirus
- Phone tours
- Accessibility
- Funding
- Donations
- The "Call for Culture" project, active in more than 100 German museums, including the Museum of Applied Art in Cologne and the Hamburger Kunsthalle, offers phone tours for a unique homebound museum experience.
- Despite the Coronavirus pandemic, museum visits are still possible through these phone tours, which initially catered to the blind and visually impaired but now also accommodate those with mobility issues, financial constraints, or social anxiety.
- The Hamburg Kunsthalle, for instance, invites you on an audio tour through their halls, showcasing works by artists like Édouard Manet and Berlinde De Bruyckere.
- These phone tours, funded by Aktion Mensch and the Hamburg Cultural Authority, are free but donations are always welcome from individuals, foundations, and corporations.
- For a blind art enthusiast like Gertrud Feld from Saarbrücken, the "Call for Culture" phone tours have been a game-changer, guiding her through various museums such as the Helmut-Schmidt-Haus, Museumsinsel, and the Herzogin-Anna-Amalia-Bibliothek.
- For museum guides like Corinna Fehrenbach, the shift to phone tours requires careful descriptions to convey the shapes, colors, textures, and even smells of art, creating an immersive experience even without physical presence.
