Touch in the Museum

One topic that stood out to me as interesting in The Deepest Sense: A Cultural History of Touch was the historical role of touch in museums, and how it was eventually phased out, replaced primarily with sight. Most people probably think of museums as being a strictly no touch zone, as a way to protect important historic artifacts from being damaged or worn by human contact, but even in a modern context there are plenty of museums where touch is still an active part of the experience.

The museum that comes first too mind when I think of a museum that encourages touch is a children's museum, such as Boston Children's Museum, a place I have many happy childhood memories of. The goal of a children's museum is to be a place for children to play, learn, and learn through play, and many of these playful experiences are certainly tactile ones. Despite being primarily aimed at Children these experiences can be just as fun for adults too, and some children's museums, including Boston's have been known to host after dark adult only events, where the same playful experiences can be open for them to also let loose and be playful.

Touch in the museum is not restricted to museums aimed at children either. A good example of a museum aimed at all age groups which includes experiential and multi-sensory learning is the Boston Science Museum. On a more artistic angle, a quick google search of "Please Touch the Art" will bring up a wide array of contemporary art pieces attempting to reengage the tactile senses.

These photos are of my personal favorite example of this phenomenon, "petting corners" which I discovered on a tour of street art in Tel Aviv in 2019. These were the only two I was able to see (and pet) personally, but it seems like there were more of them at the time, with various kinds of fabric. I think that the Hebrew might be a pun, since putting it into google translate returned petting zoo, rather than just petting corner.

It's interesting to see that touch is being given more consideration in the world of art than it has been in the past. Is this a cycle or simply a change?

Update: Right after I first posted this my friend found their official facebook page https://www.facebook.com/ilovecorners/

Update 2: Apparently these corners were part of a corner themed art project by interactive artist and art therapist Yifah Raz. Here's her website as well if you are interested. https://ownly1.wixsite.com/yifahraz It is a bit bizarre and difficult to read but she has some very interesting art pieces.