Tactile Tallinn sculpture offers blind visitors new way to explore Old Town
A new bronze sculpture installed in Tallinn's Town Hall Square gives blind and low-vision visitors the chance to explore the city's medieval Old Town through touch.
Located in the corner of Raekoja plats at Dunkri tänav, the miniature bronze model, installed last November, depicts Tallinn's Town Hall Square and surrounding historic structures.
The sculpture was created by Tauno Kangro, known for other public works including "The Lucky Chimney Sweep," also in Tallinn's Old Town, and "The Aurochs" at the top of Rakvere Castle Hill.
The project, led by the Tallinn International Rotary Club (TIRC), is designed first and foremost to help blind or low-vision visitors experience part of the Old Town, a UNESCO-listed World Heritage Site.
Hillar Sein, head of the Tallinn Culture and Sports Department, said the sculpture gives visitors "the chance to touch and feel the depicted buildings and, through them, experience the surrounding cityscape."
Other Rotary International projects have seen similar miniature model sculptures installed in other cities across Europe.
Installing sculptures on city-owned land can require several permits and coordination across city departments; more complex requests may also involve the city's Public Art Committee.
In this case, permission to install Kangro's work was granted by the city's Heritage Protection Department and the Tallinn City Center Administration.
Sein noted that around four or five new public art projects are proposed in Tallinn each year.
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Editor: Marko Tooming, Aili Vahtla
