(2026-2028) Invisible Painting WOAK in Toruń is carrying out an innovative project titled “Invisible Painting.” This two-year initiative is co-funded by the EU’s Creative Europe program. Contemporary painting, especially abstract painting, is generally perceived as a medium experienced exclusively through sight. The “Invisible Painting” project challenges this paradigm. Through the scientific and creative translation of elements of a painting into other senses (using the phenomenon of synesthesia), a unique prototype will be created—a kind of “dictionary” for translating one sense into another. As a result, sighted, blind, and visually impaired people will become equal partners in the process of decoding art. In 2024, WOAK carried out a smaller initiative called “The Invisible Image.” At that time, participants explored a work by Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz (from the collection of the Regional Museum in Toruń) through sounds, smells, tastes, and tactile graphics. That experience served as inspiration for us, but this time we’re taking the plunge. Instead of realistic painting, we’re focusing on abstract art, and we’ll be drawing on the collections of the bwa City Gallery in Bydgoszcz and the “Znaki Czasu” Center for Contemporary Art in Toruń, among others. Schedule The project will last 24 months and will be divided into three phases: Phase I (currently, through the end of 2026): Research and development. WOAK, together with researchers from, among others, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, will develop an ideal interpretive model. Phase II (2027): Testing solutions. Open workshops featuring blind and visually impaired individuals as experts, to which residents from across the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship will be invited. Phase III (through March 2028): Dissemination. Launch of a digital hub and free e-learning courses, enabling other museums in Poland and Europe to implement the developed tools. Consortium and Funding “Invisible Painting” is a Europe-wide project. The project is led by the Provincial Center for Cultural Animation in Toruń (WOAK), which is collaborating in an international consortium with partners MuseoSpace Stichting (Netherlands) and Kulturni dom Franca Bernika Domžale (Slovenia) Supporting partners include the bwa Municipal Gallery in Bydgoszcz and the “Znaki Czasu” Center for Contemporary Art in Toruń. Project value: 253,458 euros EU Funding: The total grant amount from the Creative Europe program is 200,000 EUR, to be distributed among all partners. National co-financing (2026 own contribution): The project is co-financed from the budget of the Kujawsko-Pomorskie Province Local Government in the form of a targeted grant awarded by the Marshal’s Office in Toruń (Department of Culture and National Heritage). The Invisible Painting project is co-financed by the European Union under the Creative Europe program. Funded by the EU. The views and opinions expressed are solely those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor the EACEA is responsible for them. Co-financed by the Kujawsko-Pomorskie Province Local Government.
