"Permission to touch does not mean touching any way you like"… Touch Permission and handover protocols for Tactile Tours

– Defences against damage and an on-site operations guide for Barrier-free exhibitions, through Baboró Festival

Author: EVENTODIT Editorial Team
Published: 2026-10-21T13:21:28+09:00
Updated: 2026-10-26T02:11:24Z
Original URL: https://eventodit.com/en/stories/baboro-tactile-tour-touch-permission-2026.html

Practical summary

Event overview: Baboró scheduled 9–18 October 2026; tactile tours advertised 18 October, now past; venue exhibition listed 10–25 October, actual tour results unconfirmed

Key decision: The display manager confirms handling permissions; guides test explanation, movement and checks before setting session length and capacity.

Responsible roles / intended readers: Collections management, interpretation and registration teams

Record / next task: Approved handling-object list, session operating plan and booking wording

Basis of information: Official programme and venue information; implementation procedure is an editorial proposal

Editorial review: 2026-10-21

Tactile Tours, where visitors appreciate artworks or stage props through direct touch, are a core trend in Inclusive exhibition planning not only for visually impaired people but also for children and visitors developing their sensory abilities. Tactile visits at Ireland’s Baboró International Arts Festival for Children are a leading example.

Yet the moment the traditional gallery rule of looking only is broken and visitors are told they may touch, the on-site planner takes on enormous risk. The essence of planning a Tactile Tour is not unconditional access. It lies in precise Touch Permission design and defences against damage, defining what may be touched, with how much force and under whose control.

1. Separate Tactile Objects and use substitute Props

Allowing visitors to touch every original artwork in an exhibition creates damage risks beyond the planner’s control.

- Operate a mix of originals and Dummies: objects for tactile viewing must be strictly selected. Instead of actual works with sharp edges or toxic pigments, it is safer to create separate tactile Replicas or substitute props reproducing the same texture and weight, and place them along the route.
- Separate Static displays from Handling objects: clearly distinguish on the plan between firmly wall-mounted works whose surfaces can only be traced and objects visitors can lift to feel their weight. Provide damage-prevention measures suited to each zone, such as fixing anchors and safety mats.

2. The Touch Guideline: the docent’s intervention and Brake

Visitors do not know how much force to use when handling an artwork. The docent’s role in a Tactile Tour is therefore not simply to convey information, but to provide a physical guide and Brake.

- Hand-over-hand guiding: for visually impaired visitors, docents must train beforehand in the Hand-over-hand technique, gently placing their own hand on the back of the visitor’s hand and moving together along the work’s contours. This is the most reliable means of control for preventing damage to the work and injury to the visitor.
- Put touch intensity into words: rather than a vague instruction to touch it, docents must use specific Verbal Control of force and method, such as “Shall we touch just the surface gently, as if stroking a baby bird?” or “Place both hands on the floor and feel the weight.”

3. Hygiene and Restoration: the hidden ten minutes in the timetable

In a Tactile Tour touched by many hands, cross-contamination and wear progress incomparably faster than in ordinary exhibitions.

- An inter-session disinfection and Reset Buffer: do not admit the next group immediately after the first session finishes. Compulsorily schedule at least 10–15 minutes of Clearing so staff have time to wipe artwork surfaces with dedicated cleaners and immediately restore detached parts using glue guns or similar tools.
- Make advance hand-sanitizing routes mandatory: fix the process of every visitor washing their hands or disinfecting them with alcohol swabs in the Holding Area before the visit as cue-sheet item 1, preventing skin-oil contamination of the works.

4. A four-stage Tactile Tour planning protocol for practitioners

When planning a Barrier-free tour that opens access to artworks, the working team must follow these four-stage criteria.

| Stage | Actions |
| --- | --- |
| [Stage 1: Confirm the Touch Scope] | Agree in writing with the curator and artist on lists of original works that may be touched, works that must not be touched and substitute Replicas intended for handling. |
| [Stage 2: Establish physical defences and zone routes] | Weight display bases heavily so they do not topple if struck by a visually impaired person’s cane or a wheelchair, and lay guidance mats with different floor textures. |
| [Stage 3: Intensive training for operating staff and docents] | Repeat role-play rehearsals covering the correct direction of touch and physical braking when visitors act forcefully, such as pulling or poking. |
| [Stage 4: Hand over hygiene and Reset manuals] | Hand over cleaning manuals by artwork surface material—wood, fabric and metal—for staff to use during the 15-minute gap between sessions, plus the process for deploying replacements if damage occurs. |

A planner’s note: consideration ends in meticulous control

Removing artwork barriers for visually impaired people or children is an admirable act of consideration by the planner. But to prevent that consideration ending in the tragedy of damaged works and bewildered visitors, the removed visible fence must be replaced by invisible fences: sophisticated staff control and a meticulous Turnaround timetable.

A successful Tactile Tour is possible only through a precise scenario that gives visitors freedom while ensuring that freedom harms neither the artworks nor the visitors themselves.

Application conditions

Apply where object owners can agree permissions/alternatives and interpretation and movement support can be checked in practice.

Unconfirmed information

Actual tour delivery, attendance, capacity, duration, staff, object-level touch conditions and satisfaction were not verified. Suggested staffing and work sequences are editorial applications of the public case, not verified records of the event’s internal procedures.

Sources

1. Baboró · Exhibition, festival dates and 18 October tactile-tour booking (undated; checked 21 October 2026)
https://www.baboro.ie/festival/programme/borneo-x-ireland-cultural-exchange

2. Galway Arts Centre · Exhibition 10–25 October, tactile tours and separate viewing hours (undated; checked 21 October 2026)
https://www.galwayartscentre.ie/whats-on/borneo-x-ireland-cultural-exchange/

3. Baboró · Accessibility, tactile-tour enquiries and first-floor video alternative (undated; checked 21 October 2026)
https://www.baboro.ie/plan-your-festival/accessibility

4. Galway Bay FM · Programme introducing festival and exhibition (published 15 October 2026; checked 21 October; audio not listened to)
https://www.galwaybayfm.ie/podcasts/arts-culture-entertainment/baboro-30th-birthday-oughterard-music-festival-folio-festival-at-charlie-byrnes-232126