Museo Omero 2025: a year of growth

2025 was a year full of satisfaction and activity for the Museo Omero, starting with the numbers: more than 31,000 people visited the museum, a significant figure that is close to pre-Covid levels.

Among the visitors to the Museum, a landmark of the Mole Vanvitelliana cultural centre, were numerous dignitaries, including: the Minister of Culture Alessandro Giuli, accompanied by the President of the Marche Region Francesco Acquaroli and the Mayor of Ancona Daniele Silvetti; the Director General of Museums of the Ministry of Culture Massimo Osanna, accompanied by the Director of Museums of the Marche Region Luigi Gallo; the Superintendent of Archaeology, Fine Arts and Landscape for the provinces of Ancona and Pesaro Urbino, Andrea Pessina, accompanied by Stefano Finocchi, head of the archaeological area; and the Superintendent of Archaeology, Fine Arts and Landscape for the provinces of Ascoli Piceno, Fermo and Macerata, Giovanni Issini.

New: the Omero Prize

In collaboration with the Directorate-General for Contemporary Creativity of the Ministry of Culture, the Omero Museum has launched the first edition of the Omero Prize, aimed at identifying and rewarding original, multisensory and inclusive artistic proposals. Over one hundred proposals were received; the winning work will become part of the Omero Museum's collection.

L'ombra vede (The Shadow Sees) by Enzo Cucchi

The closing of the exhibition - open from 17 December 2024 to 31 August 2025 - did not mark the end of the project. In fact, an original and unpublished catalogue was created, different from any traditional publication, conceived as an autonomous work: a box containing 54 A4 sheets, images, texts, accessible digital content and - in some editions - Braille texts and four relief drawings. Finally, the legacy of the exhibition took shape with the creation of a new permanent space: the Booh! Gallery, an environment where art can be explored in the dark through touch.

International collaborations

During the year, the Museum welcomed numerous international professionals from the cultural, educational and social sectors, establishing valuable relationships and collaborations. These included French researchers from the Institut National supérieur de formation et de recherche pour l'éducation inclusive and the Centre des monuments nationaux; a delegation from Beijing University of Civil Engineering and Architecture, accompanied by Prof. Fausto Pugnaloni; and Dagmara Stanosz, a Polish PhD student involved in an inclusion project at the Silesian Museum in Katowice.

The collaboration with the Goriški muzej (Gorizia Museum) brought the Omero Museum to Nova Gorica - Gorizia, European Capital of Culture 2025, with the creation of the first tactile gallery in Slovenia, Art Beyond the Visible, consisting of eight works from the Omero Museum. Given its great success, the exhibition has been extended throughout 2026.

Director Koko Okano, author of the documentary “Hands Touch the World”, organised fifty screenings of the film in Japan and accompanied blind people and Japanese operators to the Museum on several occasions, considering it an essential Italian destination.

The Museum participated in the AFAM Roadshow - Research. Creativity. Innovation, a travelling initiative that visited seven Italian cities with the aim of promoting dialogue between art, design, technology, multisensory perception and inclusion. The project was coordinated by the CNR - Institute of Cultural Heritage Sciences (CNR ISPC) and the Rome University of Fine Arts (RUFA), with the involvement of Sapienza University of Rome and the Academies of Higher Education in Art, Music and Dance (AFAM).

With a view to strengthening the Museum's international role, President Aldo Grassini spoke at the Conference of Directors of Italian Cultural Institutes abroad - the central event of the States General of Cultural Diplomacy held at the Lauro Rossi Theatre in Macerata - in the panel “Le Marche and the world. The internationalisation of territories”, a discussion dedicated to the cultural realities of the Marche region. Furthermore, as part of the agreement with the Heritage International Institute, an international academic, cultural and artistic centre promoted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, the Museum shared its experience in educational contexts.

Finally, the Omero Museum contributed to the success of the installation "Prima della via Flaminia. In viaggio con i guerrieri" (Before the Via Flaminia. Travelling with warriors), created for the Archaeological Museum and Via Flaminia in Cagli and awarded the AVICOM F@IMP International Prize for Museum Inclusivity and Sustainability at the 27th ICOM General Conference in Dubai (November 2025). The installation, created as part of the Erasmus+ Next-Museum project, won for promoting a phygital (physical and digital) museum model based on accessibility, sustainability and digital innovation, integrating tactile replicas, interactive tools and digital content designed according to the principles of Design for All.

Museo Omero and the Municipality of Ancona: Ancona 2028

In 2025, with the appointment of the new Councillor for Culture, Marta Paraventi, the relationship between the Municipality of Ancona and the management of the Museo Omero moved towards a more structured and ongoing collaboration.

On the one hand, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed with the aim of making the city increasingly inclusive, thanks to the Museum's specialist advice on accessibility to the city's main cultural sites. On the other hand, a section dedicated to accessibility was included in Ancona's application to become Italian Capital of Culture 2028, making the right to accessible and inclusive enjoyment a guiding principle of the entire project.

National collaborations and projects

The project “Il Museo Omero e il turismo inclusivo” (The Omero Museum and inclusive tourism), the second edition of Marche for all, is currently underway with the support of the Marche Region, aimed at consolidating the Museum as an inclusive tourist attraction.

The Museum has also signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Politecnico di Milano - Department of Design, and maintains active agreements with RAI Pubblica Utilità, Slash Radio Web, the INCLUSIVA knowledge community, MAXXI per Tutti, the University of Macerata, the Il Cassero Museum of Sculpture and other institutional partners.

Summary in numbers for 2025

• Visitors: 31,107
• 1 new award organised: Omero Award
• 1 exhibition organised: L'ombra vede (The Shadow Sees) by Enzo Cucchi
• 60 events
• 40 training sessions
• 10 consultancy projects
• 7 collaborative exhibitions
• 4 issues of the magazine Aisthesis
• 4 volunteers from the Universal Civil Service
• 10 interns
• 1 shared international award: AVICOM F@IMP
• 10 articles and scientific contributions