Touching the City

Touching the City is a doctoral research and artistic project developed at the Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków (Poland), aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations, particularly those addressing reduced inequalities, inclusive education, and equal access to culture. Conceived as a participatory and inclusive initiative, the project explores alternative, haptic ways of experiencing the urban heritage through textile-based tactile graphics.

At its core, Touching the City translates selected architectural details into haptic textile objects using techniques such as machine embroidery and flock foil, chosen for their tactile legibility and material warmth. The project focuses on two cities closely connected to my biography: Kielce and Kraków. In Kielce, the works were inspired by metal gates located in the city center, while the Kraków chapter focused on the characteristic window grilles of the Nowa Huta district.

The exhibitions presented series of tactile panels depicting both full views and enlarged fragments of architectural details, allowing visitors to explore rhythm, structure, and ornament through touch. For blind and visually impaired audiences, the exhibitions offered direct access to otherwise visually inaccessible elements of urban heritage. For sighted visitors, they became an invitation to slow down and notice overlooked details of everyday architecture.

The project was developed with a strong emphasis on accessibility. The exhibitions were accompanied by Braille labels, audio descriptions, and clearly structured narratives. The historical texts were prepared with the support of Olga Grabiwoda (Kielce edition) and Emilia Wróblewska (Kraków edition), ensuring a solid cultural and contextual framework adapted to diverse audiences.

Ultimately, Touching the City functions as an inclusive exhibition format – accessible to everyone, regardless of visual ability. It brings together blind, visually impaired, and sighted visitors on equal terms, offering a shared, multisensory experience of the city.

In the long term, the project is intended to move beyond the exhibition context. The textile objects created as part of Touching the City will be donated for educational purposes, supporting institutions and organizations working with blind and visually impaired people, and continuing to serve as tools for learning, accessibility, and social inclusion.

Touching the City (Kielce edition) exhibition was carried out as part of the 2023 Minister of Culture and National Heritage scholarship and was first presented from December 29, 2023 to March 17, 2024 at the Institute of Design in Kielce.

Subsequent presentations took place on May 21–26, 2024 during Łódź Design Festival, and from September 22 to October 31, 2024 as part of the group exhibition “SUSTAINABILITY AND ACCESSIBILITY” organized by the Polish Institute in Vienna during Vienna Design Week at p-art Galerie.

In the fall of 2024, the project received a distinction in the “Project of the Year 2023/24” review organized by the Association of Applied Graphic Designers, and was also awarded in the international competition “My Impact! Be Active. Be Your Change. Journalism to Empower Activism.”

In April 2025, it received an honorable mention in the Best in Design competition, organized as part of Zlin Design Week, in the Communication Design category.

Touching the City (Kraków edition) took place from December 4, 2024 to February 28, 2025 at the Huta Sztuki Gallery, operating under the Norwid Cultural Center in Kraków. This part of the research project was carried out as part of the 2024 Creative Scholarship of the City of Kraków, of which I was a beneficiary.