"Art in Sensations", the Hermitage's sixth inclusive festival, runs 16-28 November 2026 in Peter I's Winter Palace and the General Staff Building. Its idea: art can be seen and felt. At the centre is the Petrine era.
This is not an exhibition with accessibility added on. It changes how you meet an object: hand, ear, gesture, movement all at once. Here is the idea, and why Peter I.
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Perception instead of inspection
A usual museum means glass, a label, eyes at arm's length. The festival removes that distance: tactile copies for the first time — a model of the palace of 1716-1723, carnival sleighs, a bas-relief with the emperor's handprint.
A tactile copy is another way to understand shape: the palm reads relief faster than the eye reads a label. The handprint needs no translation.
The copy is for touching; the original stays in the collection. That resolves the oldest museum conflict — look, do not touch.
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Why the Petrine era
That period changed maps, ships and everyday life — dress, gesture, music, celebration. Glass cases handle it badly; sound, touch and movement show it better.
Hence "Petrine Assemblies": an assembly was a gathering with music, dancing and conversation, not a modern concert. The museum hands the era back its own form.
On 22 November the Atrium hosts a free programme: brass band, signed lecture, deaf actors of the U Theatre, dances of Peter's time.
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Inclusion as a format, not a concession
"Inclusive" often reads as "for one group". Here signing adds a second language, deaf actors show theatre without sound, and the dances can be watched and the band heard.
The museum calls it another stage in a wider programme for an accessible environment — one that changes for everyone, not just some.
For a traveller, the day asks for no art-history knowledge: you arrive, listen, touch, watch the dancers, and the era assembles itself without wall texts.
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Rounding off the day
Both buildings face Palace Square. Finish with a walk across the square and along the embankments — quieter in November, with no ticket needed.
The museum also points to its "Accessible Hermitage" community. On a short trip, leave it there — fitting the main museum, festival and a long walk into one day is a mistake. You can посмотреть жильё in advance, near Palace Square.
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What to book in advance
The free 22 November ticket is online on the museum site or at the box office on the day; take the online one. Check separately whether you need a ticket for the main galleries, and recheck the line-up before you travel.
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Start with the programme: Atrium on 22 November, or a day including the tactile copies. Take the free ticket online and keep the day free of long rides. Do not try to "finish" the whole Hermitage — this festival is better unhurried.
Cover photo: Anastasia Mazureva, CC BY-SA 4.0, Викисклад
