{"id":34781,"date":"2020-04-24T01:38:10","date_gmt":"2020-04-24T08:38:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/?p=34781"},"modified":"2020-04-24T02:11:12","modified_gmt":"2020-04-24T09:11:12","slug":"culture-accessibility","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/2020\/04\/24\/culture-accessibility\/","title":{"rendered":"Culture & accessibility"},"content":{"rendered":"

Visitors to Masada learn more about the site through Gadi Mathov\u2019s miniature model of the landmark. (photo from Mathov Design)<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

What would it take to make museums, cultural sites and tourist attractions more accessible to people with visual, intellectual or developmental disabilities? For the past 25 years, Israeli professional miniaturist Gadi Mathov has been working on solving this problem using models.<\/p>\n

At Masada National Park, for example, people with visual impairment can understand the site\u2019s unique topographical structure and history through Mathov\u2019s 3D tactile models.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe also created for them miniature models of siege vessels that illustrate the Roman siege of Masada,\u201d he explained. \u201cThe way I define it, a model is a physical representation of a product or an idea. A model is a medium that allows people to communicate and pass along ideas between them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mathov Design models are used in leading cultural institutions such as the Israel Museum and sites managed by the Israel Antiquities Authority and the Israel Nature and Parks Authority. Mathov also cooperates with the Commission for Equal Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the National Insurance Institute and the Access Israel nonprofit organization.<\/p>\n

Mathov Design\u2019s 100-square-metre model of Jerusalem, featuring the Temple Mount, the Tower of David, the Knesset, the new Jerusalem Light Rail and other iconic structures, can be seen in Times Square in New York City as part of the Gulliver\u2019s Gate project.<\/p>\n

Birdwatching via models<\/strong><\/p>\n

Agamon Hula, a must-visit birdwatching and natural beauty attraction in northern Israel, is also enhanced by Mathov\u2019s models. Here, he cooperated with Pnina Ceizler, Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael-Jewish National Fund\u2019s northern region projects and accessibility coordinator, and KKL-JNF\u2019s chief ornithologist Yaron Charka to make the site\u2019s research station a place of interest for people with disabilities \u2013 visitors can see and\/or feel models of the birds that migrate in the area, as well as special globes and maps that highlight migratory routes.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are quite a few models that we\u2019ve created to enhance the experience for people with visual impairments,\u201d said Ceizler. \u201cWe see that it\u2019s useful for everyone, also for children with disabilities or with autism.\u201d<\/p>\n

The accessible experience at the research station has proved to be a huge hit, she told Israel21c. She tried it out on a group of people with visual impairments before opening it up to private visitors and organized trips for schools and people with special needs.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey enjoyed this whole experience up close. They were impressed and admired everything,\u201d she said of the accessible centre\u2019s first visitors.<\/p>\n

Back to the future<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mathov has worked in his profession for 37 years, but it came about quite by accident. \u201cIt was a temporary job while I was an architecture student, and then I found out that I liked it better,\u201d he recounted.<\/p>\n

Decades later, he\u2019s still in love with the job. \u201cThey\u2019ll have to take me out of here in a coffin,\u201d he joked, speaking of his workshop in the central city of Lod.<\/p>\n

Along with cultural institutions, his clients include the defence establishment and medical instrumentation companies.<\/p>\n

Mathov is not worried about work drying up in the age of technological advancement. \u201cThere\u2019s nothing more comfortable or clearer than a model,\u201d he said. \u201cThere are dozens if not thousands of uses.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lately, it\u2019s become much easier and cheaper to create a model. \u201cThe biggest development was the introduction of what we call computerized production,\u201d Mathov explained, citing 3D printers, lasers and CNC (computer numerical control) machines. \u201cEach of these technologies helps us create a much more complex and higher-quality product in less time and for a cheaper price.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mathov hopes that, one day, people will be able to print out models at home of the places they\u2019re planning on visiting. \u201cToday, no one goes to the store to buy music; no one goes to Blockbuster to watch a movie. I imagine that, when you\u2019ll want a miniature model, you won\u2019t go to a miniaturist. You\u2019ll be able to download them and print them by yourself,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n

However, printing is only the end of a process that begins with human creativity. Mathov said a model should contain \u201cthe human spark of the soul of the person who created it.\u201d<\/p>\n

And, while he mourns the disappearance of craftsmanship, Mathov is a firm believer in advancement. \u201cYou have to keep on looking forward,\u201d he said. \u201cTo understand what the technologies are and where they\u2019re heading; how to adopt them or compete against them or circumvent them.\u201d<\/p>\n

For more information, visit mathov.co.il\/English.aspx<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Israel21c<\/strong> is a nonprofit educational foundation with a mission to focus media and public attention on the 21st-century Israel that exists beyond the conflict. For more, or to donate, visit israel21c.org<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

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 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Visitors to Masada learn more about the site through Gadi Mathov\u2019s miniature model of the landmark. (photo from Mathov Design) What would it take to make museums, cultural sites and tourist attractions more accessible to people with visual, intellectual or developmental disabilities? For the past 25 years, Israeli professional miniaturist Gadi Mathov has been working […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":34782,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4329],"tags":[1114,5780,3076,9862,2777,4330,2112],"class_list":["post-34781","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-israel","tag-accessibility","tag-culture","tag-education","tag-gadi-mathov","tag-inclusion","tag-israel","tag-tourism"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34781","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34781"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34781\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34782"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34781"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34781"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34781"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}