Arte accessibile: traduzione in LIS di una lectio magistralis su Van Gogh

This thesis addresses the issue of accessibility in the fields of culture and museums by focusing on the deaf community. It investigates the potential of Italian Sign Language (LIS) translation as a strategy to make audiovisual museum products accessible to deaf people. This is demonstrated through the translation of the video Van Gogh e la forza del colore - Flavio Caroli (Van Gogh and the power of colour - Flavio Caroli), recorded at the Galleria d’Arte Moderna in Milan. The project opens with a theoretical framework on accessibility, particularly in the museum context, and on audiovisual translation, with a focus on LIS translation. It then analyses the source video, highlighting challenges related to cultural, linguistic, iconic and temporal aspects. The translation process followed specific phases adapted to the audiovisual nature of the text. The adopted approach enabled the content to be accessible to a heterogeneous deaf audience, with diverse linguistic and cultural competences, while preserving the symbolic value of Van Gogh’s art. The translation was then integrated into the original video through post-editing, to ensure synchronization, clarity, and usability. The results demonstrate that LIS translation is an effective tool to promote museum accessibility and to allow deaf visitors to fully engage with art. The thesis concludes by highlighting the importance of further expanding such initiatives in Italian museums, so that art and culture may become truly inclusive.