Tomato

Tomato Project

Start date: 2022
End date: 2025
Duration: 36 months
Total budget: €1,329,597
Program: Creative Europe Programme (CREA)

OBJECTIVES

The TOMATO project was created to bring young children and their families closer to museum culture through interactive, creative, and—most importantly—accessible tools.

Its main goal is to make culture accessible to everyone, especially to those with fewer opportunities, by bringing museums directly into people’s homes through immersive and sustainable technologies.

This is the challenge embraced by eight European museums—Esapolis Museum in Padua, Sladovna Gallery in Písek (Czech Republic), the Croatian Ecomuseum Istrian De Dignan, Slovenian museums Abakkum, Skrateljc, and Tartini House Museum, the Museum of Oriental Art in Venice, and the Austrian museum FRida&Fred in Graz. With co-funding from the European Union under the Creative Europe call CREA-CULT-2021, they joined forces to launch the TOMATO project.

THE PROJECT

TOMATO (Technologies for an Open Museum Accessible To All) is a European initiative aimed at breaking down cultural and social barriers that limit access to museums and cultural spaces. Funded under the Erasmus+ programme, the project involves 13 partners from 8 EU countries.

Its mission is to distribute creative, cultural, and artistic content on an international scale, enhancing audience engagement and promoting social inclusion. Through both physical and digital transmission of European museum heritage, TOMATO enables users to experience immersive cultural journeys from the comfort of their own homes.

To achieve these goals, the project will develop:

pedagogical and educational handbooks for museum professionals and educators,
a physical Tomato Kit – Food for Thought for workshop activities,
a social app (web platform),
and a mobile app to explore museum content in 3D.

PARTNERSHIP

Lead Partner: Gruppo Pleiadi, Italy

Project Partners: K.A.NE., Hands On, Venetian Cluster, Surrender Media, Sladovna OPS, Creative Plus, Skrateljc, Giuseppe Tartini, Udruga Istarsko, ABAKKUM, iShowroom

Associated Partners: Butterfly Arc, Regional Directorate of Museums, Veneto Region, FRida&Fred