by Anesadora Hightower
Beginning on the 10th of January and closing on the 25th of April, the Museo Provincial de Ciencias Naturales in Córdoba, Argentina is hosting the Leonardo DaVinci exhibit created by engineer Daniel Vazquez. Vazquez is a mechanist and an engineer dedicated to re-creating DaVinci’s inventions as illustrated in DaVinci’s journals. Vazquez has re-created more than three dozen of DaVinci’s inventions, with 15 more underway. Here in Córdoba an Argentine engineer is re-creating the inventions of an Italian engineer born in Vinci, Italy in 1452.
After the first World War, the Lions Club began one of their first, and arguably largest, efforts to support returning soldiers: the white cane. Prior to the Lions Club championing the white cane, the blind were largely homebound and reliant on others for support during travel. After the Lions Club began supplying white canes to blinded veterans and hosting training courses for the use of the canes, the blind gained new independence. The Lions Club was so successful in this endeavor that when I, as a blind woman in 2025, walked into a museum in Córdoba, Argentina with my white cane, a museum staff member appeared before me as though summoned. The staff member immediately welcomed me and provided detailed instructions to the DaVinci exhibit. For myself and my mother, who visited the museum with me, the entry was free upon recognition of my white cane.
The museum is several floors high connected by an internal spiral path winding through each floor of the museum in an open floor plan. The path to the third floor is marked every half-inch with traction strips to prevent slipping. This enhanced not only my personal safety, but also the safety of wheelchair users and patrons with strollers.
Prior to the Architectural Barriers Act in the United States, there was not legislation ensuring equitable access. For countries without legal protections, it takes a people’s willingness to embrace differences to successfully implement institutional change. Argentina amended their constitution in the 1980s, inspired by Switzerland’s Federal Constitution, to include increased protections for its citizens, including the disabled. Despite this, the legal framework to ensure compliance with accessible building codes is still non-existent. However, the museum maintains wide treaded walkways, and this basic implementation, promoting inclusivity, welcomes and encourages diverse people to experience the histories and sciences exhibited within the museum’s rotating collection.
On the museum’s top floor, the DaVinci exhibit wound around the entirety of the floor, broken into four sections denoted by large banners reading Air, Earth, Fire, and Water. Each display was accompanied by artistic informational posters with QR codes offering digital access to the information. After scanning the display’s QR code, patrons are encouraged to connect to the museum’s free Wi-Fi and navigate to accessible websites that work seamlessly with a screen reader. The displays are easy to access with Microsoft’s Seeing AI, and I was pleasantly surprised by the app’s functionality in Spanish.
As we explored the exhibit, we encountered several parents explaining the inventions to their young children in low voices. There was also an older couple speaking German, and another speaking French. We joined a tour and our guide, who spoke solely Spanish, was wearing a shirt reading “San Diego: Catching Waves.” Within our group there were multiple individuals, from toddlers to seniors, wearing apparel with brands and slogans from the United States.
Our choice to join a guided group was a wonderful one as we soon discovered the interactive nature of the inventions. As our guide explained the invention’s construction and use, he encouraged patrons to turn cranks and pull levers, offering a fully immersive experience. In one display of a prototype for a helicopter deemed a failure, I was invited to pull ropes to flap the prototype’s wings. As I did so, I understood why this invention was a failure: it is too physically taxing to maneuver. At another display, a successful invention, I felt how smoothly the mechanisms moved, providing a deeper understanding of the nature of invention.
Here at the museum, I found hope in a country under great duress not dissimilar to our own, where people make the choice to include and empower others. I find hope where people come together to provide when it is not mandated to include. It is a sentiment I see echoed within the ACB’s meetings, within my union’s work, and within the actions of every individual who chooses to ask: what about them?