ABSTRACT
Although international museum thinking and practice has come to be characterised by a desire to engage groups that reflect community diversity and a concern to create inclusive narratives that draw on the cultures and contributions of previously marginalised or excluded groups, disabled people – sometimes referred to as the world’s largest minority – still have unequal access to museum experiences and remain underrepresented, sometimes entirely invisible, within most institutions’ exhibitions, displays and public programmes. This chapter explores the ways in which some museums have responded to the shifting challenges and imperatives for action posed by the disability rights movement. What unique contributions might museums make to the ongoing efforts of those seeking to secure equality, dignity and respect for disabled people? How might museum practices be challenged, enriched and potentially transformed through engagement with disability activists and campaigners seeking particular forms of contemporary social, political and cultural change?
Drawing upon examples from diverse international settings, the focus of the argument here emerges from a suite of experimental research projects initiated by the Research Centre for Museums and Galleries at the University of Leicester. Collectively, these projects have explored new ways of creating 170and presenting disability-themed content and interpretation in museums and in utilising these narratives to stimulate, frame and inform public debate around widely held (but commonly unacknowledged) negative attitudes towards difference.
