how to curate disability?
Challenges and considerations Displaying Disability in ‘discovering disability’
‘Discovering Disability’ is on display in 2024, image of poster featuring prosthetic leg.
The temporary exhibition at the George Marshall Medical Museum, ‘Discovering Disability’, displays a range of objects relating to disabilities in the collection, shedding light on the history of people living with a range of conditions.
Yet, exhibitions displaying objects relating to disabilities have their own challenges and obstacles to overcome. Troubling histories of neglect or prejudice have meant that starting to curate an exhibition based around disabilities is not starting from a neutral point.
Acknowledging historical wrongs and representing groups of people in contemporary society are important when displaying objects with troubling histories.
Images of inhaler, hearing aid, glass eye, and hip prosthesis featured in the display.
DIFFICULT HISTORIES
Museums have historically mirrored the stigmatised treatment of disability by society. Historically, museums have been passive places of display for learning and promoting value rather than inciting critical thinking. The 16th century ‘cabinet of curiosities’ was a setting for displaying a variety of objects in a prized collection, with the process of collecting rather than critical thinking central to the viewing experience. Disabled bodies were displayed in cabinets and behind glass for scientific as well as entertainment value. For Example, the embalmed Juliana Pastrana (pictures below), who had hair growing over body caused by hypertrichosis, was displayed at the 1851 Great Exhibition of Crystal Palace, epitomising the objectification of disabled bodies even in death.
Miss Julia Pastrana, the embalmed nondescript : exhibiting at 191, Piccadilly. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Disabilities displayed in museums have historically followed a similar pattern to the cabinet of curiosities and the 19th and 20th century Freak Show concept. Popular up until the 1950s, the Freak Show was a place of spectacle and objectification for disabled people (amongst able bodied performers). Whilst this was one of the few ways for disabled people to make a living at a time of increased institutionalisation into Lunatic asylums, the troubling presence of exploitation remains.
The wonderful two-headed nightingale : the eighth wonder of the world / Sanger's Royal Amphitheatre. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Despite the end of the popularity of Freak Shows and increased movements for liberation in the latter part of the 20th century, It was only in 2010 that the Equality Act was passed in the UK, outlawing discrimination and offering protection to disabled people.
Disability rights and activism are an ongoing battle. Therefore, exhibitions, displays, and museums as a whole have a great responsibility and opportunity to represent these stories and narratives of people historically marginalised or overlooked.
‘DISCOVERING DISABILITY’ EXHIBITION AIMS
The research and exhibition at the George Marshall Medical Museum sought to highlight disabled stories and narratives within the collection, creating a purpose designed space for objects relating to disabilities. Many of the objects have never been on display before and so creating space for their stories and histories to be told is important for as big of a range of disabilities to be represented as possible.
‘Disabilities’ as a term covers such a vast array of conditions and so it is impossible to represent everyone. To address this, the display includes many viable as well as invisible disability objects such as Stoma/Colostomy equipment, objects relating to depression and hip replacements to show objects that when worn or used may not be visible. Highlighting invisible and visible disabilities also helps de-stigmatise viewpoints held around disabilities as only representing a handful of conditions. Every disability is valid, and the people affected deserve equal representation in places such as museums.
NARRATIVES AND VOICES
Horace Greaves (left) and Gladys Hewston (right). Horace’s prosthetic leg and Gladys’ glass eyes both feature in the exhibition.
Telling the stories of people associated with objects on display helps to prevent the objectification of the people associated with objects on display. An easy trap to fall into is reducing object to speak on behalf of the individual associated with it as a representation of the disability. Instead, displays benefit when the personal story is told, and people can emote with the object as an insight into their daily life.
Using QR codes, the exhibition points visitors to the page of inhabitants at the Powick Mental Asylum and two interestingly contrasting stories of two people who used prosthesis.
Having the historic narratives of Horace emphasising and Gladys Hewston is an important resource for interpretation and display, emphasising the fact that the objects now on display belonged to real people. Both Horace and Gladys had very different experiences with their prosthesis and so being able to tell their stories and humanise the objects on display enables a greater emotive understanding of the people who used them. Learn more about Horace and Gladys’ experiences by clicking the link below.
Pictured above: Corinne, Petrina Barber, Hannah Witton, Ahmed Khalifa.
Also included in the exhibition display are activists, podcasters, and artists working today to promote awareness of hearing loss, depression, chronic pain, and Stoma awareness. Bringing the display into the present highlights the ongoing advancements needed in disability representation and awareness as well as the presence of disabled people outside the historic museum display. Learn more about the people in the display clicking the link below.
MOVING FORWARD
In the rest of the museum, we are working to include disabilities stories at the forefront of interpretation and visibility. The temporary display of local artist Corinne’s self-portraits as a bed-bound person; as well as the objects in the mental health cabinet; and new display on Dr Jean Clark and Hilda Margaret Nichols, advocates for disabled people's rights during the second world war are all steps the museum is taking to make disability representation a consistent part of the overall display moving forward.
Curating the display has been a rewarding challenge, toeing the line between displaying the historic objects as well as allowing the people historically associated with them as well as disabled people today to share space in creating a meaningful exhibition.
To find out more about Discovering Disability visit the ‘Discovering Disability’ exhibition at the George Marshall Medical Museum inside the Charles Hastings Education Centre in 2024.
