Curating Visibility
Screen South’s pioneering Accentuate programme is excited to announce the launch of its new programme: Curating Visibility.
Screen South has been awarded £790,857 by Arts Council England, through their Unlocking Collections fund, to deliver Curating Visibility. This will build on the success of their Curating for Change, to platform D/deaf, disabled and neurodivergent people in museums.
Funding will crucially support 6 Fellowships for D/deaf, disabled, and neurodivergent people wanting to embark upon a curatorial career in 6 museums across England. Screen South has today launched its recruitment for the first 3 funded Fellowships for this programme. Fellowships will run for 15 months and the first cohort will be hosted by Dover Museum, The Imperial War Museums (Duxford) and the Food Museum. You can find out how to apply here.
This groundbreaking initiative will enable D/deaf, disabled, and neurodivergent people to pursue a curatorial career, reclaim and interpret museum collections centred around disability, and make use of creative digital technology to deliver meaningful and accessible interaction and interpretation of collections.
Led by people with lived experience of disability, Curating Visibility reimagines what museums can do to share often overlooked disability narratives, at the same time as exploring the possibility of digital tech, to create multi-sensory interpretation. Our six partner museums; The Imperial War Museums, Charleston, Dover Museum, The Food Museum, The Museum of London and Barnsley Museums, have been chosen for their diversity of collections, and scale of organisation – from small locals to larger nationals.
“I’m delighted that Arts Council England have recognised the work we have been doing with museums and with their funding it will mean we can now work with more museums and more disabled curators to push the boundaries of how we can interpret museum collections.”
Esther Fox, Head of Accentuate programme
Curating Visibility’s aim of platforming disabled voices and perspectives is designed to expose and cultivate a rich history of disabled lives that better represents the 22% of the British population that are D/deaf, disabled, and/or neurodivergent. Further to this aim is the development of widespread national networks among both the participating museums and among disabled communities. The programme is a driving force for change across the sector, to ensure disabled people can thrive in museum careers at the same time as re-interpreting collections through a lens of authenticity and nuance.
Screen South’s Accentuate and Curating for Change programmes are landmark projects that have forged a bright path in Museums & Heritage, providing a platform upon which disabled history can be re-examined for contemporary and future reference. Backed by more than a decade’s experience championing underserved communities in the workforce, these flagship projects are rallying to change the underrepresentation of D/deaf, disabled, and neurodivergent people in the workforce by demonstrating the capability and passion these communities have to offer.
“Curating for Visibility allows our Accentuate programme to make a real and tangible difference in relation to accessibility and disability. We are grateful to the Arts Council for the funding and will continue to tirelessly develop innovative projects within these key sectors.”
Anthony Alleyne, Chair of Screen South board
Our final 3 Fellowships with Charleston, Museum of London and Barnsley Museums will launch in the Summer of 2024.
Screen South
Screen South is a not-for-profit cultural development organisation working with a number of partners to manage and deliver a wide range of cultural, creative and heritage projects. The particular focus of the company is to work with communities and young people. Screen South is passionate about developing a dynamic environment in which media, culture and heritage can flourish. Screen South aims to:
- Collaborate with existing organisations to develop hubs of activity and expertise.
- Encourage networking and collaboration between media, culture and heritage practitioners
- Work with the industry to set standards for excellence, creativity and innovation.
- Act as an advocate for the region’s film and media industry nationally and internationally.
Web: screensouth.org
Tel: 01303 259777
Email: [email protected]
Accentuate
Accentuate is part of Screen South’s portfolio of projects and is a groundbreaking programme that provides opportunities for D/deaf and disabled people to participate and lead across the cultural sector.
Previous Accentuate projects include:
Twitter: @Curating4Change @Accentuate_UK
