Finding collections relating to d/Deaf, disabled and neurodiverse people

One of the aims of our project is to make collections relating to d/Deaf, disabled and neurodivergent people more visible – and to share some of the objects our Fellows and Trainees are discovering.

Some will have quite obvious connections to disabled people’s lives – a walking stick, some braille or images of disabled people. But we will also be exploring less obvious connections too. Sometimes the significance of an object is its owner; its part in a bigger story, or the way someone with lived experience of disability has responded to it. In this way we hope to broaden the ways that d/Deaf, disabled and neurodivergent stories are told.

Collections

CARSTAIR (Wicca wheelchair)

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Rights information: Copyright: Hastings Museum and Art Gallery

Description

This bentwood and rattan wheelchair was designed to be lightweight to move people seen as invalids in confined spaces, including up and down stairs in asylums.

Although made of a light material for manoeuvrability, this wheelchair was not designed for the individual's needs regarding safety, comfort or dignity. The chair does not allow for self-propulsion, and the individual in the chair would be held in by a wooden rod that goes through the holes in the arms.

The chair's material, although reasonably strong, would not have been strong enough for much outdoor use, restricting the patient from having any independence. The chair highlights, above all, the period's lack of understanding of people with impairments needs.

- Jack Guy, Curating for Change Fellow, Hastings Museum and Art Gallery

Meet our Fellows and Trainees

The Curating for Change project is running eight Fellowships over 18 months and eight Traineeships over 40 days based across 20 partner museums. Learn more about our Fellows and Trainees here.

Find out more