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.

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CAST OF THE BATTLEFIELD PALETTE (Plaster Cast)

Predynastic Egypt (c. 3100 BCE)

1917.53.803

A plaster cast of a ceremonial predynastic palette (used for the crushing of pigment for paint or possibly makeup) from Egypt, depicting the aftermath of a battle. This object was displayed in the co-curated gallery trail "Nothing Without Us: Experiences of Disability" at the Pitt Rivers Museum, curated by Kyle Lewis Jordan, running from 16th...

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Rights information: Copyright: Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford

Description

A plaster cast of a ceremonial predynastic palette (used for the crushing of pigment for paint or possibly makeup) from Egypt, depicting the aftermath of a battle. This object was displayed in the co-curated gallery trail "Nothing Without Us: Experiences of Disability" at the Pitt Rivers Museum, curated by Kyle Lewis Jordan, running from 16th November 2023 - 6th October 2024.

This cast is taken from a fragment which currently resides in the Ashmolean Museum (AN1892.1171) and the fragment itself fits with a larger fragment at the British Museum (EA20791) to create a fuller (although still incomplete) image.

Community curation: Warfare is and has always been inherently disabling. Some of the earliest depictions of conflict focus on the act of maiming, such as the case with this cast of the fragmented Battlefield Palette. Capturing the aftermath of a battle, we witness two bound, captive enemies being led away, their bodies restricted and contorted in unnatural ways. Their captors are abstract representations of the King, emphasising his right to maim. - Kyle J, a battle-scarred self-advocate, Curating for Change Fellow (Ashmolean Museum and Pitt Rivers Museum)

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.

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