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

RICHARD III HALFPENNY (Coin)

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Rights information: Copyright: Hastings Museum and Art Gallery

Description

Richard III is often portrayed as a villainous hunchbacked king obsessed with power and unfit to rule. However, this image of a hunchback with a limp and withered arm was created to turn him into a deformed monster to justify the claims of the Tudor dynasty.

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

Community curation: I wanted to explore the cultural image of Richard III. Did he have a ‘hunchback’ and, if so, how did this affect him in the 15th century. Richard III did have a curvature of the spine. However, this would not have been noticeable under his clothes, in fact prior to his defeat, written accounts show him as a loyal brother, brave soldier and popular ruler. No one at the time suggested he could not do his job because he had a hidden disability. He was an integrated part of society, despite his disability.

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