The Social Construction of Disability: The Experience of Blind Visitors of Inclusive Museum Programs

According to the definition given by the International Council of Museums, the concept of 'museum' and its role as a socio-cultural institution are now subordinated mainly to the idea of social justice and human dignity. The activities of various public organizations and individual specialists have contributed to the fact that today Russian cultural institutions have moved away from a medical approach to disability and have begun to talk about the need to develop an inclusive culture on the basis of the social understanding disability. Changes in legislation as a result of the ratification of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and various initiatives in the field of inclusion in culture have led to the implementation of inclusive programs in most federal and regional museums. However, visiting a museum for a person with disabilities is still a special event, and not a daily practice.

Despite the fact that museum inclusion programs are built on some universal principles that are dictated by various authoritative cultural organizations and a specific regulatory agenda, there is no consensus among inclusive professionals about their implementation. Similar contradictions are also found at the level of the individual understanding of disability of visitors with disabilities, including blind people, who represent one of the most vulnerable groups.

In the course of her research, Ekaterina outlined a hybrid model of understanding disability in the museum space, in which disability is placed in a common semantic field for both visitors and professionals. Based on narratives, the explanatory framework for understanding museum inclusion at different levels takes into account contexts of personal and institutional attitudes regarding accessibility practices in museums.

Working language of the seminar: Russian

Connect to the Zoom Conference 

https://zoom.us/j/93329646510?pwd=TkxaVWwvbEdZTUwzZTE0MVV4R29rZz09

ID 933 2964 6510

Password 459832

Looking forward to seeing you at the seminar!