Abstract

From the 1960s onward, under the banner of the Institutional Critique movement, scholars, artists, and practitioners challenged museums as symbols of power in a capitalist machine. By shedding light on the political implications of these cultural institutions, people engaging with institutional critique demonstrated how museums actively avoided exhibiting any controversial art or artworks that would challenge the aesthetic criteria of the time. Conceptual and Minimalist artists who scrutinized the relationship between artwork and the exhibition space were key contributors to this movement. In 2008, MacDonald coined the term ‘representational critique’ to describe a critical approach of reflecting on the exclusion of marginalized groups within society from postcolonial and feminist perspectives. This article revisits MacDonald’s concept through the lens of disability studies, offering a historical analysis to help demonstrate how the Institutional Critique movement paved the way for a representational critique that takes shape through disruptive curatorial practices. These practices present a more humane depiction of disability and accessibility within the museum space. As such, representational critique seeks to portray disability in positive and realistic ways, thus moving away from stereotypical and belittling images of individuals with disabilities as “freaks” or “superheroes,” commonly found in popular culture. As such, the Canada Science and Technology Museum, which is located in Ottawa, provides a case-in-point for examining how curators can play a role in deconstructing stereotypes at the root of disability imagery.