Twelfth International Conference on The Image

Abstract

What impact does the cultural model of disability have on the way we acknowledge and address representational issues in museums? Also, how do these representational issues materialize in disability imagery and art? For some, the binary between disabled and non-disabled seems to be transposed to the museum in the form of a dominant culture (or ‘disabling culture) vs. a disability culture. As such, one of the observations that can be made is that the portraiture of disability is often either ignored, or stereotyped. While museums have always played a role in the social triage of its visitors, the role of the representational critique, along with the amazing work carried by curatorial activists (such as Amanda Cachia), are representative of a need for change.