I have only been disabled for about a year and a half. After an accident that left me unable to walk for the better part of six months, I now walk with a cane and am unable to stand or walk for long periods of time or distances. That's the context I live in.
It has become increasingly obvious to me that people do not really know what 'disability access' means. If there is a ramp or a parking space with a plaque attached it, that must be access. The truth is so much more complicated than that. People with disabilities are foremost people, and so they have different needs.
I don't think forms of disability are given much thought in the art world. Sure, you can go to a museum and it will be perfectly accessible and somewhat accommodating. But, a large portion of art and the art experience as a whole is not in the museum.
Even institutions, like university galleries, et cetera, claim to be disability friendly but if you have to walk a figurative mile to get to that gallery, whether it has stairs or not, it is not accessible. There are different kinds of disabilities, and a large majority of the people who have them do not use wheelchairs, even though the disability symbol may claim otherwise.
Smaller art spaces, like galleries and artists' studios, are much less likely to be accessible to a person with physical disabilities. I am not condemning artists for having spaces that I can't enter, or even saying that they should have to worry about me at all. But I think there's a discussion to be had about the disabled person's place in the art world.
Is there some set of physical requirements to be able to fully experience art?
Thank you for sharing your experience, Lydia. I think you are right, disabilities affect many people and it may not be an issue entirely visibile, but this is an area which should be considered more. I have often thought about the blind, and if there is a museum or program with replicas they can touch to experience the works many of us can visually observe. Perhaps you could boost awareness in these areas and make suggestions to certain galleries or museums to see how your experience and constructive criticism could benefit others.
ReplyDeleteI was thinking about braille, and how it is used to translate words to touch and I'm wondering if there is a similar sort of system we could come up with. But how do you translate visual movement and form, contrast, and line into something that can be felt instead of seen? If there was a reproduction option, like you mentioned, perhaps painting could be felt for their brushstrokes, but how do you translate the brilliance of color?
DeleteI was thinking that perhaps at some point I could write a post about my top accessible art spaces, or something like that. That might be helpful to someone.
This is an important subject, Lydia.
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