Is the Art World Enforcing Ableism?
In November 2022, The Wellcome Collection released a statement on Twitter announcing the closure of its Medicine Man display because it “still perpetuates a version of medical history based on racist, sexist and ableist theories and language.”[1] The Medicine Man display was a permanent display of objects collected over the years from various countries by Sir Henry Wellcome that focused on telling the story of health and medicine through the years and across different cultures.
Medicine Man installation image, The Wellcome Collection. Credit: The Wellcome Collection.
Presently, conversations about race and gender are commonplace in the art world. As a result, museums have begun deaccessioning or removing works from their displays created by white men to highlight women and artists of colour. However, this is not the same for people with disabilities. Despite being the world’s largest minority group, they are vastly underrepresented in museum collections. More shockingly, they are also often side-lined due to the lack of accessibility and inclusivity within these institutions.
On the Move, an international organisation that supports disabled artists and professionals and also provides up-to-date information on cultural mobility published the Time to Act report in 2021. The report, which covered 42 European countries, revealed significant issues and inequalities faced by both disabled artists and audiences.[2]
The study revealed that only 28% of venues and festivals regularly present or support work by disabled artists, and 31% of all arts organisations do not look for new work by disabled artists.[3] In their preliminary report, On the Move reported that 87% of venues and festivals don't involve disabled people in selection panels or the commissioning process.[4] When one remembers that around 22% of people in the UK report being disabled, these statistics become even more shocking.[5] This begs the question: are cultural institutions simply doing the bare minimum to comply with anti-discrimination laws? Or do they genuinely want to create fully inclusive experiences for all?
We, as audiences, want to be able to relate to works or artists that we encounter in cultural spaces. However, it is just as important, if not more so, to engage with art that can educate us about the unique experiences of those with whom we may not necessarily think we have anything in common. Education leads to empathy and the ability to shed any implicit biases one might possess.
It is also crucial to consider whether enough (or any) consideration is explicitly given to those with learning and sensory impairments. Museums and cultural institutions exist to serve the public. Ignoring the needs of any group of individuals, whether it is due to forgetfulness or purposeful ignorance, is to the detriment of all.
Very slowly, these issues are being tackled in the wider art world.
For example, at the 59th Venice Biennale in 2022, Adina Pintilie’s multi-channel film installation in the Romanian Pavilion, You Are Another Me – A Cathedral of the Body, explores the private moments and thoughts of six people. Christian Bayerlin, one of the six protagonists, is an actor and activist whose spinal muscular atrophy confines him to a wheelchair. Due to the positions of the screens, the viewer is forced to angle their body to see the videos. This strategic curatorial decision encourages them to consider their bodies and their range of movement. Works like this that highlight conversations about the body, both abled and disabled, are crucial in confronting the erasure of disabled people in the art world.
Adina Pintilie, You Are Another Me - A Cathedral of the Body. 2022. Multi-channel installation. Exhibition image: Clelia Cadamuro, Performers: Hermann Müller, Dirk Lange, Laura Benson, Christian Bayerlein.
Similarly, a new exhibition held at Sotheby’s headquarters in London in January 2023 called ‘Humanity’ organised by the arts charity Outside In, ‘provides a platform for artists who face significant barriers to the art world due to health, disability, social circumstance or isolation.’[6] The exhibition attracted an unprecedented number of entries, with many artists not having previously exhibited. The winning artist will be presented with their own solo show in 2024, providing a crucial platform for promoting an artist who may otherwise not have been given such an opportunity.
Naoibh McNamee, The Realness, 2022. Credit: Outside In.
It is interesting to see that an auction house is taking on a role typically associated with that museum and drawing attention to issues in the art world. However, it is not the job of an auction house to educate the general public and be the voice of change. This indicates that museums and cultural institutions are not doing their part to facilitate those who are not able-bodied. Nevertheless, the problem is significant enough that auction houses have clarified their position.
Recently there has been a significant increase in the representation of disabled artists in public collections, displays and programming. But unfortunately, projects that deal with disability are not typically at the centre of many museum or gallery programming, and there is still a crucial need to improve access to culture for disabled audiences. As such, we, as able-bodied individuals, often forget the struggles disabled people face. Overall, Museums and the art world in general need to drastically improve access and inclusivity to help reach a much-called-for equitable future.
Culture and arts should not be gate-kept by the able-bodied; it is for everyone to experience.
Footnotes:
[1] The Wellcome Collection, Twitter post, 25 November 2022, https://twitter.com/ExploreWellcome/status/1596091202381975552.
[2] On The Move, commissioned by the British Arts Council, Time to Act - How lack of knowledge in the cultural sector creates barriers for disabled artists and audiences, November 2021.
[3] On The Move, Time to Act, 9-10.
[4]On The Move, commissioned by the British Arts Council, Time to Act - How lack of knowledge in the cultural sector creates barriers for disabled artists and audiences, Initial findings, March 2021, 9.
[5] UK Parliament, House of Commons Library, UK disability statistics: Prevalence and life experiences, 29 July 2022, https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-9602/#:~:text=How%20many%20people%20have%20a,22%25%20of%20the%20total%20population.
[6] Outside In, https://outsidein.org.uk/.
Stephanie Cherney
Agents of Change Co-Editor, MADE IN BED