Keynote: The Sensational Museum: Disability Gain and the Journey from Access to Inclusion

Description

Underpinned by specialisms in design, digital heritage, disability studies, psychology, public history, and professional experience in the heritage sector, TSM rejects the ‘look and learn’ approach that has influenced both how museums construct and store collections information and how this information is communicated to audiences.

In this plenary, project PI Professor Hannah Thompson will present the project’s key findings and argue that the project’s focus on ‘Disability Gain’ and the resulting progression from ‘access’ to ‘inclusion’ can offer a blueprint for the cultural sector more widely. The project is grounded in action research and co-creation with industry professionals. We worked with a range of museums across the UK, to create environments where no one sense is necessary or sufficient for a fulfilling museum experience. Rather than providing additional accommodations for workers’ and visitors’ specific needs, we explore how institutions might embed inclusive designs and content into everything they do, meaning that every museum visitor and professional can trust that the museum will be accessible to them.

This sector-transforming multisensory challenge raises a critical question – how do we unpick millennia of ocularcentric bias whilst still maintaining visitor and practitioner trust? Our solution builds on the theory of ‘Disability Gain’, recognizing that disabled living, and adaptations developed for and by disabled people, can enhance the experiences of everyone. TSM aims to put disability at the centre of all aspects of practice – from collections management and curation to exhibition design and education – and use what we know about disability to change how everyone engages in a museum. Thompson will present the theoretical underpinnings behind the Sensational Museum project, before exploring some of the project’s outputs and discussing the impact on TSM lessons learnt for the cultural sector more broadly.

Period	10 Sept 2025
Event title	Disability, Accessibility and Representation in the Creative Industries
Event type	Conference
Location	York, United KingdomShow on map
Degree of Recognition	International