Cultures of Disability Heritage Consultancy: Partnership Pilot

This project tests the viability of a heritage consultancy facilitating the inclusion of Disabled and Deaf perspectives in the heritage and GLAM (galleries, libraries, museums) sectors. This has grown out of the research cluster, 'Cultures of Disability' in the History department in Manchester Metropolitan University, and my own work on Deaf history which foregrounds public participation. In the 2022/3, the Department for Work and Pensions found that around 24% of the UK population had a disabling condition, but disabled people are underrepresented in the GLAM sector: only 9% of staff and 8% of visitors to galleries, libraries and museums describe themselves as disabled. As a result, disabled histories and experiences are absent from collections, exhibitions and displays, and rarely feature in archives. From 2020, key funders, eg Arts Council England and the National Heritage Lottery Fund have identified this as a strategic priority, requiring all applicants to show how they will engage disabled people. The consultancy will enable GLAM organisations to meet those metrics, showing them how to incorporate disabled perspectives into their offering. Cultures of Disability Heritage Consultancy (CoDHC) will enable organisations on the heritage and GLAM sector to include the experiences of disabled people into their collections and exhibitions. The consultancy will help GLAM organisations to meet the disability metrics embedded in funding allocations through strategic planning, audience development, training, and evaluation. Uniquely this consultancy combines academic expertise in disability history and culture with skills in co-production, foregrounding the lived experiences and insights of disabled people to create a sustainable relationship for all. CofDHC puts disabled people at the heart of the project, ensuring that developments of collection policies, displays and exhibitions are disabled-led. One aim of this project is test whether, by working with heritage partners, disabled people may develop skills that will support future employment in the GLAM sector. This pilot scheme will test the market viability of Cultures of Disability Heritage Consultancy by working with diverse pilot partners from the GLAM and heritage sectors, including local authority museums and archives as well as those run by charities. As part of the pilot scheme, Cultures of Disability Heritage Consultancy will offer an audit of existing displays or catalogues; a facilitated workshop on integrating disabled histories; and establish a group of disabled partners to help with the audit and to develop future co-production. The pilot scheme will enable me to test the pricing and scope of the consultancy, and to validate demand. I will test assets, including an audit tool and training materials I have developed to facilitate co-production and the inclusion of disabled histories. Furthermore, the pilot session will enable me to get feedback from different disabled people and Disabled Peoples’ organisations on the project, as well as from staff in the GLAM sector. During the pilot period I will also assess routes for a scalable future, exploring how the co-production element of the Cultures of Disability Heritage Consultancy can be connected to government initiatives to support disabled people into employment. This involves working with colleagues at MMU in Health and Social Sciences faculty, and meeting with government representatives .