Introduction: Design and Disability
I love how this exhibition celebrates the empowerment of disabled and neurodiverse people rather than focusing on pity. It gives disabled people the respect and control of their own lives and emphasizes the treatment of the disabled communities that is equal to everyone else, but most of all talks about considering their needs when designing the everyday use objects, buildings, clothes, something that initially when designed omitted them as if they were invisible
Design plays a huge part in how people experience the world. But our environments have been designed in ways that privilege certain people over others. And, historically, disability has been seen as a problem for design to ‘solve’ rather than its own valid culture and identity.
Disabled people past and present have challenged and confronted the imbalance of design in society. By exploring approaches to design developed within Disabled, Deaf and Neurodivergent communities, and listening to the lived experiences of disabled users, we can understand how innovative design can address structural inequalities and create opportunities.
Disability should never be thought of as a monolith, and every disabled person’s experience in the world is their own.
This exhibition highlights disabled individuals at the heart of design history, from yesterday, today and tomorrow. It is both a celebration and a call to action.