Hidden Revealed: Investigating Representation and Narratives of Disability in the British Museum.

Since the 2000s, museum professionals and scholars have become increasingly aware of the way in which disability experiences have been ‘buried in the footnotes’ of the historical record. Inspired by ideas and methodologies developed through disability activism, museums have subsequently been urged to utilise strategies for improving disability representation, which has considerable implications for museum interpretation. This thesis examines these implications, focussing on a single case study: the British Museum. Analysing the findings of a collaborative collections research project that the author organised and facilitated, entitled Hidden, Revealed, and a series of interviews with British Museum professionals, it considers the impact of collaborating with disabled participants had on the interpretation of British Museum objects.

Critically, this research therefore contributes to existing scholarship by demonstrating the considerable impact that working collaboratively can have on the construction of new disability history narratives, revealing the exciting potential ‘hidden’ or overlooked within museum collections, whilst also sparking discussion surrounding the museum’s ethical responsibilities. Examining the impact that the ethical framework that emerged from the workshops had upon the reinterpretation of specific objects from the British Museum collection, this research reveals the hypothetical impact that involving disabled people in the research process has on the significance that can be attached to specific objects, but also upon the way in which risk could be envisaged and navigated. However, by examining the Consultation Group’s recommendations against interviews with British Museum professionals, it also raises important questions surrounding how far these recommendations might conflict with existing museum priorities and practices. This research therefore demonstrates the need for museums more generally to critically reflect on how far they are willing to cede control and authority to participants involved in future collaboration, and therefore the extent to which any subsequent recommendations for change can be translated into reality.