Nothing About Us Without Us is a well-known disability rights slogan. And now it is also the title of an exhibition that explores how these rights have been fought for over centuries and the activism that has led this march forward.
On the opening day of UK Disability History Month, on Wednesday 16 November, the People’s History Museum in Manchester will open this new landmark exhibition that has been in development since 2018. It’s the first time the story has been told this way and its telling has been led by four community curators who all identify as disabled people. It will look at the past, the present and a future in which the fight is ongoing.
Nothing About Us Without Us highlights the campaigns and actions carried out by disabled people to break down barriers to achieve an inclusive society and includes protest material and objects, such as banners and t-shirts; many of these collected from disabled activists and disabled-led campaign groups, with very few pieces having been previously exhibited.
Ruth Malkin, Community Curator for People’s History Museum, says, “Nothing About Us Without Us has been one of the most life-affirming, positive work experiences of my life (and I’m getting on a bit!). It has been truly empowering to work with a group of incredible disabled people to tell the story of our community’s history.
“People coming to the exhibition will get a sense of the incredible disabled people past and present who have tirelessly campaigned and raised awareness to make life better for all disabled people both now and for the future. They will get a sense of just how far we have come as a society from the days when disabled people had no choice but to enter a workhouse and beg to stay alive. They will laugh at the satirical cartoons, cry at the appalling stories of disablist discrimination and share the triumph at the battles fought and won by disability rights campaigners dating back to the 19th century. I’m hoping that they will leave informed about disabled and D/deaf people’s historical struggles, and empowered to join a cause that is continuing today – to remove the disabling barriers for everyone in the UK and beyond.”
You can see details of the exhibition here. It will be open until October 2023.
