Museu de Arte Moderna do Rio de Janeiro: Incluir
Describe the practice, program, or project, what innovative approach is proposed, and in which core museum activities it applies: conservation, education, collection, exhibition programs, publications, research, accessibility, communication, governance, and sustainability:
Comprehensive accessibility programme for persons with disabilities, focusing on professional training, experimentation with technologies, and institutional change led by such persons. The programme, which is organised by the Education and Participation department of MAM Rio, has been running for 4 years, and includes 4 key actions that organically build on each other, securing a mechanism of internal feedback: a residency programme, with bursary, for two professionals with disabilities yearly to work with the teams at the museum; the development of experimental accessibility technologies in all the exhibitions in collaboration with experts in the field and artists; an ongoing series of visits to the institution organised collaboratively with groups and institutions focused on accessibility; and a yearly conference dedicated to the discussion of practices of accessibility within the art field. All the actions are protagonised by persons with disabilities, and their ultimate goal is to progressively modify the institution processes so that accessibility principles guide all its activities.
Explain in one sentence why you think the project you nominate is outstanding and could serve as an example for the entire community of modern and contemporary art museums.
A long-term, multi-action accessibility programme that engages with persons with disabilities as professionals, publics and interlocutors, with the goal of enacting institutional change.
Explain why this practice or program is relevant and sustainable in creating meaningful and lasting connections with people, communities, and the museum context with a medium to long-term vision.
The disability community has an important motto: "Nothing about us without us," which tells us that persons with disabilities must be part of any discussion about issues that affect their own community. The “Incluir” residency programme embraces this approach: we invite people from the community to experience the institution professionally, assess it on the basis of their own knowledge and perspectives, and to propose projects with the intention of making the museum an accessible institution. This way, the museum positions itself as a learning space, and at the same time enables its structure to create accessibility actions and policies in the areas of art, education, and culture. Besides improving the accessibility of the museum, the project also contributes to the debate between art and disability. When a person with a disability feels invited to be in a museum, they may feel capable of being in any museum, because they shape the conditions that would make them welcome.
What are the outcomes of the practice you are most proud of?
Every time a person with a disability visits an exhibition at the institution and feels included, we feel we are doing our work. The feeling intensifies when persons with disabilities contribute as professionals, and 90 percent of the professionals who participated in the “Incluir” residency throughout all its editions are now actively working in the field of accessibility in museums, providing consultancy, conducting workshops and contributing to national discussions on the relationship between art and accessibility. Some of the former residents are also collaborating with us professionally, including the current mentor of the Residency, Fernanda Costa, who was a resident in the 2022, and our audio description consultant, Felipe Monteiro, who was part of the 2021 edition. The considerable increase in applications for the residency each year and the growing number of participants, including professionals from other institutions, in our accessibility training sessions also indicates that we are on the right path.
How has the nominated practice changed your methods and ways of working?
Engaging through this long-term programme with the field of accessibility has led MAM Rio to have a more active listening attitude and to engage with greater openess with the community of people with disabilities, to the extent of becoming a reference in accessibility work in cultural field in Brazil, four years after the start of the Incluir residency. By removing art and its institutional practices from a pedestal in which nothing can be done to undermine the author’s creation, the programme constantly makes us think about the social function of art and of the museum. Additionally, adapting artworks, practices and the institution as a whole to persons with disabilities makes them accessible to many others who are not necessarily within that community, but who benefit from the physical and attitudinal changes in the institution.
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