East End Women's Museum is dedicated to telling the powerful stories of east London women. We want to better represent hidden lives, challenge gender inequalities and stereotypes, and empower women and girls to share their stories and find their own voice.

We are opening a new museum in Barking in 2022 and we want to hear from you. We are looking for women who have lived experience of disability to participate in our access and inclusion workshops.

DisOrdinary Architecture work with groups to co-create new and exciting ways to do disability differently in the co-design of buildings.

The aim of these workshops is to explore together what an accessible collection and space might be like. This is about accessibility and inclusion in the widest sense – not just about not having functional restrictions like steps (although we will talk about this as well), but rather about taking the opportunity to rethink conventional assumptions.

It would be useful if you could attend both workshops, but you can sign up to one or the other depending on your availability.

Day one: who are museum collections for? (2 hours)

Monday 26th July, 5-7pm

This workshop will be taking place at the Barbican Centre.

Access: BSL interpretation. Description of slides/visual elements. Agenda and any pre-resources to be sent in advance.

Most of us have experienced conventional museums. In these the visitor is usually assumed to be fully mobile, upright standing and intellectually knowledgeable. They are expected to view the work on display, usually in a given sequence, as a kind of disinterested and studious spectator, who stands and views one work after another from a respectful distance; only bending closer to read the small-type captions, and only talking to others in hushed tones. But can we imagine different settings that are welcoming not intimidating, and that comfortably support a diversity of bodies and minds?

Between one session and the next, participants will be asked to reflect on the workshop and make some notes to feed back to the whole group.

Day two: what counts as something worth collecting? (2 hours)

Friday 30th July, 5-7pm

This workshop will take place online through Zoom.

Access: BSL interpretation. Description of slides/visual elements. Captioning on Zoom. Agenda and any pre-resources to be sent in advance.

In this session we think about collecting and curation differently. Who and how do we decide what should be part of women’s diverse collective histories? We explore what counts as something that is important to share with others, and to keep for future generations, starting from our own personal experiences and memories. We then consider the concepts of ‘stewardship’ and of ‘ethics’.

Co-design the museum - access and inclusion workshops