Out From Under: Disability, History and Things to Remember
Encyclopedia
Out from Under: Disability, History and Things to Remember is a traveling exhibition that explores the history
History
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...

 of disability
Disability
A disability may be physical, cognitive, mental, sensory, emotional, developmental or some combination of these.Many people would rather be referred to as a person with a disability instead of handicapped...

 within the lives of Canadians.

The exhibition was produced in collaboration with students, scholars and alumni from the School of Disability Studies at Ryerson University
Ryerson University
Ryerson University is a public research university located in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Its urban campus is adjacent to Yonge-Dundas Square located at the busiest intersection in Downtown Toronto. The majority of its buildings are in the blocks northeast of the square in Toronto's Garden...

. The exhibition originated from a special topic seminar designed to uncover the hidden history of disability in Canada. Each student identified an artifact
Artifact (archaeology)
An artifact or artefact is "something made or given shape by man, such as a tool or a work of art, esp an object of archaeological interest"...

 to explore that represented a particular moment in Canadian disability history. Thirteen objects were then selected for the exhibition, revealing narratives that pay homage to the resilience, creativity, and the civic and cultural contributions of Canadians with disabilities. Accompanying interpretive texts help confront stereotypical representations of disability such as pity
Pity
Pity originally means feeling for others, particularly feelings of sadness or sorrow, and was once used in a comparable sense to the more modern words "sympathy" and "empathy"...

, inspiration or freak
Freak
In current usage, the word "freak" is commonly used to refer to a person with something unusual about their appearance or behaviour. This usage dates from the so-called freak scene of the 1960s and 1970s. "Freak" in this sense may be used either as a pejorative, a term of admiration, or a...

, helping to illustrate the complexity of disability struggles for social and political acknowledgement, identity
Identity (social science)
Identity is a term used to describe a person's conception and expression of their individuality or group affiliations . The term is used more specifically in psychology and sociology, and is given a great deal of attention in social psychology...

, survival and remembrance.

Out from Under is curated by three faculty members from Ryerson University’s School of Disability Studies
Disability studies
Disability studies is a relatively new interdisciplinary academic field focusing on the roles of people with disabilities in history, literature, social policy, law, architecture, and other disciplines. Although it has many antecedents, disability studies began to flourish toward the end of the...

.

Exhibition components

Each objects’ history is represented by a single word title: Digging, Labouring, Dressing, Fixing, Measuring, Naming, Breathing, Remembering, Packing, Trailblazing, Struggling, Leading and Aspiring.

Accessibility features

American Sign Language
American Sign Language
American Sign Language, or ASL, for a time also called Ameslan, is the dominant sign language of Deaf Americans, including deaf communities in the United States, in the English-speaking parts of Canada, and in some regions of Mexico...


Video
Video
Video is the technology of electronically capturing, recording, processing, storing, transmitting, and reconstructing a sequence of still images representing scenes in motion.- History :...

 podcast
Podcast
A podcast is a series of digital media files that are released episodically and often downloaded through web syndication...

 of all exhibit text in American Sign Language.

Audio description
Audio description
Audio description refers to an additional narration track for blind and visually impaired consumers of visual media...

 and Touch Stations

Audio podcasts of all exhibit text
Written language
A written language is the representation of a language by means of a writing system. Written language is an invention in that it must be taught to children, who will instinctively learn or create spoken or gestural languages....

 with detailed audio descriptions and touch stations profiling selected objects.

Braille
Braille
The Braille system is a method that is widely used by blind people to read and write, and was the first digital form of writing.Braille was devised in 1825 by Louis Braille, a blind Frenchman. Each Braille character, or cell, is made up of six dot positions, arranged in a rectangle containing two...

 Booklets

Braille copies of exhibit text including participant profiles.

Exhibition catalogue

A 60-page color
Color
Color or colour is the visual perceptual property corresponding in humans to the categories called red, green, blue and others. Color derives from the spectrum of light interacting in the eye with the spectral sensitivities of the light receptors...

 catalogue entitled “Out from Under: Disability, History and Things to Remember” (2008) was produced by the School of Disability Studies
Disability studies
Disability studies is a relatively new interdisciplinary academic field focusing on the roles of people with disabilities in history, literature, social policy, law, architecture, and other disciplines. Although it has many antecedents, disability studies began to flourish toward the end of the...

.

Exhibition history

March 9 to March 21, 2010, Cultural Olympiad exhibition (UBC Robson Square), Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...

, Canada

April 17 to July 13, 2008, Royal Ontario Museum
Royal Ontario Museum
The Royal Ontario Museum is a museum of world culture and natural history in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. With its main entrance facing Bloor Street in Downtown Toronto, the museum is situated north of Queen's Park and east of Philosopher's Walk in the University of Toronto...

, Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...

, Canada

October 25 to October 31, 2007, Abilities Arts Festival (at the Columbus Centre), Toronto, Canada

See also

  • Disability studies
    Disability studies
    Disability studies is a relatively new interdisciplinary academic field focusing on the roles of people with disabilities in history, literature, social policy, law, architecture, and other disciplines. Although it has many antecedents, disability studies began to flourish toward the end of the...

  • Ryerson University
    Ryerson University
    Ryerson University is a public research university located in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Its urban campus is adjacent to Yonge-Dundas Square located at the busiest intersection in Downtown Toronto. The majority of its buildings are in the blocks northeast of the square in Toronto's Garden...

  • Catherine Frazee
    Catherine Frazee
    Catherine Frazee is a Canadian educator, activist, researcher, poet and writer who currently serves as a Professor of Distinction in the Disability Studies program at Ryerson University as well as a Co-director of Ryerson University's Institute for Disability Studies Research and Education...

  • 2010 Winter Paralympics
    2010 Winter Paralympics
    The 2010 Winter Paralympics, officially the X Paralympic Winter Games, or the 10th Winter Paralympics, were held in Vancouver and Whistler, British Columbia, Canada from March 12 to 21, 2010. The Opening Ceremony took place in BC Place Stadium in Vancouver and the Closing Ceremony in Whistler...

  • Paralympic Games
    Paralympic Games
    The Paralympic Games are a major international multi-sport event where athletes with a physical disability compete; this includes athletes with mobility disabilities, amputations, blindness, and Cerebral Palsy. There are Winter and Summer Paralympic Games, which are held immediately following their...

  • Disabled sports
    Disabled sports
    Disabled sports are sports played by persons with a disability, including physical and intellectual disabilities. As many of these based on existing sports modified to meet the needs of persons with a disability, they are sometimes referred to as adapted sports...

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