Two projects exploring the lives and experiences of disabled people, and the changing social attitudes towards disability, have been awarded grants totaling £1.7million by the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF).

 The first project will create a digital archive documenting the history of the Disability Arts Movement since its inception in the 1970s. The second project will explore the history of eight buildings that chart the history of disabled people’s lives since the Middle Ages.

Carole Souter, Chief Executive of HLF, said: “2015 marks the 20th anniversary of the Disability Discrimination Act and these projects offer a timely opportunity to delve into a part of our national story that is not well understood. I’m personally really looking forward to learning more about the stories they uncover.”

The two projects are Shape Arts, an arts organisation led by disabled people, will create a digital archive documenting the history of the Disability Arts Movement since its inception in the 1970s. The archive will, for the first time, catalogue over 1000 pieces of artwork, print and film footage created by disabled people to express and reflect on their experiences.

An interactive website and catalogue will be created along with a learning programme and touring exhibitions to help people explore the history of this movement, and its critical contribution to politics and demands for greater equality.

David Hevey, NDACA Project Director, said: “Thanks to National Lottery players, as a result of this funding we hope to preserve the unique heritage story of the Disability Arts Movement, chronicling a time when disabled artists and their allies helped change society, helped change the law, and made great art while fighting the barriers they faced. And we want to go further: we want to pioneer new and innovative digital ways of telling this amazing story, using touring digital cinema, online films and moving image, to tell this heritage story across digital platforms, so that millions can enjoy, can engage and can be moved by it.”

The second grant is for Accentuate, a part of Screen South and an agency which delivers projects aimed at challenging attitudes towards disabled people. Accentuate will run a three-year project called History of Place which will investigate and animate eight important built heritage sites, helping to uncover their history in relation to disabled people from medieval times through to the first purpose built architecture of the late-twentieth century. Sites include:

Maison Dieu, Kent – a hospital founded in 1230 and one of the resting points on the Canterbury pilgrimage route, where records of a skeleton of a severely disabled man aged 35-45 have recently been uncovered

The Royal School for Deaf Children in Margate – the UK’s first public school for deaf children founded in 1792

The Guild of the Brave Poor Things in Bristol – a self-help organisation for disabled people whose building – built in 1913 – is thought to be one of the first designed specifically for disabled people

Volunteers will research the lives of those who inhabited these buildings and the wider social attitudes of the time in which they lived. Community workshops, talks and exhibitions will be held in Liverpool, Bristol, London and Kent along with a high profile national touring exhibition in 2018. There will also be an associated development programme for heritage staff and volunteers providing advice in improving access to heritage sites and exhibitions.

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