Alison Holden-Standley
MA Curation
During my time completing a masters degree in curation I have developed and stretched my understanding of what access to the arts can look like.
My research has focused on why we must develop a more inclusive nature to art and culture than is currently present. And how I can share my work with institutions and galleries to enable a co-operative work culture while making the sector available to everyone.
My own auto ethnographic research method, as a mother with a wheel chair using son, has provided me with a grounding in what barriers can be present in physical access.
This has been reinforced with the methodology of phenomenology and enabled me to consider all versions of un-inclusive construction; as an advocate of those struggling to engage with art spaces (and the world) it is important to see the human-first approach to audience engagement.
I have challenged what I see as curation and the role of curator. We live in a diverse society that should all be welcome within the art, history and culture settings, and all curators should see the entire audience as valid and important. With my work I will move forward to disrupt and question why more events and settings do not consider this at the conception stage – access is not a bolt-on.
We will create a unified approach to how the arts are seen, and how the arts see the audience.
