Inclusive City Museum: Participate – Don’t Discriminate!

The Stadt- und Industriemuseum in Rüsselsheim has teamed up with the Werkstätten für Behinderte Rhein-Main for a project which explores the subject of inclusion. In the project “Inclusive City Museum”, the partners wish to identify ways to reach out to people who require assistance and engage in dialogue with them about the city and community. What is it about the Stadt- und Industriemuseum that interests them? Do they recognise themselves, their region, their hometown in the museum? How can their life experience be reflected in the collection? The project aims to address these and other questions, as well as put the museum itself to the test. The goal is to form a group of experts comprised of individuals who require various types of support. Experts and museum staff will work together to try out various media and material and develop services that can be transferred to other cultural-historical and city museums. Moreover, the project aims to have individuals with special needs examine the city itself: Where do they feel at home and accepted in their hometown? Where do they feel discriminated against? What would they like to communicate to their fellow citizens about their lives? The project will be accompanied by an artist who will help create a social city map, for example, which will be displayed in the museum.

The project proposes creating a job opportunity for someone with special needs from the team of experts who will work together with a museum educator to develop the project further. The results of the collaboration will be presented at an academic conference and made available to members of the professional field.

Partners: Werkstätten für Behinderte WfB Rhein-Main e.V. (main partner), Kunstverein Rüsselsheim e.V., Federal Academy for Cultural Education in Wolfenbüttel