Picture an Artist

Someone whose work has just opened at a major exhibition. Critics are calling it bold, original, deeply moving. Collectors want the work in their collections. It's being written about, discussed, covered.

Picture their studio. Their process. Their ideas taking shape.

Now ask yourself: in that image would you ever think of the artist as a person with an intellectual disability?
For most of us, the honest answer is no. Not because it isn't possible. But because we've never been shown that it is.

I've spent the last few months researching exactly this gap, as part of my Master's thesis on the representation of persons with intellectual disabilities in the visual arts field in Germany.

Germany ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities back in 2009. On paper, inclusion and active participation in cultural life have been a legal obligation for over 15 years, not a nice-to-have.

But between that legal commitment and the image most of us just pictured, there's a field that's barely been examined—structurally, curatorially, institutionally.

That's exactly where my research sits.

Over the coming weeks, I'll be sharing what I've found: the legal framework, the structural gaps, and—eventually—concrete starting points for institutions that want to matter to more people 🫶🏼

I'll start with what personally led me to this topic, more on that in the next post.

But before you scroll on: go back to that picture in your head. Notice who wasn't in it.