Panel discussion: How is Covid-19 redefining exhibits?

When: Noon-1 p.m. ET, Friday, July 24th

Cost: Free

Where: Teams details TBD. RSVP in advance (You’ll receive a link to participate on the morning of the event)

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Panelists: Jeffrey Kent, Baltimore-based artist and Artistic Director for The Peale; USA; Dr. Lara Perry, Deputy Head, School of Humanities at the University of Brighton; UKBeth Ziebarth, Director of Access Smithsonian; USA

Moderator: Dr. Audra Buck-Coleman, Associate Professor at University of Maryland, College Park and Project Director for Redefine/ABLE Project Director; USA

Event description: The current pandemic has upended many of the ways we lead our lives and interact with others. This includes how we host and invite participation to exhibitions such as Redefine/ABLE: Challenging Inaccessibility. This exhibit aims to confront our culture’s ability to be more inclusive to those with disabilities, and the pandemic’s limitations and cultural repercussions have made this mission more critical. Before Covid-19 hit, this exhibit was to be installed in two different physical locations and on a website. It has now transitioned into an online social media exhibit.

This panel discussion will include inquiries such as:

How is Covid-19 changing how and what we consider to be exhibitions?What are exhibition accessibility and inclusion best practices during the pandemic? How might we achieve this without widening the digital divide? How might we continue this increase in accessibility post-pandemic?

What insights are museums and cultural institutions gaining as they convert their content and interactions to be exclusively online? How might others apply these lessons?

Our panelists will bring multiple perspectives from their experiences of curation, art-making, criticism, accessibility and inclusive design.

This event is made possible in part by support from Maryland Humanities, The Arts and Humanities Research Council in the United Kingdom, The Institute of Museum and Library Science, and the University of Maryland, College Park Friedgen Family Fund.