29 June to 6 July

Speaking our values through the stories we tell

The Regional Museum of Stalowa Wola, situated in a new Town built in Art Deco style, between 1937 and 1939, is host to a remarkable, values based project. Using EU money, it is aimed at facilitating the development of access for disabled people, to museums and art galleries. Among its achievements so far, are the creation of a sculpture Park, in collaboration with Polish and Ukrainian artists, encouraging exploration of sculpture by touch, by both blind and sighted people, and the wonderful conference for museum and gallery staff from all over Poland, at which I recently presented both a keynote paper and a workshop.

The excitement among conference participants was palpable. Echoing earlier work for the Polish Ministry of Education, about ethical issues in inclusive education, my talk 'Open the doors of museums to people with learning difficulties' focused attention on the ways in which our actions tell stories about what we value and what we don't; about who we value and who we don't. My workshop used art and craft resources to facilitate exploration of ways in which the stories we tell about people, including people with learning disabilities, can make a difference to how we interact with them.

Gavin Fairbairn, Running Stream Professor of Ethics and Language, School of Applied Global Ethics