New NRM exhibition highlights disability within rail travel

GO As You Please is a new temporary exhibition at the National Railway Museum in York, highlighting underrepresented and authentic stories about disability alongside 20th century railway artwork.

Part of the national Curating for Change programme, it explores rail travel from the perspectives of people with lived experience of D/deafness, disability, and neurodivergence.

It includes a speciallycommissioned original artwork called Shifting Landscapes by neurodivergent artist Hayley Wall.

Object labels for the exhibition include quotes from community participants and, in a first for the museum, the exhibition includes many accessible features, such as QR codes that lead to an audio descriptive tour, portable object labels, and a British Sign Language exhibition overview.

‘Eye-catching’

The exhibition includes a film called We Do Get Out and About, created by Manchesterbased filmmaker David Bewick), which has subtitles, a transcript, and British Sign Language interpretation.

Go As You Please is curated by Amy Thraves-Connor, curating for change fellow at the NRM. She said: “I hope visitors are drawn to the exhibition for its eye-catching artwork and are encouraged through this artwork to engage with stories they otherwise might not have thought relevant to them.

“The unexpected narrative explores the experience of travel and destination from a range of often-overlooked perspectives. I want visitors to the exhibition to make their own interpretations and memories from these artworks and feel encouraged to question their thoughts around disability.”

Go As You Please is on display now in the NRM’s Highlights Gallery in Great Hall until June. ➜ For more information, visit www.railwaymuseum.org. uk/whats-on/go-as-you-please