From September 25 to 27, 2026, the 9th Experiencing the Museum International Conference will take place at Garage. It will focus on issues of adaptation, interpretation, and the development of language for describing various forms of art created by artists with lived experience of disability.
Experiencing the Museum is an international conference run by Garage Inclusive Programs team since 2015. The Museum brings together members of the professional community to exchange experiences and discuss the development of inclusive practices in culture.
This year, for the first time, we will discuss how growing interest in inclusion is transforming artistic processes: from the production of art to the interpretation of collections in leading museums and the rethinking of narratives of otherness embedded within them; from the development of accessibility tools (audio descriptions, tactile models, subtitles) to the creation of inclusive exhibitions.
The conference will open with a discussion of key inclusive projects in the art field over the past decade. The second day will aim to defining the boundaries of “outsider art”. On the final day, topics will include the interpretation of artworks in the process of adapting them for people with diverse experiences, as well as the use of accessibility tools as a means of artistic expression.
Participants will include art historians, curators, artists, art managers, and staff and volunteers of nonprofit organizations. The conference events will provide an opportunity to discuss and articulate contemporary artistic processes that involve “nonprofessionals”, neurodivergent artists, children, teenagers, and other actors whose creative work is often defined as “outsider” or “naive” art.