Personal Statement
Divya Kishore | 2022 | Submitted to Goldsmiths, University of London along with other universities
In December of 2019, I was diagnosed with a rare motility disorder. At that moment in time, I hadn’t realised how much the way I see the world and vice versa, would change.
Since then I have learnt that we search for an imprint of ourselves in history and the structures of society. To understand, console and learn to believe that we as creatures can be more than just our illnesses; we can be inspirational and aspirational. That differently-abled people do not need the title of an honorary able-bodied person to be accepted in society, or permission to exist contrary to the structure of hidden histories (Sandell, 2007, p-138).
In my desperate attempt to find more people with invisible disabilities in history, literature, art, et al, I learnt that the definition of disability is not expansive enough in the present collective memory of society. I had observed that what one thinks of when disability is mentioned ranges from visible physical impairments -which is looked at with fear, pity, vulnerability or anxiety because of the lacking etiquette in between able-bodied people and physically impaired people- to invisible psychological disorders that to this day are largely stigmatised. Both of these groups force able-bodied people to confront their mortality inspiring the question of whether the lack of representation is because we are prioritising the delicate sensibilities of able bodied people over the hurt we might inversely cause differently-abled people (Sandell, 2007, p-138).
Conversely I also question if the lacking structure of etiquette in between able-bodied people and differently-abled people is crippling both sides. This is seen in Richard Sandell’s ‘Displaying Difference: Revealing and Interpreting the hidden history of disability’ where he mentioned that in a study they did ‘Buried in Footnotes,’ they found out that museums are often hesitant to draw connections in between items they have in their collection and disabilities due to fear of wrong interpretations or the hurt and stereotypes they might perpetuate, unintentionally; leading to them not exhibiting the items with the added history of disability. (Sandell, 2007, p-138)
The hidden history in Hindu mythology we have almost completely forgotten or misinterpreted is, Kurukshetra the war fought in Mahabharat, the Indian epic, due to the pernicious actions of Shakuni, was vengeance against an entire clan for the slight that was the kingdom asking for Shakuni’s sister, Gandhari’s, hand in marriage to the blind king of Hastinapur, Dhritrashtra. (Kumari, 2019)
The reason why I am passionate about the study of art history/history, criticism, culture, curation is because of hidden histories that still require interpretation; that require intervention more than an artist can provide. The reason why I am adamant in the pursuit of the same is because there is a necessity for the unveiling of these tacit narratives by that we don’t leave another generation behind: burying them in stereotypes, minimising another differently-abled generation to their disabilities or chronic illnesses.
Restructuring of the conversation that we have in terms of differently-abled people is essential. There is a necessity to bridge the fissures in between able-bodied people and differently-abled people. I want to build that bridge through the interpretation of art history/history, curation, research, alongside the work of bringing in more representation through various art formats for the reason that the acceptance of differently-abled people does not begin and end with the addition of accessibility to our architecture.
Bibliography
Kumari, N., 2019. Karmic philosophy and the model of disability in Ancient India. Shanlax International Journal of Arts, Science and Humanities, 7(1), pp. 39-43.
Sandell, R. & Sandell, R., 2007. Displaying Difference: Revealing and Interpreting the Hidden History of Disability. In Museums, prejudice, and the reframing of difference. London: Routledge, pp. 138-213.
Reflections & Notes - After finishing year 1 the changes I would make to this personal statement are:
I would simply the sentences more. As it stands, they are a little convoluted and hard to decipher.
That is the main change I would make because all the other ones are to do with ideology and knowledge I have gained over the course of the year. For example, terms like differently abled or able bodied is something I am more hesitant and reluctant to use now than I was a year back.
I do still like the structure of what I had submitted and continue to be proud of it.
