Museums in the Service of Inclusion. Adaptation or New Curatorial Strategy?

The paper attempts to explore the emancipatory effect of curating in the design and implementation of programmes to provide an accessible environment in private and public cultural institutions. The circumstances of development of scientific directions within the discipline of disability studies and the concept of "disability", interpreted as "inability" are analyzed. A number of modern trends in disability studies are considered, which contribute to the formation of a critical attitude to the theory of inclusion. A number of modern trends in the development of museums in the context of the practices of cultural interaction and representation of people with disabilities. Special attention is paid to the presentation of the curator as an "infrastructure activist" expressed by art critic Terry Smith and further developed in the works of the curator and a woman with disabilities - Amanda Kaccia. A list of technologies for adaptation and interpretation of exhibition projects is presented, allowing to treat accessibility issues as a creative methodology. A series of in-depth interviews with employees of Moscow pioneer institutions was analyzed. The actual list of problems and competences of specialists of accessibility programs is defined. The prerequisites for the emergence of various professional trajectories have been identified. Correlations between a certain type of personality, availability of professional, own experience, availability of experience related to disability, and ability to successfully invent and implement accessibility programs are identified.