In March this year, I had the privilege of returning to Hong Kong to deliver a training session at my favourite museum, #CHAT – Centre for Heritage Art and Textiles Museum.
I worked with them on their incredible ACCESS Docent programme, delivering a day session titled ‘Rethinking Diversity and Inclusion’ where we explored how changing our understanding of these concepts can enable us to embed inclusive values in every aspect of our work.
The Docent programme at CHAT is rooted in the history of the mill it is housed in. Visitors can book onto weekly Access Tours, where a dynamic duo of d/Deaf and hearing docents bring to life the rich textile heritage of Hong Kong.
The knowledgeable and witty docents re-enact the experiences of three remarkable makers, explore the artistry of textile embellishment and uncover the hidden stories of industrial cotton spinning through performative show-and-tells. In this interactive tour delivered in both Cantonese and Hong Kong Sign Language, visitors also learn to sign basic textile-related phrases, touch various artefacts and immerse themselves in the history of the heyday of Hong Kong’s manufacturing.
I have never seen a programme like this in the UK, and am forever inspired by the graceful embedding of disability history, inclusion and heritage protection that is evident in every aspect of the Access Docent programme, as well as CHAT’s exhibitions and engagement programmes as a whole.