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‘The Blind School: Pioneering People and Places’ is the second of HOP’s three exhibitions opened at the Museum of Liverpool at the end of January. Disability Arts Online’s Steph Niciu visited, and you can read her whole review here.
She picks out some of the skilled work of pupils – including this tiny wicker sofa from a doll’s house furniture set. This was just one part of a broad education.
This was a school that wanted to provide its pupils with a rounded but diverse educational experience, as well as teaching core skills such as how to read Braille and how to use a long cane.
Niciu also picks up the downsides of a School education: the exhibition does not try to create a sanitised history. She writes “the school and its site based in Wavertree for junior students meant being away from home, missing Mum and being mistreated by some teachers. Evidently, it shows how school life is different for everyone, these students had their own stories to tell and it is important that they are not overlooked.”
Filmed segments include former students Steve Binns MBE and Frank MacFarlane MBE talking about their time at the School, and current pupils at St Vincent’s School for Sensory Impairment discussing the history and their involvement in the project.
More exhibition details
The exhibition is free and runs at the Museum of Liverpool until 15th April. Full details here.
Listen to the audio guide while visiting the exhibition or at home.
The exhibition also includes BSL.