Making Public History Accessible Working Group: The Russian Museum Experience

As a doctoral student in Russian and Soviet history, I have not had experience working with historical sites or museums; I have enjoyed them as a visitor. From this perspective, I cannot offer a case study in the traditional sense, but instead would like to discuss previous experiences—good and bad—from two different sites: the Museum of the Great Patriotic War and the Memorial Museum of Cosmonautics in Moscow, Russia. My intention is not to highlight or praise how advanced the United States is compared to Russia, but to better address questions of accessibility and technology.

Museum of the Great Patriotic War

Situated between two Metro lines (neither of which are accessible for wheelchair users), the paths to the entrance of the Museum of the Great Patriotic War all necessitate navigating stairs. Inside, there are stairs throughout the museum, and elevators (when functional) are not well marked. On one occasion, we were told to find a staff member when we wanted to use an elevator, as they would need to turn on the power supply to it.

For blind or visually impaired visitors, there are no Braille placards. This includes the ticket kiosk. All exhibits are behind glass; there is no tactile experience in the museum. The museum employs little in the way of other multimedia experiences, but the videos do have subtitles.

The staff was polite, but uncomfortable working with disabled visitors. I was repeatedly assumed to be my friends’ caretaker, asked how they were, and informed of which elevators worked and where they were located. I thanked them, but I also asked the staff to speak to my colleagues directly. Only one staff member did this after my request.

Memorial Museum of Cosmonautics

The Memorial Museum of Cosmonautics provides a stark contrast as to accessibility in Russian museums. Although the closest metro station is also inaccessible for wheelchair users, the entrance to the museum has no stairs impeding access. Inside, the museum is divided onto two floors, but those floors are connected via ramps rather than staircases. Only two interactive exhibits—replicas of a Soyuz capsule and the Mir space station—require navigating any stairs.

Although these two exhibits require stairs in order to gain access, they provide the most tactile and immersive experiences in the museum, with buttons, tubes, switches, and seatbelts similar to those used by cosmonauts. The command section of the Mir exhibit is roped off, but the capsule walls are covered in buttons, switches, handles, and drawers. None of this is labeled with Russian Braille, but one still experiences the enclosed nature of space travel: any companions will likely be touching you in the close quarters, and voices echo back from the close metal surfaces.

Interactive multimedia exhibits have very large touchscreens, but no audio for the long passages of text available. The screens are situated quite well, however, mounted vertically instead of recessed under a counter. Videos displayed throughout the museum include subtitles. Sounds are channeled directionally to the small viewing areas in front of each monitor, but there are no voiceover descriptions available.

Staff interaction is minimal at the Memorial Museum of Cosmonautics. Whether they have been trained or worked with people with disabilities or not, I do not know. This extends to the planning of the museum as well: I do not know if it was designed to be accessible or if particular features (ramps, touchscreens, directional sounds) were incorporated because they are associated with space-age technology.

Extension to the US

Although Russia signed the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2012, access to museums and historical sites remains far behind what is available in the United States. Only the Memorial Museum of Cosmonautics is on par with experiences offered in many US museums, and arguably ahead in their use of touchscreens, which are mounted low enough to encourage use by all visitors, but high enough so as not to require someone with limited movement to look down through a countertop, or require free space underneath an overhanging countertop.

Additionally, the directional sounds available with MMC videos keep the surrounding spaces cleaner. The multimedia zones are easily identifiable from within range; simultaneously, outside of the multimedia areas is less cluttered by extraneous sounds that might over overwhelm other exhibits.

Are these technologies feasible for smaller museums? The Memorial Museum of Cosmonautics is not nearly as well funded as the Museum of the Great Patriotic War, but was it a deliberate decision to make the MMC more accessible? Or do underlying assumptions about the purpose of each museum play a far greater role in architectural and technological decisions? Hopefully we can continue to explore these questions consciously, engaging staff and the disabled community, in order to create the most inclusive historical exhibits.

~ John Little, American University

Discussion

7 comments
  1. Amanda Harrison says:

    John, I’m wondering if you’d be willing to share your perspective on making history more inclusive in the sense of actually including persons with disabilities in the historical narrative.

    1. John Little says:

      I think that we first have to recognize where disability fits in context, and then follow the trails to the individuals who helped shaped historical events, when we can find that information.

      I stress finding the information because this is particularly tricky in Russia. The дежурная at MGU responded (somewhat indignantly) with “What? They have a history?” when I explained what I was studying. Two archivists told me that I would not find any information. Although there are a number of institutional records, personal records are few and far between, particularly in the early Soviet period.

  2. Nicole Orphanides says:

    Hi John. You do a great job of laying out the issue of access in the museum setting. I find your questions about the design and planning of the Memorial Museum of Cosmonautics museum interesting. I agree, I wonder if the theme of the museum drove the idea to incorporate touch screen and other technologies to evoke space-age technology. Unfortunately, it seems like disability access was not considered as a focus for either museum during design and planning phases. Many sites like these then end up having to adapt the surroundings after the fact to incorporate access, if at all.

  3. Brian Mast says:

    John,

    Could the differences between the two museums you mention be based on date built or the institutions who run them? For the MMC, it sounds newer and I agree with your assumption on touch screens and such being part of “space age technology” and some of the more modern practices of museums could have been included. For the Great War museum, if it is run more by the military (or a subsidiary) the museum could be older and/or they simply do not consider individuals with disabilities as part of their targeted audience.

    In personally feel historic sites and institutions are constantly overlooked due to the lack of value our modern society has on these venues. Look at the recent study released by humanities.org and sent out by NCPH and AASLH. People simply do not visit historic sites, part of the problem could be accessibility issues.

    1. John Little says:

      Interestingly, the MMC was opened in 1981, and renovated in 2009. The Great Patriotic War Museum was not opened until 1995, although it has yet to undergo any renovation.

      Despite the Sochi listicles and other “humorous” posts around the web about accessibility in Russia, it is improving. Slowly, but it is heading in the right direction.

  4. Drew Robarge says:

    I think the part that resonated with me the most was the fact the museum staff chose to talk to you (presumably an able bodied individual) instead of your companions. While I’m not saying that we don’t do it here in the United States especially as someone who is deaf and had people talk to the interpreter rather than to myself, but I think that cannot be disregarded because that might be more crucial to change rather than stairs and anything else that is inaccessible. If attitudes don’t change, then nothing much will follow.

    Granted, it’s unfair to make assumptions giving the limited information and should avoid generalizations based on one interaction. As Brian points out, the museum culture of the Great War might be patriotic and old school, but I have limited understanding of Russian culture to know whether it’s merely a generation issue or really a widespread cultural issue. Yet, perhaps more effort should be given in information sharing about cultural attitudes rather than focusing on accessibility challenges. Accessibility will follow suit once cultural attitudes shift, but it would be a very tall order to change attitudes of millions of people in a short time. This may be challenging given tense relationships between the two countries right now, but something to think about especially when you think about accessibility in other countries.

    1. John Little says:

      You are exactly right: I was treated as the able-bodied caregiver.

      I think it is probably a cultural difference, which we can talk about more in person. But the general cultural attitude essentially excludes people with disabilities. As such, it was striking to me to see the differences between the two museums: one that created millions of disabled veterans (but excluded them from the narrative and from participation), and one that was dedicated to space exploration (which felt like well thought out design).

      I’ve given a great deal of thought to the intersectionality of accessibility and cultural attitudes in Russia. How can we have one without the other? How do we go about effecting that change? For many of us, the US seems “so far ahead” on both levels that it’s daunting to contemplate how we could encourage it elsewhere.

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