Design and Disability exhibition opens at V&A Dundee
A landmark exhibition that centres disability as an identity and culture through design opens at V&A Dundee on Friday 5 June.
Design and Disability is both a celebration of Disabled-led design and a call for action, showcasing the radical contributions of Disabled, Deaf, and neurodivergent people to contemporary design and culture from 1940s to now.
Around 170 objects will be on display across three sections – Visibility, Creativity and Living – spanning design, art, architecture, fashion and photography. It will show how Disabled people have designed for every aspect of life through their own experience and expertise, tracing the political and social history of design and disability.
Through examples of disability-first practices showcasing the work of Disabled people and collaborators, the exhibition will demonstrate how design can be made more equitable and accessible and aim towards design justice.
Design and Disability at V&A Dundee features a range of Scottish design stories, including the University of Dundee-led Hands of X project that explores the design of prosthetic hands, Jamie O’Donnell’s work with Muirhead to create airline seating that reduces anxiety for neurodivergent people, and the work of designer and artist Kirsty Stevens who uses MRI scans of her brain to create images and patterns following her multiple sclerosis diagnosis.
The Scottish Government's Cabinet Secretary for Education, Culture and Gaelic, Màiri McAllan MSP, said: “Since opening in 2018, V&A Dundee has made a remarkable contribution to Scotland's cultural life, strengthening Dundee's position as the UK's only UNESCO City of Design and supporting jobs, investment, and opportunities for collaboration, innovation, and international exchange. I'm grateful to the artists and to V&A Dundee for hosting such a thought-provoking exhibition.
“This exhibition is a powerful example of that work in action. It celebrates the creativity and impact of Disabled, Deaf, and neurodivergent people, and their vital contribution to design and culture — while challenging us all to think differently about how design happens and who it is for.”
Natalie Kane, Curator of Design and Disability, V&A South Kensington, said: “This exhibition shows how Disabled people are the experts in our own lives, and have made invaluable contributions to our designed world. Design and Disability aims to honour Disabled life as it engages with creative practice, presenting a strong culture of making that has always been central to Disabled identity. In putting this show together, it is an act of joy and resistance.”
Leonie Bell, Director of V&A Dundee, said: "We are so proud to have this incredible exhibition at V&A Dundee, Scotland’s design museum, and in the UK’s only UNESCO City of Design. Design has the power to make lives better for everyone, but too often the contributions and needs of many people are overlooked or outright ignored.
“Design and Disability invites us to imagine a designed world where Disabled people, through inventing, adapting and subverting, improve life for everyone. This exhibition celebrates the contributions of Disabled, Deaf and neurodivergent people and communities to design history, contemporary culture and wider society over the last century. It is a joyful, compelling and important show that tells an inspiring story of creativity, community and change often fought for in the face of adversity.”
Kirsty Stevens, visual artist and designer, said: “When I was first diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, I never imagined that almost 20 years later this would lead to my work being featured in a major V&A exhibition.
“My MRI scans show me how MS has damaged my brain, and from that I’ve made jewellery and textiles, and am now focusing on intricate drawings created from multiple layers of waxed paper, representing how my treatment team look at my brain in layers to understand what is happening to it over time.
“It’s a joy to be included in Design and Disability at V&A Dundee and to share my MS experience alongside hundreds of incredible examples of design by and for Disabled, Deaf and neurodivergent people.”
Professor Graham Pullin, University of Dundee’s Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design, said: “It is fitting that Hands of X is coming home to Dundee after being exhibited internationally. Prosthetic hands co-designed with wearers including Eddie Small and Corinne Hutton are displayed alongside their reflections.
“Studio Ordinary is a collective of disabled and non-disabled researchers at the University of Dundee, using design to change the conversation around disability. For example, Hands of X clashed eyewear retail experiences with limb fitting services, exploring choice and ownership in prosthetics.
“So we are delighted to be included in Design and Disability, feeling in very good company in this exhibition of diverse disability-led activism and disability-led design.”
Design and Disability is free at V&A Dundee and runs from 5 June to 4 October 2026.
The exhibition was curated by Natalie Kane for V&A South Kensington and May Rosenthal Sloan and Lily Barnes for V&A Dundee. It was first shown at V&A South Kensington from 7 June 2025 to 15 February 2026.
Design and Disability at V&A Dundee is supported by The Exhibitions Group and the V&A Foundation.