Finnegan Shannon’s (b. 1989, Berkeley, California) research explores theperception of disability in our societies, notably through accessibility conditions inpublic space. Their practice is informed by their personal experience of living with cerebral palsy since birth. Their work, which intertwines text and objects, takes the form of panels or posters on which handwritten messages declare the daily difficulties encountered by people with disabilities.

To highlight the frequent absence of places to sit or rest in public spaces such as museums, Finnegan Shannon conceived of a series of robust and welcoming benches entitled Do you want us here or not. Rather than simply being placed within the galleries, they accompany the public throughout their visit. The benches are distinguished from their basic utilitarian objecthood by their cobaltblue colour and short phrases which, in an underlying way, seem to ask ‘do you want us here or not?’. Deliberately imbued with double meaning, these messages, which question and challenge visitors, simultaneously function as triggers for awareness and as invitations to question our biases. Rather than contenting themselves with merely complying to the legal requirements in regards to accessibility, Finnegan Shannon seeks, through their work, to respondto the question: ‘How can I imagine accessibility in terms of a creative and continuous process, while taking into consideration both the individual and therelational rather than simply the question of logistics?’ Beyond the question of disability, the scope of Finnegan Shannon’s work reminds us that physicalexperience precedes sensorial experience, and that feeling welcome in a museum is the necessary prerequisite for any initiative that aims to be inclusive.