theGlamorousAnorak: V&A: Design and Disability

I came to the press view of Design and Disability, where I heard the director of V&A, Tristram Hunt, and the curator Natalie Kane talk about the exhibition, about how it was a celebration of design by and for disabled people, a call to action, about all the fun and inspiration to be had therein. All I can say is that I wish I had been at that exhibition. I'm really sorry to say that I was sadly disappointed by the V&A this time.

The best lovers are good with their hands

I always prefer to know as little as possible about an exhibition before seeing it, as I love the element of surprise and discovery, and to figure things out for myself. And so I thought I had an open mind when I attended, only to quickly realise that I did indeed have expectations. If you think about the resources of an institution like the V&A, and all the people who would happily collaborate with it, added to their practice of collecting contemporary works, then the notion of an exhibition about design and disability is rather exciting - perhaps they have collected key pieces from major artists and designers from the last few decades. Perhaps they have commissioned some cutting edge works or installations. I realised that I had imagined they'd worked with researchers as an opportunity for cross discipline collaboration. And so on.

Instead, we get more of a six form college display. Other writers there I talked to found it infantile and patronising.

Once I saw an exhibition, which shall remain nameless, where the curation had sucked the life out of all the exhibits. Okay, yes, I was part of this exhibition, not as an artist, but in this case as a researcher. I'd help to choose the marvellous pieces from various archives. There was new commissioned work of high quality. When I came along to the opening, I was astounded by how little impact all these pieces had. It was hard to figure out, but the way they were shown totally missed the point. The curator had almost an anti-talent for visual interest and had strong imposing beliefs about how objects should be encountered. I think you see what I'm getting at here.

I'm sorry for the designers who have their works displayed in such a mediocre manner. I admit that the overall impression made me disengage with most of the exhibition. Perhaps if you go you will have better luck, and see what I can't.

There's a sort of rule in reviewing, in my own mind at least, that you only write about what is actually in the exhibition. It's very much: does it do what it says on the tin. Otherwise, what is written about exhibitions, and culture, is nothing more than publicity and advertising copy. In his talk, Tristram Hunt referenced various works the V&A have shown over the years including the artist Frida Kahlo's prosthetic legs (which were complete with red boots). Something like that would have been great, it's just that there was nothing like that in the exhibition.

There's talk about how the exhibition space itself is accessible. Again, give me a break. It really pains me to be so negative, but I actually felt quite upset and angry at the cognitive dissonance at what I was being told, and my actual experience. This is not cutting edge, inclusive, inventive exhibition design. My view is that this is a team failure, curation by committee perhaps, and a sort of group think agreeing with other.

Design and Disability should have been innovative, bold, impressive, startling. It should have mattered to culture and to museum practice. It could have been a standard in design and disability for others to emulate. Instead I came away deeply disappointed at the wasted opportunity and the V&A's lack of ambition. They can do much better.

After, I wandered around the museum for a while, being soothed by the healing presence of wonderful artefacts.