Disability History at the House of Austrian History – 19 November 2025
Research Seminar co-hosted by Manchester Metropolitan University’s Race, Gender, Sexuality and Identities Research Group and Manchester Centre for Public Histories and Heritage
Presented by Vansch Tautter, House of Austrian History
History museums often fail to tell the (hi)stories of people with disabilities. The House of Austrian History, as a national museum of contemporary history in Vienna, tries to change this through its collection and exhibition practices. This talk explores how the museum has adapted its object acquisition process to foster community participation, by including a focus group, oral history interviews and an interactive online exhibition. Additionally, it interrogates the physical and online exhibitions of the museum that use the collected objects. Finally, the talk critically engages with the meanings of these practices for the position of disability history in national heritage.
Vansch Tautter is an oral historian and curator at the House of Austrian History in Vienna. Their research focuses on disability history, cultural history and memory studies. The Disability History Project is funded by the Austrian Federal Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs, Health, Care and Consumer Protection.