Inclusion Studies and Their Impact on the Strategies for Developing Inclusion Programs in Art Institutions

The article analyzes the strategies for developing the inclusion programs applied at Garage Museum of Contemporary Art. The analysis is contextualized within the frameworks of global movements for the rights of people with disabilities, and of the inclusion programs implemented in Russian cultural institutions. These development strategies have emerged as a result of the academic discourse and museum staff’s practical activities influencing each other; therefore, the article presents an in-depth analysis of the transformations which the concept of ‘inclusion’ has undergone and the related changes in the inclusion programs at Garage. It also describes how activities of various structural units of the museum crisscross in the process of implementing public programs that go beyond the usual understanding of inclusion. The paper presents the results of the museum's research projects aimed at developing a relevant definition of inclusion and new vectors for promoting inclusion programs in cultural contexts.