Nathan Phillips Square buzzed as the paralympic flame passed through Toronto March 5.

Christian Nathler

Melanie Panitch, Catherine Frazee and Kathryn Church from the school of disability studies arrived in Vancouver earlier this month to set up for their exhibit, Out From Under: Disability, History and Things to Remember, which opened March 9 as part of the Vancouver 2010 Cultural Olympiad.

The exhibit showcases 13 diverse objects that each reveal an important aspect of disability history in Canada, including the portable breathing machine of a polio survivor, the bassinette of an infant killed in a 1981 deliberate fatal digoxin overdose at a Toronto hospital, and the Braille watch of Mae Brown, the first deaf-blind Canadian to earn a university degree in 1972.

The Ryersonian reached Frazee at her hotel in downtown Vancouver.

The Ryersonian: Your colleagues told us you made the trip to Vancouver by train. What was that experience like?

Frazee: It was quite an adventure. I had no idea whether it was going to work or whether it was going to be a disaster. I’m unable to fly for medical reasons, and would have preferred to take a Canadian train. I have a fairly significant disability and my wheelchair is a pretty heavy part of my normal life. VIA Rail said I would have to store my wheelchair in the cargo compartment and they said you couldn’t even board the train with a wheelchair.

I was then told that American trains had a very significant number of infrastructure changes. Turns out I could travel [to Vancouver] partly by Amtrak. We drove to Chicago and boarded a train to Seattle. It was a piece of cake to board the train and drive right into my room. We had a lovely view of the Midwest. When we got to Seattle we rented a wheelchair accessible van and made the trip to Vancouver in about five days

R: What is the vibe like in downtown Vancouver right now?

F: People are very upbeat and there is so much going on. We’ve passed by so much culture. There are films being shown outdoors and there is music playing.

There’s just a lot going on. There’s a beautiful skating rink near our exhibit too. The premier was also there and there were lineups for people picking up our tickets. There was lots of enthusiasm.

R: What does it mean to have the exhibit you three have worked so hard on, finally on display in Vancouver as part of the Paralympic Games?

F: It’s absolutely thrilling. I feel so gratified by all the support we’ve received. It’s such a wonderful feeling to see people who are not in the field of disability studies be newcomers to the world of the exhibit we’re presenting. They stay and reflect on the things that they are encountering. That’s really important to what we’re trying to do.

R: What do you hope people take away from the exhibit?

F: This exhibit is about disabled people claiming their history and sharing that history with all Canadians. We are claiming a higher level of respect.

We are declaring to the world that we are a resilient people, that we have experienced a variety of harms historically, but that we survive and we will celebrate that achievement.

When you make that declaration you are asking for a new level of respect.

That is perhaps the greatest part of the exhibit. We have a great cultural presence here and our stories need to be uncovered and discovered.