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Disabled and neurodivergent people display art that reflects their lived experiences at augmented reality exhibition
Dr Ben Kyneswood and Derek Lawrence
Wednesday 20 August 2025
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Disabled and neurodivergent people are sharing artworks that reflect their lived experiences in a new augmented reality (AR) exhibition at Coventry Broadgate Square.
Running from 31 July to 31 October, the exhibition features work by members of Coventry University’s Disabled Staff and Carers Network and Arts Riot Collective – groups that champion inclusion through lived experience and creative expression around disability and neurodiversity.
The artworks explore personal experiences of living with health conditions, created with Broadgate’s space, history and place in Coventry’s city centre in mind.
One piece is a digital kite decorated with hand-knitted birds, symbolising community support and the hidden challenges of invisible disabilities. Another combines photography and textiles to explore memories tied to living with physical limitations and how this links to personal identity.
By using AR technology, the exhibition offers a more immersive and accessible way of engaging with art in a public space. Visitors can scan QR codes using their phones or tablets to view digital artworks that appear at scale, in unexpected places, from different angles or as animated and moving form.
The AR element of the exhibition has been developed by Dr Ben Kyneswood from Coventry University’s Research Centre for Creative Economies, in collaboration with digital specialist Derek Lawrence.
They used advanced 3D scanning techniques – more commonly found in healthcare and manufacturing – along with specialist software to curate the exhibition experience and transform the physical artworks into digital forms.
Through my MA thesis on Disability Arts and my work with the London Disability Arts Forum, I became acutely aware of the systemic challenges disabled artists face, from securing gallery representation to reaching wider audiences. My work with AR for museums and co-production showed me AR's incredible potential to create truly accessible and inclusive spaces. This project is an ambition realised – to overcome these barriers, enhance understanding of inclusive digital art and ultimately culminate in an AR exhibition that reaches a wide audience and raises vital awareness of Disability Art.
Celine Llewellyn-Jones, Co-chair of Coventry University’s Disabled Staff and Carers Network and Exhibition Project Manager
AR enables digital objects to float in real life when viewed through a phone's web browser. Being digital means we can make them any size the artist requires. This gives artists the chance to exhibit their works at large scale. We hope new audiences appreciate how this technology can open new ways of telling the city's cultural stories.
Dr Ben Kyneswood, Associate Professor of Digital Heritage and Culture at Coventry University’s Research Centre for Creative Economies
Visitors can also access the exhibition online via artriotdigital.com, offering wider access to those unable to attend in person.
A physical display of the original artworks ran at Arts Riot Collective in FarGo Village from 31 July to 7 August.
