The Imperfect Human

To Overcome is a participatory design project developed for “The Imperfect Human” exhibition at the Dolhuys Museum in Haarlem. It engages children with diverse physical and mental disabilities across different cultural and socio-economic contexts, including participants from the Netherlands, Uganda, and the Philippines.

The project centers on reframing these children not as passive subjects defined by their disabilities, but as active agents with creativity, aspirations, and problem-solving abilities. Through inclusive, classroom-based workshops, children identified personal challenges and collaboratively designed and prototyped solutions. This approach shifted the focus from limitation to possibility, emphasizing shared human experiences rather than difference.

  • Children design for adversity

    By positioning the children as designers of their own responses to adversity, To Overcome offers audiences a perspective grounded in the children’s own viewpoints—highlighting resilience, imagination, and agency while fostering empathy and understanding.

    Photo - Maud at the opening of the exhibition in Haarlem, behind her you can see photos of the process and the drawing of her design.

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  • co-creation process

    Team

    This project was created in collaboration with Ina Conkic, co-founder of Designathon Works.

    In the above photo - Aisha in Manila with her self made glasses which would help her eyes to focus so she could draw and write better

The final exhibition was accompanied by a lesson program for Dutch school children visiting the museum. They got to experience the same design workshop as was developed for the specific 3 children. Anecdotal feedback from the teachers of the classes who attended these workshops confirmed that the children felt they could identify with the children in the museum and had a better understanding of what it means to have a disability and how one can overcome such challenges.