Ulleråker. Cultural heritage, gender and functionality norms

This paper provides a presentation of the project Ulleråker –funktionsnedsättning och kulturarv funded by the National Heritage Board. The project seeks to investigate the transformation of Ulleråker, a former psychiatric hospital in the outskirts of Uppsala (Sweden). The project will study how cultural heritage is transformed, and formed, during urban development and rebuilding processes, with a particular focus on gender and functionality norms. The project examines different kinds of material in order to illuminate how cultural heritage is articulated and materialized in the area. The material is analyzed using a composite theory of critical heritage studies coupled with crip and gender studies. The purpose of the project is to contribute to develop methods and theories in how to deal with the cultural heritage of psychiatric hospitals during times of transformation.