About | The Lyme Museum

A museum on invisible illnesses and disabilities.

The Lyme Museum is an independent museum with an education hub, a digital platform, a physical collection and an international community. We are the first museum dedicated to exploring the lived experiences of invisible illnesses and disabilities through materiality and storytelling. We collect objects, stories, flat lays and artworks with one aim: making the invisible visible, one flat lay and one story at a time.

We are really, really interested in stuff! The everyday mundane objects that become part of our identity as chronically ill and/or disabled people. Those are not always the objects that museums display, and yet they are the ones that make the invisible visible.

In museums, we call this materiality, but really, it's stuff! And stuff is great! From mobility aids, to pills, to objects of comfort, there is so much to talk about, and that's why we are here. Changing the narrative on disability and chronic illness through objects and first-person narratives.

The Lyme Museum was founded by Dr Angela Stienne

The Lyme Museum is run by Dr Angela Stienne, a museum resercher in museum ethics and an international inclusion leader, based in France. Throughout the years, The Lyme Museum has been supported by individuals who are passionate about making the world a better place. The Lyme Museum is Europe-based, but has collaborated with and trained individuals all over the world. We are proud to be an international project setting new standards for heritage spaces globally.

Dr Angela Stienne - Founder & Director She/her

Angela Stienne is a French museum researcher (PhD), published author, and includion leader at the forefront of blending medical humanities, museum studies, activism and creative storytelling. As the founder of The Lyme Museum, she leads efforts to amplify the voices of underrepresented communities, especially those living with invisible illnesses and disabilities. Through the development of new research methodologies, innovative virtual spaces, academic publications and outreach, she advocates for access and inclusion, integrating the social model of disability into every facet of her work. She delivers lectures worldwide on inclusive representation in heritage and education, having been invited by National Trust, University of Leicester, Arts Council England and private companies to run workshops and training programs to help teams foster a more inclusive enviroment. Honored with the 2023 University of Leicester’s Dr. Mark Sims Memorial Award for Public Service, she is a leading figure in critical disability studies and public engagement.

Alumni of the TLM Traineeship

In 2024/2025, The Lyme Museum run an international traineeship, training new researchers in communication, marketing, project management and personalised coaching to foster

the inclusion leaders of tomorrow. Our alumni:

Ilenia faces the camera front on. She is wearing a black and grey striped turtle neck and a grey sweater. She has thick black rimmed rectangular glasses and her black hair is tied up.

Ilenia Atzori She/her

Ilenia graduated with a PhD from the University of Brighton, researching the perception of cultural heritage among diverse communities. With a focus on inclusivity, she seeks to empower communities to actively participate in decisions regarding their cultural heritage.

Drawing from her personal experience with severe endometriosis, she aims to change the narrative surrounding this total body condition.

Sophia is positioned to the left of the image. She has black long curly hair and is smiling. She has her hand on a ginger and white cat with yellow eyes who is central to the image. In the background there are leaves and greenery.

Sophia Williams She/her

Sophia as an MA in Medical History and Humanities from the University of York. As a deaf sign language user, Sophia is passionate about increasing the visibility of disabled and marginalized experiences, especially within the humanities and museum settings. At The Lyme Museum, she played a vital role in ensuring that all of our content is accessible and inclusive and she run our social media platform for a full year!

Elliot is pictured among snowy mountains. He has short brown hair and is wearing round black sunglasses. He has a septum piercing and a nostril piercing. He has a colourful neck scarf on and a black sweater.

Elliot Wolfgang Falkus He/him

Elliot is a queer disabled heritage practitioner, invested in radical reconciliatory heritage. Elliot is a graduate of the University of Exeter's International Heritage Management and Consultancy MA. At The Lyme Museum, he worked on the rethinking of the online exhibitions and contributed to our in-house resarch hub.

Rebekah is pictured in front of a tree with pink blossom. She is wearing an orange strapped top and has a necklace and large beaded white, red and orange earrings. She has brown hair tied up with bangs. She has thin wired shaped glasses. She also has indigenous tattoos which are visible on her face around her eyes and chin. She sports some facial piercings including nostrils and lip.

Rebekah Lamb She/they

Rebekah is an indigenous, disabled anthropologist based in the Netherlands. At The Lyme Museum, she helped us fostering a more inclusive environment thinking especially about intersectionality, and she helped us to expand the thinking around our online and in-person exhibitions.

Emilia is photographed to the left of the image. She is smiling at the camera and has a nostril piercing. She has short curly hair and is wearing a pink baseball cap. She has a blue/grey sweater on. Behind her is lots of greenery from trees.

Emilia Sharples She/her

Emilia studied Art History and Digital Heritage at university. At The Lyme Museum, she was an essential part of the day-tp-day running of the museum's operations, working on the website redesign from the inside out. She especially helped create the Education hub as it is now and organised all the flat lays data.

Robyn is photographed on a giant wooden bench in front of a lake. She has a black coat, black jeans and black boots on. She has long dark brown hair and is holding her hands in front of her with her legs outstretched.

Robyn Timmins She/her

Robyn has an MSc in Conservation Practice at Cardiff University. While training as an object conservator, she also researched inclusivity and disability within museum collections and conservation decision making. At The Lyme Museum, she contributed to the research on the history of everyday objects and the historical and contemporary meanings they may hold.

Giulia is wearing a brown and white checkered blazer and has her back facing the camera. She is looking over her left shoulder upwards at something out of the camera shot. Behind her is a large bright circular work of art on a black background. She has long dark brown hair.

Giulia Pianelli She/her

Originally from Venice, Italy, Giulia moved to Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, NZ. Sge hold a Bachelor’s Degree in Arts Management and a Master’s in Marketing and Global Markets. At The Lyme Museum, she worked on the website and social media redesign.

Eva is set against a white background. She has medium length dark curly hair. She faces the camera side on and is wearing a green shirt and has on a small necklace.

Evangelia Valliou She/her

Evangelia studied Archaeology, History of Art and Museum Exhibition Planning and Design. Based in France, she joined The Lyme Museum traineeship twice, contributing her writing and research skills to our in-house research and education hub.

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