Editorial
Tracing, placing, plotting:
mapping Disabled-led arts initiatives in the South-West
I’m Gus Cummins; I have been a practicing artist in Bristol for some years. Currently I mainly work in digital media, and I have a background in paint, print and photography. I have epilepsy and have chosen to make it the subject of my work in the last two years, with an aim of challenging stigma attached to the condition. I consider myself part of the Disability Arts Movement - also know as the Disability and Deaf Arts Movement - where I find a platform for my work.
(See www.ictal.net and www.cummins-art.com)
For this guest editorial I consulted with another Disabled artist, Alicia Grace, who has good knowledge of the history and current state of Disability Arts. Alicia is currently working with Kaleido Arts as a dramaturg to curate a Disability Performance network for the South West region. She has worked as a disability equality trainer and lecturer in contextual performance practice. In 2009 she will complete a masters degree in Arts and Ecology at Dartington College of Arts.
An introduction to Disability Arts
The Disability Arts movement was born from the Disability Rights movement that began in the 1970’s. It is now an arts movement in its own right that innovates new forms, and challenges ideas of beauty, perfection, normalcy and virtuosity.
Disability Art is not art ‘with’ disabled people, art which aims to ‘fix’ disability or art produced by non-disabled artists to depict the disabled experience.
Disability Art is produced by disabled artists, who identify the experience of disability through a ‘social model’. The social model perceives the cause of disability to be the barriers which society creates, such as lack of access and negative attitudes to different bodies. This is in opposition to the medical model, which is used by the medical profession and welfare services, which consider the disability to be the impairment belonging to the individual. The medical model is one that says a disabled person is broken and needs to be fixed to fit in like everyone else. There are other models, but these are the main ones used in disability equality training, as they are a simple introduction to thinking about the politics of disability. However, new models are beginning to emerge, some of which are being proposed by disabled artists themselves.
It is difficult to build a career in the arts - disabled and deaf artists often face additional barriers. Training and continual professional development (CPD) are made accessible by Disability Arts Forums (DAFs). DAFs are professional agencies that broker relationships between disabled artists, venues, funders and others to ensure that accessible opportunities are provided. DAFs could be seen as artist led initiatives as disabled artists often manage them.
Disability Arts forums are reliant on ACE funding, which has been cut to some extent recently. The London Disability Arts forum, (LDAF) lost funding and went into liquidation in July 2008. It was a Disabled-led initiative that produced a national magazine, film festival and yearly exposure festival, which was an international platform for disability arts of the highest standard. Around the time of LDAF’s demise, Vision 21 formed. This is a group that is discussing developing a National Manifesto for Disability and Deaf Arts in the 21st century.
Aims for this editorial
I will be mapping the terrain of Disability Arts practice in the South West in order to identify potential for emergent disabled-led projects. I am also going to look at what the challenges are for disabled artists leading their own initiatives and why it is politically significant for a disabled artist to have control of their own practice rather than to be a passive recipient.
I will be talking to arts organisations which are accessible to disabled artists or who focus on disability arts, to find out what they offer, and how they run. I will also talk to disabled artists to find out about their experiences, and investigate the policies of curators and studio managers within the South West.
Through a presentation of this mapping I hope to raise awareness of the Disability Arts movement in the South West, politicize disabled artists, educate non-disabled artists who want to engage a disabled audience/participants, and expose the work of disabled artists in the region.
En-route we welcome contribution and comments.
Please email them to gus@aliasarts.org
NAVIGATION
Overview of Disabled-Led Arts Initiatives in the South West:
http://www.aliasarts.org/editorial1/DisabledOverview.htm
Interviews with:
CEDA: http://www.aliasarts.org/editorial1/DisabledCEDA.htm
Link Up Arts: http://www.aliasarts.org/editorial1/DisabledLUA.htm
Holton Lee: http://www.aliasarts.org/editorial1/DisabledHoltonLee.htm
AHSW: http://www.aliasarts.org/editorial1/DisabledAHSW.htm