A Brief Introduction
Why don’t more people with disabilities access cultural venues? A quick search of Project Unedited for the keyword ‘Disabilty’ shows four entries – so even here people with disabilities are not accessing, exploring or expressing cultural worlds.
Disability isn’t sexy no matter how you couch it. There is still inherent and widespread stigma attched to it. From my personal viewpoint and experience this is particularly relevant with hidden disabilities – and dare i even mention it – Mental Health.
I don’t want to be labled a ‘disabled’ artist. I am an artist with a disability and i want my work to stand by it’s own merit with my peers and contemporaries. I don’t seek tokenism or inclusion through quota. I don’t want to get into the whole disability arts thing because this is not the right forum to grasp those particular nettles.
So Engage Scotland are looking at access. I am fortunate enough to have gained one of the residencies. And hats off to DCA who have brought artists in rather than consultants and trainers.(although i also happen to be both the latter as far as mental health goes).
I could assume why more people don’t access the venue in particular or culture in general – it would be easy to say – Oh! it’s econnomics, we can’t afford to. Or ‘What relevance has contemporary art to my life?’
I have had my first week in Dundee, I am beginning conversations and some thoughts are emerging. One month is not a long time to make a hard wired change but it is long enough to begin to instill a creative process of adaptive change.
