Disability Arts History Australia

Items

• Ryan New
• "Interview with Digby Webster"
  Digby Webster is a visual artist working with the mediums of oil pastels and acrylics and is also a performer, designer and co-founding member of past performance ensemble Ruckus Ensemble. Interview Summary Digby Webster is an artist with a wide range of creative talents, including theater, dance, animation, and mural painting. He has worked on various projects, including an animated short film called "Blockhead and Sparkles," and has had his artwork displayed in places like the Sydney Olympic Park and Vivid Sydney. Digby does not define himself by his disability and takes pride in the various creative endeavors he's involved in, aiming to have his art reach people in meaningful ways outside traditional galleries. In the future, he is interested in exploring fashion, designing artwork for clothing, and he hopes to see more people wearing his art.
• "Interview with Gayle Kennedy"
• New South Wales
• New Zealand
• “Australian Caption Centre opened in 1982”
  The Australian Caption Centre was opened 13 September, 1982. A tour took place at the Australian Caption Centre in Sydney in the 1990s; the video (now available on YouTube) explains how the Centre worked. In 2005, the Centre sold its commercial operations including the captioning services to Red Bee Media and formed Media Access Australia.
• “A national Disability Advisory Council is established in 1983”
  The national Disability Advisory Council (DACA) was established in 1983. Parliamentary information from 26 July that year reports: “Disabled people will form a significant majority on the new body. Announcing this today, the Minister for Social Security, Senator Don Grimes, said the new Disability Advisory Council of Australia represented an important breakthrough for disabled people. For the first time, an Australian Government will be looking to disabled people themselves for advice on government policy and programs affecting them.”
• “Accessible Arts (NSW) established”
  Accessible Arts (NSW) was established in 1986. "the peak arts and disability organisation in New South Wales. We advance the rights of, and opportunities for, people with disability or who are d/Deaf to develop and sustain professional careers in the arts and have equitable access to arts and culture across NSW".
• “Les Murray's poetry is influenced by his autism”
  In 1974, Les Murray wrote a poem about autism, ‘Portrait of the Autist as a New World Driver’. Over the decades since, autism has continued to be a theme, as recognised by Amanda Tink.
• "Sally Northfield (2014) Canvassing the Emotions: Women, Creativity and Mental Health in Context" PhD Thesis Victoria University, Melbourne,  https://vuir.vu.edu.au/29985/, Australia, https://vuir.vu.edu.au/29985/1/NORTHFIELD%20Sally-thesis_nosignature.pdf "
  Reads, in part, "A multimedia movement-theatre show, incorporating dance, video- and slide- projections, a life-sized puppet and an original soundtrack. A diary come to life, portraying the true story of an Australian dancer who – after paralysing one of his arms in a motorcycle accident – journeys through the worlds of medicine, rehabilitation and disability, in recovery of self-expression. He finds new angles on perceiving the body, and new ways to move. "Body image" and concepts of "normality" are questioned."
• "Liz Ferrier (2000) Vulnerable Bodies: Creative Disabilities in Contemporary Australian Film. In Ian Craven ed. Australian Cinema in the 1990s. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203045022"
  Reads, in part "The internationally-acclaimed film Shine is one of a number of contemporary Australian movies which portray embattled artists or performers. Reminiscent of earlier works such as Starstruck (1982), Man of Flowers (1983), Malcolm (1986) and Sweetie (1989), and several more recent productions – Proof (1991), Strictly Ballroom (1992), Bad Boy Bubby (1994), The Adventures of Priscilia, Queen of The Desert (1994), Muriel's Wedding (1994), Cosi (1996), Lilian's Story (1996), and Jane Campion's New Zealand/Australian films, An Angel at My Table (1990) and The Piano (1993) – it depicts a disadvantaged individual overcoming setbacks through the passionate and eccentric expression of his creativity. The film and the cycle to which it belongs offers a peculiar vantage point from which to examine the problems and possibilities of Australian cinema in the 1990s."
• "Bree Hadley (2021) What's in a name? The politics of labeling in disability performance. In Rai, Shirin, Gluhovic, Milija, Jestrovic, Silvija, & Saward, Michael (Eds.) The Oxford Handbook of Politics and Performance. Oxford University Press, New York, NY, pp. 531-543.”
• "Bree Hadley (2021) Ex/centric Fixations Project (theatrical play). In Sefel, John Michael, Slamcik Lassetter, Amanda, & Summerville, Jill (Eds.) At the Intersection of Disability and Drama: A Critical Anthology of New Plays. McFarland Publishers, Jefferson, USA, pp. 317-344.”
  "The Ex/Centric Fixations Project is a postdramatic performance work which renders the feeling of otherness visceral for spectators, without anchoring it any specific singlular experience of otherness, with the text unfolding with the musical flow and rhythm of a fugue state."
• "DADAA Outreach and Partnerships Webpage, captured 2023"
  DADAA Outreach and Partnerships Webpage, captured 2023 – reads, in part "In addition to its three main hubs, DADAA works with other organisations to take our services and programs to communities, or to develop new services and programs that enhance access to arts and cultural activities for artists and audiences. Arts programs can be customised to respond directly to the needs of your community or clients, to ensure inclusive practice or to bring new audiences to your organisation."
• "Still Watching Netflix - Hannah Gadsby On The Insane Reactions She Received to Nanette | Douglas"
  reads, in part "When Nanette, Hannah Gadsby's 2018 Netflix speical, dropped it stirred up a lot of feelings. A lot were genuinely moved by it, and fell in love with Hannah. Then other, didn't. In this exclusive clip from Hannah's new special (Douglas, now streaming), she breaks down some of the DM messages she got."
• "Jodee Mundy Collaborations - Imagined Touch - IMBD"
  Reads, in part, "When two Deafblind women asked a theatre director to help them make a show about being deaf and blind, never in their wildest dreams did they imagine it would become an award-winning show."
• "House Gang - IMDB"
  Reads, in part "House Gang is an energetic and irreverent domestic comedy with a naughty sense of fun. Featuring three remarkable young actors, each with an intellectual disability, it takes an unconventional look at "family" in the 90s. Above all else House Gang celebrates diversity-you don't need to have a disability to be challenged by the problems of modern life. And being "normal" doesn't give us sole rights on love, sex, ambition, or laughter."
• "Focus on Ability, Short Film Festival winners list 2018"
  Focus on Ability Short Film Festival, captured 2025 - webpage listing 2018 award winners - Includes Open Entrant Winners (Sebastian Chan - Bus Trip; Kasimir Burgess – Paul; Nicole Molloy & Matt Watt - He Will Walk; George Holahan-Cantwell - Inclusion Makes the World More Vibrant; Lifeforce Centre For Learning - Whycroft Legacy; Carl Emmerson & Dan Sanguineti – Airlock; Sally Newman - Walk With Kindness; REDinc - Everyone Is Different, School Entrant Winners (Airds High School - Am I Special or "Special?"; Al-Taqwa College - Hear in My Shoes; Kooringal High School - We Can Do It!)
• "The Other Film Festival - Website, captured 2013"
  The Other Film Festival website, captured 2013 - with an Auslan welcome, About, Program, Tickets, and News links, including news of a recent screening in New York which included BEAUTIFUL (Australia, Dir: Genevieve Clay-Smith) and JUST BE FRANK (Australia, Dir: Elise Bialylew)
• "Accessible Arts - Activated Arts Podcasts"
  Accessible Arts - Activated Arts Podcasts - reads, in part "Get turned on to a different kind of creativity! The Activated Arts podcasts, produced in association with Accessible Arts and 2RPH Radio, explore and showcase the unconventional talent and distinctive work of professional arts practitioners with disability."
• "Australia Council - Disability Fact Pack 1998"
  The website reads “Outlines a variety of issues for arts organisations regarding people with disabilities including access, attitude, employment and discrimination” - Noelene Gration
• "Accessible Arts - Newsletter 2015-2016"
  Accessible Arts - Newsletter 2015-2016
• "Accessible Arts - Newsletter 2010-2012"
  Accessible Arts - Newsletter 2010-2012
• "Accessible Arts - Newsletter 2007-2008"
  Accessible Arts - Newsletter 2007-2008
• "Sprung!! Integrated Dance Theatre - Program 2018, captured 2019"
  Sprung!! Integrated Dance Theatre Program 2018, captured 2019 - ‘Share House’ at Anywhere Festival Brisbane, and Mullumbimby Drill Hall Theatre, ‘All Mised Up’ roving troupe performance at Summerland House grounds in Alstonville, performances at Lismore Lantern Parade, World Dance Alliance Adelaide, Gold Goast Disability Expo, end of year Gala