Items · Disability Arts History Australia

Kate Wood

Heidi Everett

Sally Port

"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."

"Juliette Peers (2022) The ArtLink Archive Project: Inside the 'Outsider' Issue, 42(2)"

"In 1992–93 ArtLink published Naïve & Outsider Art centring on themes linked by their shared invisibility in mainstream discussions. While the title obviously references art historian Roger Cardinal’s 1972 book Outsider Art, (after Jean Dubuffet’s ‘Art Brut’ or ‘raw art’), this outlying status was described by ArtLink’s founding editor Stephanie Britton in 2022 as ‘…the context changes, but at the time the concept [of various practices lying beyond the mainstream] functioned as a catch up on things that had been under the radar for decades already... [we were] collating a wide range of ideas'[1], a group of practices that existed but were hardly recognised in published texts. Looking back across ArtLink’s history, Naïve & Outsider Art offers much to think through about the magazine’s own platform, intentions and the trajectories of those practices foregrounded thirty years ago under what are now troubling rubrics."

Sydney Opera House

Pru Jobling

"Interview with Morwenna Collett"

Morwenna is a leader, consultant and facilitator in the arts, government, not-for-profit and university sectors and is passionate about helping arts and cultural organisations to include everyone in their work. Interview Summary Morwenna Collett is a consultant in diversity, access and inclusion and during the interview discusses her vast experience in the disability arts sector including time in the Australia Council where she played a key role in creating the first targeted funding program for artists with disabilities. Morwenna notes that while disability arts is gaining some awareness with mainstream audiences, there are still issues regarding how people think about the quality of art created by artists with disabilities. Morwenna highlights the NDIS as a significant milestone for disability arts in Australia, though she believes that there is much more potential for arts organizations to engage with it. Morwenna also emphasizes that the decision for artists to identify with their disability is a personal choice and it is becoming increasingly safe to disclose this identity, demonstrating progress toward inclusion in the arts.

Sydney Theatre Company

Helen Meekosha

SBS