Disability Arts History Australia

Items

• "Interview with Sofya Gollan"
  Sofya Gollan is a distinguished artist, screenwriter, filmmaker and cultural leader in advocating for the Deaf and disabled communities. Interview Summary Sofya Gollan is a versatile and experienced artist with a background in acting, writing, directing, and producing, known for her work in theatre, film, and television, and for navigating the industry as a deaf individual. Her journey into the arts began with her involvement in the Australian Theatre of the Deaf and further developed as she trained at prestigious institutions like NIDA and AFTRS, where she expanded her skills in filmmaking. Despite facing challenges and ableism within the industry, Gollan has made significant contributions to disability representation on screen, and highlights the need for ongoing support and funding for disabled artists to promote equity and access to opportunities. Returning as creative practitioner to the industry after an executive role, Gollan continues to advocate for inclusivity and representation, while aiming to create and share content that authentically reflects the deaf experience.
• “Writeability (VIC) is established in 2012”
  The Writeability program was established in 2012, beginning as a partnership between Writers Victoria and Arts Access Victoria. "Writeability program supports writers with disability wanting to develop their skills and writing careers." It aims to remove barriers and provide information, resources, and fellowships so disabled writers can “tell their own stories in their own way”.
• "Writeability website, captured 2018"
  Webpage reads, in part "Write-ability aims to remove some of the barriers that have traditionally prevented people with disability from connecting with writing and publishing. It provides tools and information to support people with disability who want to tell their own stories in their own way. The Write-ability ethos has been based on the importance of self-told stories, disability-leadership and peer support, and the creation of opportunities for even the quietest voices to be heard."
• "Writeability website, captured 2019"
  Webpage reads, in part "Write-ability aims to remove some of the barriers that have traditionally prevented people with disability from connecting with writing and publishing. It provides tools and information to support people with disability who want to tell their own stories in their own way. The Write-ability ethos has been based on the importance of self-told stories, disability-leadership and peer support, and the creation of opportunities for even the quietest voices to be heard."
• "Writeability website, captured 2013"
  Webpage reads, in part "Arts Access Victoria, in partnership with Writers Victoria, is pleased to announce the launch of Write-ability, a new pilot project to support writers with a disability wishing to advance their writing practice"
• "Writeability website, captured 2016"
  Webpage reads, in part “Before the advent of Write-ability, writing programs for people with disability in Victoria were few and far between. Examples of successful Australia writers with disability are rare (and deaf writers even more so). Consequently, the number of authentic voices recording the stories of the lived experience of disability has been limited.” Webpage contains information about Write-ability Mentor-in-Residence; Write-ability Fellowships; Write-ability recent projects such as a series 2014 postcards/memes profiling writers, and support, professional development, and writers groups.
• "Incite Arts - stArts with D Performance Ensemble 'Selfies' Residency"
  Case Study of 'Starts with a D' Performance Ensemble and the 'Selfies' project, reads, in part "Through a combination of group-writing exercises, poetry worksheets, collage and recording of spoken responses, participants created 77 poems under the title: ‘SELFIES'"
• "Interview with Graham Wilfred Junior"
  Graham Wilfred Junior is a Yolngu man and artist with Incite Arts were he works with different mediums including filmmaking, writing, performing, digital art, music and painting. Interview Summary Graham, an emerging artist with spina bifida whose father inspired his passion for art, has pursued various art forms including painting, music, and digital art, and is venturing into theatre and filmmaking. His digital artwork, through the creation of the emoji app, helps teach the Arrente language, a part of his cultural heritage, and he seeks to expand his impact through acting and creating films. Graham's motivation is to both celebrate and inspire people with disabilities, aiming for recognition as an artist rather than focusing solely on his disability. Graham shares his journey with Incite Arts, highlighting his involvement in music workshops, acting classes, and script development, emphasizing the importance of representation and empowerment for individuals with disabilities, ultimately aiming to document his experiences and create impactful performances that leave a legacy to encourage others to pick up where he leaves off, ensuring the continuity of artistic expression within his community.
• "Interview with Jess Cochran"
  Jess Cochran (they/them) is an actor, model, writer and disability advocate. Interview Summary: Jess Cochran is a queer, non-binary, neurodivergent, performing artist, advocate, writer, and consumer consultant with a background in both physical and psychosocial disabilities. Their journey into the performing arts began accidentally with a role in the Awards winning Melbourne Fringe Festival production, Qualia, which opened doors to more local and international Awards-winning work in film and stage. Jess identifies proudly with their disabilities and considers their art both a personal expression and a political act aimed at highlighting the issues faced by the disability community. Jess’s work spans across writing, modelling, and various performance arts, and they wish to see an increase of disability arts representation in mainstream media with authentic casting, opportunities and improved accessibility for disabled performers. Jess is also passionate about highlighting intersectionality in disability arts.
• "Bree Hadley (2014) Practice as method: The ex/centric fixations project. In Bolt, B & Barrett, E (Eds.) Material inventions: applying creative arts research. I.B. Tauris Publisher, United Kingdom, pp. 145-165.”
  "In this chapter, I consider the efficacy of creative practice as a research method, concentrating specifically on its applications in the performing arts, using one of my own recent projects, The Ex/centric Fixations Project (2009), as an example."
• Accessible Arts
• The Other Film Festival
• Naomi Chainey
• Jax Jacki Brown
• “Creative Australia releases reports on arts participation, including d/Deaf, Disabled and Neurodivergent artists and audiences”
  A series of reports about arts and disability in Australia published in the mid-to-late-2010s are summarised on the Creative Australia website. Sources for the summary include Connecting Australians: Results of the National Arts Participation Survey (June 2017), Making Art Work: An Economic Study of Professional Artists in Australia (2017), Creating Pathways: Insights on support for artists with disability (2018), and Arts and Disability in Australia: Meeting of Cultural Ministers (2018). The overview of this research series demonstrates that disabled Australians’ participation in the arts had increased as access had grown, though equity for disabled artists, especially those with intersecting marginalised identities, continued to face barriers. It reports that work by disabled artists is innovative and transformative.
• "Morwenna Collett, Gill Nicol (2024) Building Strong Foundations: Research on arts and disability needs and opportunities, Creative Australia, 2024."
  "This report is a summary of an arts and disability needs and audit conducted in 2023 for Creative Australia. Through desktop research and consultation with d/Deaf and disabled artists and creative workers, peak bodies and broader arts and cultural organisations, this research provides insights into needs and opportunities in the arts and disability ecology in Australia."
• "Office for the Arts (2013) Creative Australia: National Cultural Policy. https://www.arts.gov.au/publications/creative-australia-national-cultural-policy-2013"
  Reads, in part, "Creative Australia (2013) celebrates Australia’s strong, diverse and inclusive culture. It describes the essential role arts and culture play in the life of every Australian and how creativity is central to Australia’s economic and social success: a creative nation is a productive nation."
• Bree Hadley
• “Australia Council - Grants, captured 1997”
  Australia Council (Creative Australia) grants captured December 1997. Website reads “extracted from the Australia Council Grants Handbook 1997” and includes Grant Categories: an Overview, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Arts Board, Community Cultural Development Fund, Dance Fund, Literature Fund, Major Organisations Fund, Music Fund, New Media Arts Fund, Theatre Fund, Visual Arts/Craft Fund, Awards
• "Bree Hadley (2022) Disability and the Arts, Creative, and Cultural Industries in Australia. Australian Academy of Humanities"
  Reads, in part "There are five interrelated factors that support arts workers, arts organisations, and the arts sector at large to develop improved policy, protocol, and training practices."
• "Australia Council - Annual Report 1994-95"
  Australia Council Annual Report 1994-95- discusses functions, organisation chart, year in review, work to overcome inequities experienced by artists with disabilities with a review of arts and disabilities developing into an action plan by 1997, artform development, main activities of Council and its Boards, and includes financial statements and lists of grants made including grants for programs, projects, creative development of organisations and an international cultural exchange program.
• "Interview with Kath Duncan"
  Kath Duncan is a writer, a director, a provocateur, a visual artist, a comedian, a producer, a journalist, a radio broadcaster and disability advocate. Interview Summary Kath Duncan is an experienced and prominent figure in the disability arts community with a passion for experimental performance arts, having witnessed the beginnings of the disability arts movement in Australia and participated in its evolution. Her art is inherently political, shaped by her unique perspective as a congenital amputee. Kath firmly believes in the inherent creative revolutions and endless inspiration within all impairments. Kath highlights the ongoing struggles within the disability arts sector, including high unemployment rates for disabled individuals, systemic barriers, and the need for disabled leadership in arts organizations. While cherishing the milestones and transformative experiences she's had, Kath calls for significant systemic changes, emphasizing the importance of team playing and collective work to support and grow the disabled artist community.
• “The Australian Government’s Creative Nation policy released in 1994”
  ‘Creative Nation’ was released in 1994. This was the first ever cultural policy formally developed by an Australian Government. Alongside a number of art forms, the policy included establishments like libraries in its definition of culture and pledged $250 million in funding to cultural organisations.
• "David Throsby, Katya Petetskaya (2024) Artists as Workers: An Economic Study of Professional Artists in Australia, Creative Australia, 2024."
  "Artists as Workers: An Economic Study of Professional Artists in Australia, by David Throsby and Katya Petetskaya, is the seventh in a landmark study, carried out independently over the last four decades by Professor Throsby and colleagues at Macquarie University, with support from Creative Australia (previously the Australia Council for the Arts). Conducted at roughly six–year intervals, the series tracks the working conditions of artists, providing information about their artistic practice, income, career development and pathways, and their broader working lives. The latest survey was in the field late 2022 and early 2023 and examines activity in the 2021-22 financial year. This edition therefore captures the conditions for artists in the wake of COVID-19 and coincides with the Australian Government’s January 2023 announcement of its five-year national cultural policy Revive: A place for every story, a story for every place."
• "Interview with Luke Cambpell and Kelly Drummond Cawthon"
  Luke Campbell is a theatre performer, writer and director and has been with Second Echo since 2015. Interview Summary In the interview Luke Campbell and Kelly Drummond Cawthon from Second Echo Ensemble share insights into their creative processes and the significance of their work. Luke, a core artist for the ensemble, emphasizes the role of deep listening and communication in his art, comparing his work to a meditative exploration of sound and connection, akin to the themes in the movie "Avatar." Kelly, as the ensemble's creative director, highlights the importance of presenting their work across diverse platforms to reach broader audiences and foster inclusive discussions. Throughout the conversation, they express views on the challenges and perceptions surrounding disability arts, advocating for recognition of diverse voices and stories in the arts community.