Disability Arts History Australia

Items

• “Sit Down Shutup and Watch, a screen festival for people with learning disabilities, is launched in 2014”
  In 2014, Tutti Arts launched Sit Down Shutup and Watch (SDSW). SDSW is a collective led by people with learning disabilities; They present a biennial international screen festival which features the work of disabled creators. The committee also hosts workshops and online resources.
• “Arts Access Australia launches Meeting Place”
  Arts Access Australia launched Meeting Place in 2012, an annual forum where artists and industry leaders meet to discuss arts and disability and to network. The forum includes keynotes, panels, and workshops.
• “Perth International Arts Festival partners with DADAA to promote the inclusion of Deaf and disabled artists”
  As the Artistic Director of the Perth International Arts Festival (PIAF), Wendy Martin enabled first significant inclusion of Deaf and disabled artists. This inclusion was driven by a partnership (2016-19) between PIAF and DADAA (Disability in the Arts, Disadvantage in the Arts, WA).
• “Sydney Film Festival launches Screenability program in 2017”
  Sydney Film Festival launched its Screenability program in 2017. The international program was intended to offer a platform for screen practitioners with disability. Sofya Gollan was Screenability’s inaugural programmer and remained in the role until 2021.
• “The inaugural Undercover Artist Festival, a biennial, disability-led performing arts festival, is held in 2015”
  In 2015, the inaugural Undercover Artist Festival took place. The festival was founded by Access Arts in consultation with Access Arts participants and a group of artists with disability. The festival has consistently been directed by leaders who identify as experiencing disability.
• Theatre performance ‘Take Up Thy Bed & Walk’ integrates ‘aesthetic access’”
  The 2012 performance ‘Take Up Thy Bed & Walk’ designed by Gaelle Mellis and produced by Vitalstatistix proved that accessibility measures could be aesthetic. As Creative Australia describes it “is credited as Australia’s first performance work incorporating ‘aesthetic access’. It embedded the performer’s physicality and communication styles – and those of potential audiences – at the centre of the creative process. The work integrated audio description, captioning, sign language and interactivity uniquely into the core of the work.” Gaelle Mellis has said of the performance that “aesthetic access can be used in ways that add layer, texture, meaning and richness to a work. Art, at its simplest, is primarily about communication. Aesthetic access, at its simplest, is a form of communication that communicates to everyone.”
• “Protesters gather in Lismore (NSW) to oppose proposed cuts to services”
  In 2004, 300 disabled persons, along with their relatives and carers, gathered in Lismore to protest proposed cuts to adult, training, learning, and support programs, among other services. These were a part of a series of demonstrations against the state government that included hundreds of demonstrators in Newcastle and resulted in the state government reversing its position on modifications to the Post-Schools Options Disability Program.
• “In 2003, a demonstration outside Canberra’s Parliament House protests changes to Centrelink guidelines”
  In 2003, the Totally and Permanently Incapacitated Disabled Soldiers Association staged a protest outside Parliament House in Canberra, over changes to Centrelink guidelines that could have cost them up to $200 per week in income. “He said in Parliament that our payments are adequate, he's somebody who has never had the time to speak to us,” Association President John Ryan remarked of then Prime Minister John Howard.
• “80 wheelchair users and allies halt Melbourne trams, demanding better access to public transportation”
  In a 2000 demonstration organised by the Catch a Tram group, 80 wheelchair users and their allies halted city trams in Melbourne during lunch hours, demanding better access to public transportation.
• “The paralympic arts festival, Invincible Summer, is held in conjunction with the 2000 Paralympic games”
  In 2000, Sydney held the Paralympic games. The paralympic arts festival, Invincible Summer, featured comedy, dance, film, art, music, theatre, and street performance, featuring collaborations between artists with and without disabilities.
• “Australia signs the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disability”
  In 2007, Australia signed the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disability. The CRPD seeks to “promote, protect and ensure the full and equal enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms by all persons with disabilities”. The Convention came into effect in Australia on 16 August 2008.
• “National Arts and Disability Strategy is launched in 2009”
  In 2009, the National Arts and Disability Strategy was agreed on by Australian Cultural Minister’s Council. The strategy sought to improve access and participation in the arts and identified four priority areas: barriers to access and participation, supporting the creative practice of artists with disability, developing audiences for disability arts practice, and strengthening policy and planning within governments.
• “The Victorian Government commissions ‘Picture This: Increasing the Cultural Participation of People with a Disability in Victoria’”
  In 2008, ‘Picture This: Increasing the Cultural Participation of People with a Disability in Victoria’ was published. The report was commissioned by the Victorian Government, specifically the Victorian Office for Disability in partnership with Arts Victoria and Disability Services Division and written by Kim Dunphy and Petra Kuppers. It focussed on methods to increase participation by people with disability in the arts as artists and audience members.
• “Arts Access Australia releases the report Making the Journey: Arts & Disability in Australia”
  In 2005, Arts Access Australia commissioned a survey of the disability arts sector nationally. This survey resulted in the report, Making the Journey: Arts & Disability in Australia. The report was written by Mary Hutchison. It details 12 case study disability arts organisations.
• “Captioned films launched in Australia”
  In 2001, captioned films were launched in Australia with a speech by then Disability Discrimination Commissioner Dr Sev Ozdowski OAM. The process with a series of submissions from both the film industry and the Deaf and hard of hearing community. These submissions led to the establishment of a Forum comprised of representatives from the film distribution and exhibition sector, the Deaf and hearing impaired communities and the Australian Caption Centre. After a trial run in Sydney and Melbourne, three major cinema exhibiters (Greater Union, Hoyts, and Village) agreed to show open captioned films at selected venues throughout the country.
• "Access2Arts (SA) established in 2009"
  Access2Arts (SA) was established in 2009. In their own words, “following on from many years of work by the Community Arts Network SA (CANSA), a project was created within Arts SA called the Disability Arts Transition Team. This led to our establishment as an independent body to represent, advocate and respond to the needs of the arts and disability sectors.” The organisation became incorporated in 2013. They are the body for arts and disability in South Australia.
• “Deaf Arts Network (DAN) established in 2000”
  The Deaf Arts Network (DAN) was established with the aid of Arts Access Victoria in Melbourne in 2000. DAN “is dedicated to increasing the participation of deaf and hard of hearing people in the arts as artists, arts workers and audiences. […] DAN provides an authentic and unique cultural voice for the deaf community, a community historically marginalised from participation in the arts.”
• “Studio A established in 2000”
  Studio A (NSW) was established in 2000 to create access and opportunities for visual artists with intellectual disabilities; their in-house artists’ “practices range from painting and drawing to sculpture, textiles and digital media”. In their own words, “At Studio A, we are dedicated to professionally empower artists with disability and have their voices heard within contemporary Australian culture.”
• “Access Arts Achievement Award inaugurated in 2014”
  Access Arts announced a $10,000 Achievement Award in 2013 and first awarded the grant in 2014 to actor Doug Robins. Other recipients since then have included writers, musicians, visual artists, theatre makers, and multi-disciplinary artists. The funding goes to a Queensland artist with disability to “create, develop, present, produce, exhibit and/or tour their work.” Access Arts describe it as “a game-changing opportunity for Queensland artists, arts workers and producers to extend the life of an existing work or create a new one!”
• “Access Arts establishes the SAFE Grant”
  In 2007, Access Arts established the SAFE Grant – Sacred Angel Funding Empowerment. It is a one-off grant for $1,000 to “emerging and professional artists with disability living in Queensland. It is designed to fund the costs (up to $1,000) of attending conferences, training courses, events or mentoring to help enhance an artist’s professional career.” The SAFE grant was established by Peter Vance, whose wife Marilyn passed away from angiosarcoma. In 2019, Choice, Passion, Life (CPL) “committed to upholding the legacy of Peter and Marilyn for an additional 10 years”.
• "A contemporary visual arts exhibition, Connected 2008, is presented in 2008"
  In 2008, Arts Access Victoria produced Connected 2008, a contemporary visual arts exhibition attracting over 400 entries from artists with a disability across Victoria.
• “The Art of Difference Disability and Deaf Arts Festival takes place in 2009”
  The Art of Difference Disability and Deaf Arts Festival in 2009 featured visual, performing, literary and new media artists as a two-week international arts festival.
• “The Asia-Pacific Wataboshi festival comes to Brisbane”
  Hosted by Arts Access Qld, in 2003, the Asia-Pacific Wataboshi festival was brought to Brisbane with the aim to raise the profile of disability arts. David Helfgott was the ambassador.
• “The first Focus on Ability film festival held in 2009”
  In 2009, the first Focus on Ability film festival was started by the CEO of NOVA Employment, Martin Wren. (NOVA is a Sydney-based disability employment service.) FOA holds events in Australia’s major cities and welcomes entries in open categories as well as a schools category and international section.
• "A number of theatre companies are established in the 2000s"
  A number of theatre companies were established in the 2000s, particularly towards the end of the decade. Some key companies in disability theatre or inclusive arts practice to emerge in the 2000s are: Second Echo Ensemble (2005, integrated, often producing work in partnership with the Tasmanian Theatre Company), Ever After Theatre Company (2006, performers with disability), Rollercoaster Theatre Company (2007, performers with disability), DirtyFeet (2008, inclusive), and Blue Roo Theatre (2009, performers with disability).