Views from the back row at Awkward Bastards

12^th March 2015 was the day the Awkward Bastards took over mac birmingham, the day Terry Pratchett died and the day the government issued a press release about the changes made to Access to Work. These changes, that are effectively cuts to many, will seriously effect Disabled and Deaf people's ability to work, their equality in the workplace and their standing in society.

Awkward Bastards came about through DASH's IN (Disability Arts IN the Mainstream) programme; commissioning Disabled Artists to create new work to be exhibited IN and IN partnership with mainstream galleries.  The pilot project for this work started in 2009, when DASH surveyed galleries in the UK to establish how Disability Arts and Disabled Artists were represented in galleries.  The results confirmed our fears.  Only seven said that they had had shown work by Disabled Artists since 2000.  111 galleries were asked to take part, many did not hold the information we needed, or said it was not relevant to their gallery, or simply did not respond.

In 2013 sean burn and Mike Layward researched this further and found that the Disability Arts movement is consistently missed out of the history of art.

"Tate Liverpool has a constellation of visual artists up on its stairs (how accessible is that?!) - I don't recall any disabled artists amongst its listings, not even the legendary Kurt Schwitters - the author of What is Madness? amongst many other works." sean burn

"Until recently, Tate Modern had a timeline of artistic movements of both the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, it did not include disability arts." Mike Layward - DASH

The Disability Equality Duty Act, 2006 extended the legal rights of disabled people and their protection from discrimination.  In 2010 this act was superseded by the Equality Act. Meanwhile in Arts Council England, Disability Arts, once an area in its own right, was squeezed into 'Diversity'. There are now less Diverse National Portfolio Organisations 2015-2018,  than there were in the 2012 funding round.

Does this sharing of terms and laws diminish Disabled People's voice or does a shared voice give us Awkward Bastards more power?

Here are a few things we found out.

HISTORY

History was a subject that came up several times during the day with David Turner exploring the history of disability, Marlene Smith on the Windrush generation and history of the Black Arts Movement, and Tony Heaton with the Disability Rights Movement.

We need to let emerging/young Disabled artists know the history of Disability arts, the Disability Rights Movement and the Social Model of Disability.  If you don't know the history and the roots of the movement why and how would you ally yourself with it?

DASH will produce a booklet, with the history of Disability rights, the social model, the ethos and the stories of a number of artists to inform the artists we will be working with in the future.

 

DEFINITION, DIVERSITY and the DIVIDE

Disability, LBGT and BAME have different struggles but they are also shared.  We are made to feel different to society's vision of normality, sidelined by the establishment and decades after our cries of equality we are still fighting.  

Diversity is not as term that sits easily with most people. Tony Heaton told the story of stopping people in the street and asking them what they saw, they all said a disabled person or a wheelchair user, no one said a diverse person. He doesn't feel diverse.

Diversity can be the clumping together of what you don't understand, the other.  If we get rid of the box/the definition will it appear that everything is hunky dory and equality has arrived? Would this lead to disabled people and Disability Arts being forgotten and ignored?

Many feel that we should not have to add to the term artist.  It should be enough. Why do we need to state our gender, race, culture, religion, sexual orientation? These terms could be limiting.  If we use the term artist, do we immediately think of a white, non-disabled, heterosexual, Christian, male?

Heads all around the room were nodding when Aidan Moesby said that "Work as a disabled artist has to be better, to not get as far".  This is accepted as true, which is really quite beyond being acceptable.  Why do Disabled Artists need to be better than their non-disabled counterparts to achieve less? This is not equality.

Definition, it seems it is a very divisive subject.  The vacuum cleaner would rather be labelled as retarded than disabled. He says that "Boxes are for shoes".  He wanted to know why it is so important to define himself as a disabled artist and went out to ask the audience if he should use the term, all four of the people asked said that he didn't need to. 

It is a totally personal choice.  How could it be anything else? But, if there are no labels, no definitions, how will we ever know if Disabled/BAME/LGBT Artists are being ignored and forgotten?

sean burn wants to claim back the language of lunacy, claiming the words as powerful tools, rather than labels with preconceptions.  He believes that together “We are the majority”.

Ju Gosling asked Matt Smith and Amanda Cachia the question “How are LGBT disabled artists seen in museums?” Matt Smith answered by saying “They are invisible”.

We do have our allies though:

Matt Smith says that Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery were “brave and groundbreaking”, to let him loose with their collection.

DASH's commissioning partners since 2008 have embraced Disability Arts and the new audiences the work and ways of working that it brings to their venues.  This partnership working is vital for a small organisation like DASH to create impact.  All our partners are hugely supportive of our work and Awkward Bastards could not have taken place without the support of mac Birmingham.

DASH's partners are: New Art Gallery Walsall, Wolverhampton Art Gallery, Oriel Davies Gallery, The Herbert Museum & Art Gallery, The Public, mac Birmingham, Shrewsbury Museum and Art Gallery, Arnolfini, Disability Arts Cymru, ffotogallery, g39, Llantarnam Grange Arts Centre, Live Art Development Agency, New Art Exchange and University of Birmingham's Digital Humanities Hub.

 

HUMOUR

There was a lot of humour throughout the day, even though the issues are serious, humour is a powerful tool. 

Tony Heaton likened the Disability Arts Movement to "...the sort of noise a tree makes when falling over in a forest where no-one was listening."  He questioned if Opera was seen as a diverse art form because of its minority audience.  These moments of humour gave our audience a laugh and gave Tony the attention of the audience to deliver his thought provoking message that after 40 years of campaigning disabled people are still waiting for full inclusion. 

Gemma Marmalade's work is funny, thought provoking and awkward.  She finds that this awkwardness creates a hook for audiences.  Gemma said that "As court jester you can play enough to 'piss off a King' but make him laugh on the other hand."  This may not work for every artist, but it can help the medicine (equality and access) go down.

Garry Robson cheerfully read out our spoof telegrams from Access to Work and the Department of Work and Pensions. Little did we know that at the time they were issuing their press release on the changes taking place to this vital fund. 

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-measures-to-support-more-disabled-people-into-work Personal budgets are in and there will be caps on the top level of award this will seriously effect Disabled and Deaf people's ability to work. 

http://www.theguardian.com/stage/theatreblog/2014/jul/29/disability-arts-cuts-access-to-work-theatre

ARTS COUNCIL and Cultural Leaders

Someone asked "Where are the Arts Council?" Well there were quite a lot of Arts Council officers and area council members there.  Interestingly though, there was no 'Why don't the Arts Council do this etc etc'. Cuts to the Arts and Culture budgets mean that it is up to (us) as the National Portfolio Organisations to lead, we have to take the responsibility with the Arts Council's support. 

There was a great spread of organisations in the audience, galleries, museums, independent artists and 'diverse organisations'.  Were we preaching to the converted though? Perhaps, but we had a great audience in the theatre and online.  If they each tell one person about the incredible work produced by the speakers, delegates and artists it will be worth it.  In order for Disability Arts to flourish and be part of diversity and embedded in culture, we need to get the people in power on our side, by finding ways of working together for a shared benefit.

RIGHTS and the WAY FORWARD

The day was all about equal rights. The right to have equal access, the right to be treated as an equal and the right to call myself a Disabled artist (or not). We are still working hard to gain this equality and respect. 

In April 2015 DASH will be calling for galleries, museums and archives to partner us for the 'Inside' programme 2015-2018 commissioning new work by Disabled Artists for exhibition in these venues.

In July 2015 will see the start of 'Rethink, Reblink', a new project run by New Art exchange Nottingham, Live Art Development Agency and DASH to begin a programme similar to 'Decibel' but run by diverse organisations and artists.  Questions raised at Awkward Bastards will feed into this project.

In addition to this DASH will launch 'Cultivate' (funding pending) a mentoring project for graduate disabled artists, begin the second stage of AHRC funded work with University of Birmingham researching digital tools and continue its 'Art Express' programme of workshops in Shropshire.

To be announced shortly are the Disabled Artists who have commissions for the 'Tu Fewn' project in partnership with Disability Arts Cymru, funded by Arts Council Wales.

To close, a quote from Equal Rites by Terry Pratchett, which fits the idea of being an Awkward Bastard.

"In the Ramtops witches were accorded a status similar to that which other cultures gave to nuns, or tax collectors, or cesspit cleaners. That is to say, they were respected, sometimes admired, generally applauded for doing a job which logically had to be done, but people never felt quite comfortable in the same room with them."