Curatorial Commissions

The Curatorial Commissions Programme was an exciting multi-year collaboration with three major UK galleries to provide individual residencies for three curators, who identify as Disabled, looking to further their careers in the arts.

DASH forged partnerships with Midlands Arts Centre (mac) Birmingham, Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art (MIMA) and Wysing Arts Centre.

At mac, Anna Berry's curatorial residency culminated with her exhibition, Art and Social Change: The Disability Arts Movement, showcasing her new skills while linking to the wider Curatorial Commissions programme.

The exhibition ran from Saturday 11 January to Sunday 22 March 2020.

You can find more information about Anna's Curatorial Residency and related events, as well as Anna herself on her Artist page. For audio interviews with Anna about her experiences during her year in residence visit our Blog page.

Our second curatorial resident was Aidan Moesby, who worked with MIMA.

Please visit Aidan’s Curatorial Residency page for more information and updates on this partnership.

Wysing hosted our third curatorial resident; Hannah Willis. You can find out more about Hannah by visiting her Curatorial Residency page.

The Curatorial Commissions Programme was supported by Arts Council England, who have committed £100,000 over the period 2018 - 2021 to the project as part of DASH's work as a National Portfolio Organisation.

"The Curatorial Commissions programme aims to change the culture of the visual arts sector so it becomes more inclusive and accessible. There is a lack of Disabled people in positions of influence within the visual arts, and the longer-term aims of the project are to support the development of Disabled curators, who will become the directors of the future.

As part of the commissions we will also be working with each organisation's learning and engagement team to increase levels of participation and engagement among Disabled children and young people, led by our Learning and Engagement manager. It is a really exciting period of development in the work of DASH"

DASH has been working with galleries and arts centres in England and Wales since 2009 creating opportunities for Disabled artists to exhibit and curate.

These opportunities have significantly advanced the careers of more than 15 Disabled artists, and have influenced and changed the thinking of a number of key people in these galleries. However we assert that further cultural changes must be made within the visual arts sector in order for it to become more inclusive and accessible.

Please visit our Press and Comms page for biographies and further background information about the Curatorial Commissions Programme.