Are disability arts festivals a good thing? Jo Verrent and her colleagues weigh up the pros and cons.
In September 2016 there are not one, but two Unlimited Festivals in the UK – one run by Southbank Centre in London and one by Tramway in Glasgow, both focusing on extraordinary disability-led arts across all artforms. They feature the Unlimited commissions as well as many other disabled artists and are calendar highlights for UK and international programmers, artists and audiences.
Festivals focusing on disability work have always been a big part of the history of disability arts in the UK – from the cabarets and rallies of the 1980s onwards – and the National Disability Arts Collection and Archive (NDACA) is currently capturing much of the work and spirit of that history. From the start, both integrated and disability-led work has benefited from being showcased together – and both featured prominently within the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad, which kickstarted both Southbank Centre’s Unlimited Festival and the continuing Unlimited commissions programme for UK-based artists... Keep reading on Theatre and Dance
In September 2016 there are not one, but two Unlimited Festivals in the UK – one run by Southbank Centre in London and one by Tramway in Glasgow, both focusing on extraordinary disability-led arts across all artforms. They feature the Unlimited commissions as well as many other disabled artists and are calendar highlights for UK and international programmers, artists and audiences.
Festivals focusing on disability work have always been a big part of the history of disability arts in the UK – from the cabarets and rallies of the 1980s onwards – and the National Disability Arts Collection and Archive (NDACA) is currently capturing much of the work and spirit of that history. From the start, both integrated and disability-led work has benefited from being showcased together – and both featured prominently within the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad, which kickstarted both Southbank Centre’s Unlimited Festival and the continuing Unlimited commissions programme for UK-based artists... Keep reading on Theatre and Dance