Access and Inclusion listening and learning session

Ahead of International Day of Disabled Persons, Culture Central and Deaf Explorer will co-host a session for artists and organisations to listen and understand how we can make our activity, organisations and programmes more accessible.

At this session, chaired by Nickie Miles-Wildin (Joint Artistic Director & CEO or DaDaFest), a range of speakers including Luke Greenwood, Jake Jarvis, Rachael Lines, Billy Read, Maral Mamaghanizadeh, Mary-Jayne Russel De Clifford, Robin Surgeoner and Matthew Gabrielli will explore questions including:

• What do Deaf, Disabled and Neurodiverse artists want to change in the cultural sector, regionally?

• How can the sector be more welcoming and improve access?

• How could the cultural sector improve access for Deaf, Disabled and Neurodiverse artists and audiences?

• How can the cultural sector be more transparent and make networking more accessible for Deaf, Disabled and Neurodiverse artists?

• How can the cultural sector work together to support Deaf, Disabled and Neurodiverse artists to move beyond scratch nights and R & Ds into production and touring?

• How can we remove/reduce tokenism and specialist commissioning? What does specialist commissioning achieve in the short term and long term?

The session will call for organisations to be braver, take risks, and demonstrate this by commissioning Neurodiverse artists, Disabled and Deaf artists, and improving governance by having Disabled people at board level and employed at all levels within their organisations.

Presentations will be concise and provocative, and we want to use this space to kickstart a road map for change.

Access:

Please email [email protected] to let us know your access requirements.

Chair:

Nickie Miles-Wildin - joint Artistic Director & CEO of DaDaFest

Speakers:

Luke Greenwood and Jake Jarvis will speak about their experience of Open Theatre as an accessible talent empowering organisation.

Rachael Lines Artistic Director, FRONTLINEdance will describe the aims of Frontline Arts Festival and her support for regionally based Dance theatre maker Billy Read. Billy will describe his recent experience of making an outdoor show for Appetite in Stoke on Trent.

Visual Artist Maral Mamaghanizadeh will describe her recent collaboration with dancer Leila McQuaid and residency and film maker Sophie Black at level Centre and ongoing support from Art Reach making Lanterns for outdoor Festivals.

Deaf Explorer provides access support for both artists that enable them to work in the hearing art world.

Matthew Gabrielli and artists from the West Midlands Neurodiverse Theatre Network will advocate for the inclusion of Neurodiverse people in the arts.

West Midlands based Disabled artist Robyn Surgeoner will describe his role as a board member of Together 2012, based in the Borough of Newham and weekly online broadcasts showcasing disabled artists.

Mary-Jayne Russel De Clifford. In 2021,Mary-Jayne successfully applied for Deafinitely theatre's freelancer's Bursary and received a DYCP to develop her writing skills and set up a professional theatre company to raise the ambition of West Midlands based Deaf talent. Mary- Jayne will describe her experience of acting with an integrated cast on Stan’s cafe micro production, “Precious Emily” .

Billy Read, Ariel Fung and Ben Randall Appetite Festival - Photo Graeme Braidwood

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Moseley Community Hub, 496 Moseley Road, Birmingham, United Kingdom