Page 2644 - Week 08 - Tuesday, 15 August 2017
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You Are Here this year took inclusion a step even further by challenging artists to think about the content of their work in terms of accessibility. Named the Sublimation Project, four artists were asked to translate the work of another artist into a different medium with a different sensory experience—for example, a sight piece into sound or a 2D artwork into a tactile piece. The project aimed to make artists and audiences think practically about accessibility and consider new ways of making arts and arts events more accessible to people with disabilities. This willingness to experiment with new ways of engaging in the arts and creating content is an example of how we need our arts sector to be.
It is clear that our arts organisations place great importance on accessibility and diversity in both content and participation. They support artists, from hobbyists through to professionals, and understand that active involvement in the arts creates meaning in people’s lives.
PhotoAccess, for example, which has provided affordable access to photography facilities for the Canberra community for the past 30 years, runs community outreach programs to encourage people to explore photography for self-expression. In 2016 they partnered with the Domestic Violence Crisis Service to deliver a digital story-telling project for women who have experienced domestic and family violence. They also ran a digital storytelling project for Big Issue vendors, in collaboration with the Woden Community Service. PhotoAccess continue their community outreach in 2017 through partnerships with Yurauna Centre at the Canberra Institute of Technology, ACT Deafness Resource Centre, Belconnen Arts Centre and Belconnen Community Service, building community and connection through opportunities for self-expression and sharing stories.
Collaboration is a key strength of the Canberra arts community, and we see that many of our arts organisations are already working strongly with each other and with non-arts community groups to share the joy of arts with as many people as possible. Belconnen Arts Centre, for example, partners with numerous community groups and other arts organisations for its program IGNITE: Alternative Arts Academy. IGNITE is a suite of programs for people with mixed abilities or with lived experience of mental illness that helps to develop their artistic practice. These partnerships allow IGNITE participants to explore various artistic disciplines, to gain access to arts institutions and to be guided in their skills development by professionals.
The long list of organisations involved includes the Canberra Glassworks, Megalo Print Studio and Gallery, Canberra Potters Society and the ACT Writers Centre. The BAC also works with Ausdance ACT on programs such as dance for people with Parkinson’s, and with Alzheimer’s Australia ACT on dance for people with dementia. These collaborations open the arts sector to people who may otherwise experience difficulty in accessing facilities, and they empower arts organisations to run programs for people who are experiencing disability and disadvantage.
While the stories we have heard tell us that Canberra arts organisations value inclusion and are working strongly towards accessibility, we acknowledge that there is always more to do. Inclusion and access are continual processes that evolve with a
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