Accessible Arts / arts + disability NSW

Taking the Lead

Digital Flaneur, Danile Kojta, 2007, digital video
installation.

Bundanon Residency awarded to new media artist

Western Sydney based new media artist, Daniel Kojta has been awarded the 2010 Accessible Arts Bundanon Residency.  This is the second residency developed by Accessible Arts in partnership with the Bundanon Trust, to further opportunities for NSW artists with disability.  A selection panel was formed in response to the art forms and proposals submitted. This panel comprised of Julia Tsalis, Program Manager, NSW Writers' Centre, Bec Dean, Associate Director, Performance Space, Rhonda Davis, Senior Curator, Macquarie University Art Gallery and Sarah-Jane Rennie, Director, Accessible Arts. Kojta will use the residency to further develop his current series that concerns ‘bringing life and movement to unnatural elements of the everyday.’ Kojta states, “ I am highly motivated to locate myself within a new and compelling environment such as Bundanon.”

Necessary Games, Restless Dance Theatre &
Closer Productions, 2009.

Award winning short film at Arts Activated Conference 2010

Restless Dance Theatre, a youth dance company, driven by performers with disability, has recently won a number of film awards in collaboration with Closer Productions screen media company. Necessary Games, a triptych of three short dance films, took top honours in South Australia's leading filmmaking competition when it premiered at the Adelaide Film Festival. The 18-minute work won best short film, best non-narrative film, best editing and best production design at the South Australian Screen Awards during the festival. The company welcomed Philip Channells as artistic director in May 2009. Philip will be presenting at the Arts Activated Conference 2010, Arts - Access - Excellence, and the first screening of Necessary Games in NSW will be showcased. Watch a preview of Necessary Games.

Captioned and audio described performances
of God of Carnage by Yasmina Reza, Drama
Theatre, Sydney Opera House.

Open Day showcases improved access

Sydney Opera House is offering a variety of access initiatives over the coming weeks to launch the completion of the Accessibility and Western Foyer Project. A public lift, indoor escalators, new accessible toilets and platform stair-climber lifts have been included in the refurbishments. An Open Day on 25 October 2009 will highlight the improved access and includes free access tours for visitors with mobility restrictions. Audio described and captioned performances of Sydney Theatre Company's God of Carnage are being presented in November 2009 at the Drama Theatre, Sydney Opera House. FM radio systems are available for performances in all venues. These initiatives reflect the latest Sydney Opera House Access Strategic Plan, which was endorsed by the Sydney Opera House Trust in June 2009. Read more...

Anthony Masterson plays the role of Simon in
Cohabitation: Bondi

New inclusive theatre company produces fully accessible performance

The After Party Project, a new inclusive theatre company, is presenting its first fully accessible production Cohabitation: Bondi, written and directed by award-winning playwright and long-term Bondi resident, Jane Malone. Cohabitation: Bondi is a two-act romantic comedy and one of the lead roles, Simon, is a wheelchair user. The company has developed access for people with sensory disabilities through an innovative ‘bring your own’ approach. A captioning system that patrons can connect to via laptops is available for people who are Deaf or hearing impaired. The script will be displayed on laptop screens. An Auslan interpreted performance will also take place on Friday 23 October. An analogue system will produce audio description for people who are blind or have low vision. Patrons bring their own small FM radio and earpiece to connect to the system. There will also be a reading of the synopsis and character descriptions and access to the stage to touch the set. Listen to playwright Jane Malone and actors Anthony Masterson, Chris Callinan and Dominic Witkop on ABC 702. Read more...

Nick Gleeson, guest speaker Vision Australia
and Jane Pollard, Training Manager Accessible
Arts, Disability Awareness & Access training
March 2009.

Reminder: Disability Awareness & Access training - improving access to the arts

At a time when social inclusion is high on the Government's agenda, Accessible Arts TAFE NSW Disability Awareness & Access training is an important and relevant professional development opportunity. This training provides strategies for venues, galleries, festivals and events to overcome barriers experienced by people with disability when accessing the arts. It is suitable for Arts sector staff across all levels of an organisation, including senior and middle management, administration, front-of-house, security, education staff and volunteers. The next training session is being held on 22 October 2009 at Accessible Arts training room, Hickson Road, Walsh Bay from 1:00 to 5:00 pm. Developed by TAFE NSW in association with Accessible Arts, all participants receive a TAFE transcript on completion. Deadline for registration is 8 October 2009. Read more...

Creative Inclusive

Headcase, Art Day South Project, video still,
2009.

AART.BOXX 09: Emerging artists & creative thinkers with disability

Accessible Arts is presenting its national survey exhibition of works by emerging artists with disability from 30 October to 7 November 2009. AART.BOXX will be opened by Christine Morrow, Coordinator, Verge Gallery, University of Sydney Union on Thursday 29 October 2009. The opening will be Auslan interpreted. Twenty-one artists and three arts collectives will show over 40 works from a diversity of art forms. An opportunity to meet the artists in the gallery as part of Conversations with Artists will be held from 12:00 pm to 1:00 pm on Saturday 31 October and Thursday 5 November 2009. RSVP is essential by 30 October to Josie Cavallaro, tel: 02 9251 64 99 ext 105 or jcavallaro@aarts.net.au. Further funding received from the Australia Council for the Arts Community Partnership program has enabled the creation of employment opportunities for people with disability to work on the exhibition.

Tra La La Blip session with Annie and the
Overlookers, Pawling, New York 2009.

Electrofringe puts access on the program

A free interactive workshop showcasing accessible electronic music making is being presented at this year’s Electrofringe festival of electronic arts and culture, being held in Newcastle from 1 to 5 October 2009. Randolf Reimann, founder of artist collective Tra La La Blip, will run a two-hour workshop using Ableton Live to kick off the festival. Tra La La Blip, based in the far north coast of NSW, produced Soundbeams Volume 1 in 2008 with groups of people who attend Multitask Disability Services. This compilation CD continues to receive publicity around the globe and has started creating income from iTunes. Accessible Arts will contribute to the workshop by promoting its work to electronic arts practitioners to garner interest about access, inclusion and innovative projects that involve and engage people with disability. Electrofringe coincides with Crack Theatre Festival, Critical Animals, National Young Writers Festival and Sound Summit, which all take place in Newcastle as part of This Is Not Art.

Accessible Arts Apprenticeship Training Program
2008.

InterAct offers young people experience in a performing arts environment

Accessible Arts and Powerhouse Youth Theatre are presenting InterAct Dance and Performance workshops during the October school holidays in Western Sydney.  An Introduction to Acting for the Camera commences 5 October 2009 at the Fairfield School of Arts and a Street Dance workshop at Q Theatre, Joan Sutherland Performing Arts Centre starts 7 October 2009. Both workshops are three-day intensives, low in cost and open to 15 to 18 year olds of mixed abilities. “These workshops are great for young people living with disability and their friends and siblings. They offer young people of all abilities an experience within a performing arts environment and work towards creating communities that are aware and inclusive of people living with disability," said Matt Stewart, InterAct Workshop Coordinator, Accessible Arts.

Urchins, Kelly Ann Lees, Sculpture by the Sea,
Bondi 2008.

Touch tours broaden access to Sculpture by the Sea

The 13th Sculpture by the Sea festival is being presented from the 29 October to the 15 November 2009 on the coastal walk between Bondi and Tamarama, with over 100 works by international and local artists. Sculpture by the Sea has developed self-guided touch tours for people who are blind or have low vision, as well as mobility access for people using wheelchairs at Tamarama Beach and Mark’s Park. Comprehensive access information will be available early October. Accessible Arts is providing support to the festival to update and refine their access information and promote touch tour events to a target audience. Sculpture by the Sea is also held in Denmark and at Cottesloe Beach, Western Australia where a touch tour attracted several audiences who are blind and have low vision. A call out for volunteers to help with the production of this event is now open and offers an opportunity to gain experience in a number of areas within the festival.

Bowman Yu at 24/7 Youth Film Festival

Profile: Bowman Yu, AART.BOXX artist & musician

Bowman Yu is an artist who creates fast and fluid gestural drawings in a quick response to his immediate interests. The subjects of his drawings are often determined by what comes to mind when he is handling his materials and ready to draw. Often his works reference film and popular culture. The drawing series in AART.BOXX 09 respond to Yu’s interest in Martin Scorsese films such as scenes from Taxi Driver and The Godfather. This series was developed at Sunnyfield Frenchs Forest as part of their expanding arts program under the guidance of Arts Co-ordinator Gaye Flemming. Bowman has also had the opportunity to develop his ability for music making at Sunnyfield. He contributed to the songwriting, vocals, electric and acoustic guitar for music produced as part of the sound track for the short film Pink Stars produced by Sunnyfield and screened at the 24/7 Youth Film Festival as part of the Manly Arts Festival.

Who Shall Go To The Ball, Chorographers Arthur
Pita & Rafael Bonachela, Candoco 2007/2008
Repertory.

UK Profiles: Corali and Candoco Dance Company

Sancha Donald, CEO of Accessible Arts, engaged with the arts and disability sector in the United Kingdom on a weeklong exchange in July 2009. Profiling organizations visited on the trip continues with two dance companies based in London. Corali is a professional performance group made up of seven adults with learning disabilities who create unique performances drawing on an aesthetic style to express their ideas. Candoco Dance Company, with seven dancers with and without disability, produce creatively ambitious contemporary dance performance to push boundaries and broaden people's perception of what dance is and who can dance. Both companies have established youth groups, which provide a pathway to the main company. Both companies have also developed partnerships with tertiary institutions enabling inclusive dance training to students with physical, sensory and learning disabilities. Read more...

Other Events and Opportunities

• Raw: Art in the garage - exhibition featuring works from the Tulgeen Group’s Art in the Garage Project.

• MCA Bella Program - Art education for students with specific needs.

• Sizzle Art Workshops - Penrith Regional Gallery is offering a series of four art making workshops for students with a disability.

• Mental Health – Art Works! - The 10th Annual Mental Health Week Art Exhibition held to celebrate Mental Health Week on the Central Coast.

• Field call for works - Imagining the lives of people with disability in the world of tomorrow, submit artworks for possible inclusion in a group exhibition.

• Callout mentorship opportunity - Penrith Regional Gallery & The Lewers Bequest are offering a mentorship program to an emerging artist with disability

• Australian edition of Opening Stages - A newsletter produced by the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington D

Feedback

We invite feedback and suggestions from our readers. Share your experiences of attending any of the listed events or offer suggestions for future newsletter items. Email feedback to info@aarts.net.au.

Send us your news

Contributions to the newsletter are welcome and encouraged. Please send us your item by the 15th of the month, for the following month’s edition. Listings should include the title, date, location, a short description (100 words), plus all available contact details, access details and an image (JPEG or GIF format). Arts events, opportunities or news that will be of interest to people with disability, their families, friends and carers and are accessible will be published. Email contributions to info@aarts.net.au.