Accessible Arts / arts + disability NSW

For the past twenty five or so years the UK arts industry has been slowly dismantling the barriers that have denied disabled people access to the arts. With considerable financial assistance from the Arts Councils and the National Lottery, the arts infrastructure of the UK has been gradually transformed in terms of good practice, access and facilities for disabled people.

Alongside this, and almost unique to the UK, has been the development of the Disability Arts sector . Intrinsically linked to the social model of disability, Disability Arts has facilitated the emergence of a generation of disabled artists who have produced some extraordinary work that explores largely untouched issues.

Yet even with a host of magnificent, accessible arts venues and the work some of the most exciting disabled artists in the world on the doorstep, disabled people remain reluctant to get involved in the arts. Research undertaken on behalf of the UK Government’s Department of Culture Media and Sport (DCMS) has revealed that in England disabled people’s arts attendance is almost 29% lower than that of the adult population in general.

While the numbers may vary slightly, it is a safe assumption that this situation is similar throughout Europe, and this has been recognised by the European Council of Ministers. Earlier this year the Council adopted a Disability Action Plan that includes an acknowledgment of the importance the arts, culture and broadcast media play in disabled people’s lives:

"Concerted action is required to transform the opportunities and quality of life for people with disabilities through their access and involvement in the arts and social life.
There is no easy route to attaining this goal. Various means can be pursued but it may ultimately require enactment of specific legislation."

The research by the DCMS and the concern of the European Ministers is centred on mainstream arts, and overlooks the work of the Disability Arts Sector. As a grassroots movement, Disability Arts has a direct appeal and popularity with disabled people that mainstream arts cannot copy, but can learn from.

It is important that they do. There is growing pressure on virtually all aspects of community life to become inclusive, and the arts are no exception to this. In December the UK Arts Councils, as with all government funded bodies, are legally obliged to publish a disability equality scheme and action plan. These will detail how the Arts Councils will set out to enhance inclusion in the arts and how they will involve and consult disabled people on achieving this.

By far the most appropriate way the Arts Councils have to enhance and increase inclusion is via the arts organisations they support , and it is a certainty that these will be at the core of any plans to deliver on disability. It is also a certainty that the majority of these arts organisations will complain bitterly about the “extra” work this will cause and the resources it will consume.

Although the Arts Councils will undoubtedly do their best to help arts organisations engage in this process, it is true that the necessary changes will require work and resources. However, organisations have no right to complain. For about twenty years the Arts Councils and Disability Arts Sector have been offering mainstream arts organisations advice, guidance and reasoned argument on how and why they can and must change.

Yet most of this advice has been ignored or diluted, and so the necessary changes have been delayed. This has brought us to the point that the majority of disabled people working in the arts have called for for years: a far more rigorous approach by funders and governments on this issue.

It need not be as painful as it sounds; in fact becoming an inclusive arts organisation can be a rewarding business - provided disabled people are fully involved in the process. The closer disabled people are to the core of your organisation and the more their opinions are listened to and acted upon, the more inclusive your organisation will be. Furthermore, the creative expression by disabled people of disability and impairment is only around twenty five years old. There is still a lot to discover and explore; and as I have mentioned, the UK has an established and growing body of disabled artists and managers who are world leaders in this arena.

At the moment adding the expertise of these artists and managers to your organisation is a positive way to start and will make a significant difference to the way disabled people perceive and engage with your work. But - and this is worth repeating – it must be long term, consistent and acted upon. Only by doing this can arts organisations become truly inclusive.

Geof Armstrong is the director of the NDAF, the National Disability Arts Forum in the UK.