Access to Festivals
Silence is Golden forum, Sydney Film Festival 2008.
- What does Accessible Arts do?
- How is this sustainable?
- Which festivals have been involved?
- How can I get my festival involved?
What does Accessible Arts do?
Accessible Arts works in partnership with a number of festivals each year to enable access for audience members with disabilities and disability content to be included in festival programs.
How is this sustainable?
The outcomes of this project will have a long-lasting effect on increased access to creative and cultural experiences for people with a disability across Australia through work with arts venues, corporate bodies such as Dendy and disability organisations. It will increase recognition within the arts industry and established festival audiences for the quality of artworks, films and performances that are by or about people with disabilities. Eventually, each festival will take on board access as a core element of their planning, programming and budgeting processes.
Which festivals have been involved?
Biennale of Sydney
The Biennale of Sydney is Australia’s biannual festival of contemporary art. The theme for 2008 is “Revolutions – Forms That Turn”. Accessible Arts works in partnership with the Biennale of Sydney to coordinate the Lord Mayor’s Community Access Day. This includes working with selected Biennale of Sydney venues such as the Museum of Contemporary Art, the Art Gallery of NSW and Pier 2/3. Access information is developed and promoted for each of these venues. A program of access tours is established and this year the tours will take place on Saturday 23 August 2008.
Read Sydney Morning Herald article: Biennale paints a picture for those who have ears to see.
Electrofringe
Electrofringe is a year round program and festival of experimental electronic arts and culture dedicated to skills development and artistic exchange. Accessible Arts works to support access programs at the festival. In 2008, access has been a priority when selecting venues. Electrofringe aim to focus more on access in 2009 with targeted events and programming.
Sydney Film Festival
Sydney Film Festival is the New South Wales pre-eminent showcase for contemporary cinema from Australia and around the world. Established in 1954, Sydney Film Festival is a major cultural event and one of the world's longest running film festivals. The Sydney Film Festival has recently become the only competition Film Festival in Australia, boosting it into the same league as Cannes and other international film festivals.
Accessible Arts works in partnership with the Sydney Film Festival to deliver the Accessible Cinema strand. This partnership was formed in 2007 and is growing with momentum each year. The Sydney Film Festival have been particularly proactive in working on long and short-term initiatives to raise the profile of access through the festival. Access information is developed and promoted for all selected venues.
In 2008, the Sydney Film Festival included a forum on increasing access to films for audience members with hearing and vision impairments called Silence is Golden? This forum was presented by a panel of venue, cinema, film and arts industry and disability representatives. It played an important role in sustaining accessible cinema in Sydney and Australia, through raising public and industry awareness about best practice in the production and screening of cinema, using audio description and captions. Audio description and open captioned screenings are included in the Sydney Film Festival program.
“The Sydney Film Festival has highlighted once again that they are able to broaden the scope of their program and provide strong links with the disability sector in Australia and around the world. This takes us a huge step forward in actively engaging all people in the arts.” Sancha Donald, CEO, Accessible Arts.
Coral Arnold, a filmgoer with low vision, commented: “I was able to enjoy Children of the Silk Road and When Did You Last See Your Father. The audio description gave clarity to the action in the film and a much better picture of the setting and scenery. It’s a great addition to the movie experience”.
Sydney Writers Festival
Sydney Writers' Festival is one of world's leading literary events and engages up to 450 writers and 80,000 people every year. Accessible Arts worked with the Sydney Writers Festival for the first time in 2008, to improve access to the festival for audiences and writers with disabilities. Accessible Arts delivered disability awareness training to volunteers and encouraged the sourcing of accessible buses for the transport. Venue access information was included on the website and on the back page of the program for the first time. The program included writers with disabilities and programs that explored disability issues.
The Festivalists
The Festivalists are a not-for-profit company that showcase the talents of under-represented filmmakers and develop audiences for this work. Accessible Arts provided access guidance and advice to The Festivalists in 2007 to assist with the coordination of the first fully accessible screening of a film in Sydney, at Chauvel Cinema Paddington. Who Loves the Sun was open captioned, and audio described by Vision Australia volunteers. This screening was in celebration of International Day of People with a Disability and was financially supported by the Department of Ageing Disability and Homecare. The Festivalists have continued to consider access and are working to make a broader range of their initiatives such as professional development opportunities inclusive of people with disabilities.
How can I get my festival involved?
If you are interested in increasing access to your arts festival, please contact Alison McLaren, Audience Development Officer tel: 02 9251 6499 ext 6 or email amclaren@aarts.net.au.