AccessibilIty Day Conference – Who is Culture for?
Various artistsHow can we make culture more open to everyone? How do we ensure it is not just formally accessible, but that diverse audiences can truly participate, feel welcome, and find content that resonates with them? This conference will explore accessibility in its broadest sense – from physical environments, language, and communication to artistic content and involving diverse communities in its creation. Disabled people, festival artists, cultural organisations, and accessibility experts will share their experiences and practical examples, working together to find ways to make the cultural sector more inclusive.
The event will be attended by cultural accessibility experts from nine European countries (regions) visiting Riga as part of a partner visit for the INTERREG EUROPE interregional cooperation programme 2021–2027 project “Improving Access to Cultural Heritage for Disabled People.” Their goal is to explore examples of good practice within the Riga Planning Region.
The project is co-funded as part of the Riga City Social Integration Programme.
programme
Doors open 13.00
13:30 Conference Opening and Keynote Speech by festival artist James Leadbitter (the vacuum cleaner) (In English)
14:00 Presentations by Homo Novus artists and accessibility consultants on performance adaptation implemented at this year’s festival.
Featuring Diāna Ponaskova, Jana Jacuka, Agnese Puisāne, Velga Polinska, Agnese Krivade, Ūna Laukmane, Diāna Kondraša, and others.
Moderated by artist and inclusive culture advocate Lība Bērziņa
15:00 Break
15:30 “Seeing, Saying, Sensing”: Keynote Speech on accessibility for visually impaired people by festival artist Jo Bannon (15 mins)
15:45 Address by Tomasz Wlodarski, Director of the Lesser Poland Institute of Culture
16:00 Discussion “Healing Culture: How Festivals Can Promote Health, Wellbeing, and Belonging” (45 mins)
Featuring Marta Keil (Festival Spa), Inga Surgunte (Culture and Health), Sarah Groning (KulturFrankfurt), and others.
Moderated by Marta Krivade
17:00 Meditation session by WAUHAUS artist collective
From 17:30 Informal Networking (karaoke and musical entertainment)
easy read version
The Homo Novus team wants culture
to be open to everyone.
Because of this they are organizing
a conference and inviting
- artists,
- people who work in cultural organizations,
- accessibility experts,
- anyone who is interested.
The participants have already made events
that include everyone.
They want to share their ideas with others.
Experts from different European countries
They are part of a project “OpenRegioCulture”
of the Interreg Europe programme.
PROGRAMME
13:30–14:00 Opening
- Joe Bannon. “Seeing, Saying, Sensing”
- Tomasz Włodarski. “Cultural Accessibility – Institutional Work and Policy Planning”
14:00–15:00 Presentation of the Homo Novus Accessibility Project.
Stories about making festival performances more accessible.
Participants:
- festival artists,
- accessibility consultants,
- people with different types of disabilities.
15:00–15:30 Break
15:30–16:00 James Leadbitter’s aka the vacuum cleaner’s Keynote
16:00–17:00 Discussion on the impact of culture on:
- mental health,
- people’s well-being,
- social inclusion.
17:00–17:30 Presentation by Wauhaus
From 17:30 Dancing and karaoke
about participants
Jo Bannon is an artist working in performance, choreography and film. Her practice is concerned with how our specific bodies, identities and sensory perceptions impact how we experience the world around us, and how this sensory experience can or cannot be conveyed. Informed by crip politics and disability advocacy her work attempts to unpick the ways we look, hear and sense our immediate environment in order to rethink or make unfamiliar these intrinsic human behaviours. Bannon’s work is led by form and so manifests in various mediums including intimate encounters designed for single or small audiences, staged performance, dance, film and installation.
James Leadbitter, the vacuum cleaner – Since 2003 artist and mental health activist the vacuum cleaner, has pioneered a significant body of work exploring the climate crisis, mental health, disability justice, care and access. With roots in activism and radical art, he has created one-man interventions, large-scale actions, performance, installation and film. His work has been shown in galleries, theatres, and hospitals, and has appeared within social movements and in public spaces internationally. Over 12 years, he has established groundbreaking projects with young people around mental health with some of the world’s most prestigious galleries/festivals, including Whitechapel Gallery, Manchester International Festival and his bedroom.
Tomasz Wlodarski – Director of the Malopolska Institute of Culture in Krakow, committed to shaping social and cultural policies, not only in the Małopolska region. Włodarski has founded and chaired non-governmental organizations with a legal profile that support civic community development and promote active citizenship. For the last ten years, he has driven MIK’s strategic planning and international cooperation, advocating for the systemic development of the cultural sector in Poland. He highly values common sense and rationalism.
Date
Location
Language
Accessibility
