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Colin Hambrook:Editorial
Colin Hambrook established Disability Arts Online in 2004. Since then he has been editing the journal. In his blog he comments on aspects of the work happening within the disability arts sector as well as specific arts programmes Dao is engaged with. He also occasionally writes about his own artistic output.
Esther Fox: Distinctive Not Alien
My practice is concerned with the fabric of life, the DNA of our personal and cultural experiences. I am a processed based artist who uses a range of media to explore issues relating to genetic screening and future representations of self. 'Distinctive Not Alien' is a research and development project funded by Arts Council intending to explore how socially engaged arts practice can create opportunities for public debate about genetic screening.
Alice Holland
Alice Holland is a trainee producer, shadowing Trish Wheatley for a year to learn the professional and practical skillset required of Arts Management and Producing for Disability Arts. She has previously been an award-winning, international showgirl and singing pornographer and continues an illustrious career as an uppity feminist and programmer and curator for various venues and festivals.
Alan Hopwood
Alan Hopwood initially trained as an engineer, before gaining a BA Hons Degree and a Masters in fine art. Following 12 years as a lecturer in Fine Art, Alan has returned to his primary passion of painting. As a disabled person, Alan's work is often both governed and informed by his condition. Working as his mobility allows, on small or large pieces or using digital media and photography, Alan finds that, despite his limitations, he can nearly always find some creative activity to engage himself in. Alan uses his fluctuating condition as the subject for his work, he is drawn to subjects that reflected his mood, bringing this back into his studio to create works that used a more abstract language to express human emotion.
Blog: Crippen
Crippen ... probably now the best Disabled cartoonist in the world ... and you'll find him here on DAO
Katherine Araniello
Katherine Araniello is a performance/video artist and creator of SBC (Sick Bitch Crip). This blog includes her films, digital images and SBC's latest musings. The concept behind her work is to disrupt and use satire in current issues relating to disability such as assisted suicide, media representation, prejudice, charity, ignorance and body aesthetics.
Artist and wordsmith, Gini's work engages with issues of access - from acknowledged physical needs to perceived symbolic exclusions. After being selected as one of DAO's New Voices in 2011, Gini's online presence has become an integral part of her arts practice
Jane McCormick
In early 2013 I received a grant to buy an Ipad. Since then my Ipad goes everywhere with me from bed to sofa to hospital waiting rooms as I document my adventures, real and imaginary, at these exciting locations.
Aaron Williamson: Demonstrating the World
Demonstrating the World is an absurdly elaborate live reinterpretation of mundane YouTube 'how-to' videos. Williamson's performance is aimed somewhere between a travelling sales pitch and a crash-landed alien. The performance is a public intervention for city centres and offsite programmes, presented from a mobile performance space. The blog for DAO will chart the artistic process of the Demonstratingteam and give accounts of the subsequent encounters and adventures.
- Galleries
Gemma Nash
Gemma is a Manchester based multimedia artist and digital storyteller. She has a particular interest in sound and photography, with her work exploring themes of community, social engagement, disability and inclusivity. She has composed soundscapes for festivals, films and theatre and exhibited at Z Arts Brewery Arts centre, BBQ Arts & World Museum.
Joe McConnell's blog
Joe is a disabled Irish writer and emerging-better-late-than-never visual artist living in the UK since the 1970s. While increasingly alienated and terrified by the toxic la-di-da of the capitalist mainstream, he finds that being reborn as an artist makes life worth living again. Joe has also been blogging on the Creative Case for Diversity.
Tim Jeeves: How to Fall in Love
An hour-long love affair, a pretend date, and a walking performance through the streets of Liverpool, 'How to Fall in Love' has been developed by artist Tim Jeeves and members of the learning disability theatre company RAWD. Follow the company's blog as they talk about the rehearsals...
Katya Robin
Katya Robin observes the language of public spaces, our ambivalence with these structures. Her cross-media works reflect common sayings and assumed knowledge. Research-based practice reveals abstruse historical and culture associations. Her research and participatory art project, Hexopolis, observes urban geometry, linking this with social access. Angry and articulate about access.
Simon Raven: Adam Reynolds Memorial Bursary
The annual bursary, set up by Shape in memory of sculptor Adam Reynolds supports disabled artists working in visual art. The bursary, one of the most significant commissioning opportunities for disabled artists in the UK, offers an opportunity to engage in a three month residency at a high profile gallery. This year Simon Raven who makes concept-led performances, films and installations is at the Camden Arts Centre, London.
Bernadette Cremin
I am a published poet and performer. I am using DAO to blog about development of my work - in particular my one-woman show Altered Egos which was performed in the 2010 Brighton Fringe Festival.
Ju Gosling's blog
Ju Gosling aka ju90 is an artist who works mainly with digital lens-based media, as well as performance, text and sound. Ju situates her work largely within the theories and traditions of the international Disability Arts movement, and has gained an international reputation. In this Blog ju90 will focus on the UN Convention on the Rights of Disabled People as it relates to art, culture and sport.
- Pauline Alexander Blog
Aaron Williamson's Blog
Aaron Williamson is the recipient of the Adam Reynolds Memorial Bursary for 2010. He began a residency at Spike Island, Bristol on 3 February 2010. His blog covers his work-in-progress over the 12 week residency.
Accentuate blog
Accentuate is the 2012 Legacy Programme for the South East. Accentuate consists of 15 ambitious projects which represent the arts, film, tourism, business, sport and heritage. The aim is to promote the talent of deaf and disabled people in whatever area they work in. This blog is from Our View - a group of talented deaf and disabled people who act as an internal steering group as well as have direct relationships with the individual projects. Accentuate is funded by Legacy Trust UK, an independent charity whose mission is to support a wide range of innovative cultural and sporting activities, which celebrate the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The South East England Development Agency (SEEDA) has also invested significant financial support in Accentuate, as have the regional cultural agencies.
The Philosophical Ramblers Club
Neal Pearce is a writer, poet, artist, Mouth of Open Doors/Universal locksmith/Cosmic Emissary, prophet (self-proclaimed!)... and obviously slightly mad too!
Jon Adams' blog
Jon Adams fine art practice draws upon a wide range of materials and processes which include photography, video, sound recording and digital sound and visual manipulation, 3D installations, traditional sculpture and illustration. Jon is a Research Fellow in Disability Arts within the Faculty of CCi at the University of Portsmouth. His work includes themes of hidden disability and positive dyslexia and Aspergers awareness combined with a subversive or geological context.
Anne Teahan: Sharing Cultures: Disability and Visibility
'Sharing Cultures: Disability and Visibility' is a project by Anne Teahan, researching disability arts in reference to an exhibition inspired by participation in VSA's 'Revealing Culture' - an international disability arts exhibition of 55 artists, which was on show at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington from 8 June - 29 August 2010. Her blog is a reflection on each day of a week spent in Washington and is the starting point for the research.
Caroline Cardus' blog
Visual Artist Caroline Cardus believes the hoops disabled people have to jump through in life are often inexplicable, unintentionally comical, or possess a weird logic only the person themselves is privy to. Caroline blogs about experiences in life that make her want to make Disability Art, and discusses the collaborative projects she is currently involved in.
Dao is delighted to be a media partner for UNLIMITED bringing you the latest news and insights on this exciting programme led by Shape and ArtsAdmin. UNLIMITED aims to embed work by disabled artists within the UK cultural sector, reach new audiences and shift perceptions of disabled people. Dao will feature the 9 main Unlimited commissions for 2015 plus numerous research and development projects. In addition Unlimited Impact, is creating projects to develop resources, which make programmes and marketing more accessible to disabled people.
Transformation by Nancy Willis
Animated art by Nancy Willis, based on 'The Explorer' by Allan Sutherland, with music by Chris Morris.
Paddy Masefield AwardOpen only to people with learning difficulties, resident in the South West Region and aged 18 or over, it is the only award of its kind in Europe
Adam Reynolds: an ObituaryAn obituary to Adam Reynolds by Tony Heaton
Paul Cade: Sanity for VanityColin Hambrook recently saw Paul Cade's breathtaking work and decided to visit the artist in person.
Art + PowerColin Hambrook visited Art + Power to find out about their work.
Liz Crow: Frida Kahlo's CorsetAn award-winning short film about the Mexican artist Frida Kahlo will accompany a major exhibition of the artist's work to be held at Tate Modern in London on show until October 2005
Interview: Noëmi Lakmaier Adam Reynolds Memorial Bursary winner
Emerging visual artist Noëmi Lakmaier talks to Colin Hambrook about the development of her work and plans for her recent award from Shape with a residency at Camden Arts Centre.
Open Studio with Noëmi LakmaierNoëmi Lakmaier's residency at Camden Arts Centre as recipient of the Adam Reynolds Memorial Bursary and a conversation with Tony Heaton
Tales from the BoardersAnne Teahan documents the artistic process of three artists making Art from the memories of an institution.
Art Through Touch
Visually impaired artist Lynn Cox explains why this London-based project is so ground-breaking
James Aldridge: Inside-Out
James Aldridge explores his relationship to disability and impairment
Interview: Pádraig Naughton: The Power of Touch
Joe McConnell talks to Pádraig Naughton about his journey as a visual artist with a sight impairment.
Dave Lupton: Crippen CartoonsDisabled cartoonist Dave Lupton has a unique cutting edge 'disability vision', and is currently looking for support to bring his cartoons to a wider audience.
Interview: Chris Hammond talks about Full Circle Arts
Joe Bidder interviews Chris Hammond as part of a series of profiles looking at the lives of leading figures within the Disability Arts movement
Interview: Cathy Woolley
Melissa Mostyn talks to Cathy Woolley about her work and inspiration as artist and friend.
Damien Robinson: SongbirdDeaf artist Damien Robinson talks to Ele Carpenter about an intriguing audio installation, which explores the relationship between sound and vibration.
Sue Williams: Urban RegenerationProfile of artist Sue Williams
Nancy Willis: Early DaysA painter, printmaker and sculptor, Nancy Willis is an exceptional artist who has been exhibiting at mainstream and Disability Arts events since the mid 1970's.
Colin HambrookMaking paintings and prints about my experience of visions, hallucinations and dreams, brought me into contact with an emerging Disability Arts.
Juan delGadoJoe McConnell talks to Juan delGado about his cutting edge work using photography and video installation
Alison Jones: The Smell of HoneyAlison Jones, acclaimed visual artist, talks to Joe McConnell about her exploration of multisensory experience.
DaDaFest 2004Gemma Nash looks forward to DaDaFest 2004.
Benedict Phillips: Invisible Apartheid of WordsBenedict Philips talks to Colin Hambrook about his performance art and photography exploring the experience of dyslexia.
Tony Heaton: Squaring The CircleJoe Bidder profiles Tony Heaton, a leading artist within the Disability Arts movement
Andrew RobertsPainter Andrew Roberts talks to Colin Hambrook about his career.
Lara VargaPrintmaker, Illustrator and Book Artist Lara Varga talks about her Art work and practice
National Disability Arts Collection and ArchiveAn introduction to the National Disability Arts Collection and Archive at Holton Lee
Tanya Raabe: Artist on the EdgeAnn Young talks about life, love and Who's Who Tanya Raabe's latest collection of paintings
Simon Cooper: My Virtual Reality WorldSimon Cooper - a Platform 6 artist - explores the dilemma between hand-made and technology-made printmaking and looks at ways of combining the two processes.
National Disability Arts Collection and ArchiveJoe Bidder talks to Tony Heaton about a leading Disability Arts archive spearheaded at the residential disability arts centre at Holton Lee, Dorset.
Caroline Cardus: Hidden Battles
Caroline Cardus' Go Make! residency at Fort Brockhurst in Gosport, is the fourth in an ongoing series of bursaries for disabled and deaf artists, awarded by Dada-South. Colin Hambrook reports.
Jon Adams: Word WallArtist challenges commuters at London Bridge station Jon Adams has recently been appointed as Southern's Artist in Residence and over the next year Adams will be creating his art on the Southern network as part of the Alternative Platform project.
Driving Inspiration
Caroline Cardus reports on Buckinghamshire's Cultural Olympiad project.
Profile: 'Outside In' 2009
'Outside In' is on show at Pallant House Gallery, 9 North Pallant, Chichester, West Sussex, 4 August – 8 November 2009. The exhibition provides a platform for artists who are marginalised due to health, disability or other social circumstances. Marc Steene, Head of Learning, explains some of the reasoning behind the competition, due to become a national event by 2011.
Profile: Jon Adams: The Goose on the Hill
This autumn Pallant House Gallery plays host to Jon Adams' retrospective 'The Goose on the Hill' from 13 October – 22 November 2009. The exhibition coincides with 'Outside In' - a major exhibition of Outsider Art.
Interview: Noemi Lakmaier discusses her work for Shape's Animate programme
Animate explores the rich history of Disability Arts through talks and workshops. Colin Hambrook asked visual artist Noemi Lakmaier about her plans for the second of these talks at Shape on 8 February 2010
Profile: Rethink Parliament
Parliamentary Outreach have launched an innovative new initiative designed with mental health group, Rethink. Colin Hambrook reports on how the project is engaging with communities of disabled people, within the mental health arena, who have traditionally been disengaged from the democratic process.
Profile: Kit Wells - The Figure in the Urban Landscape
Once a painter, always a painter! Kit Wells talk about life and painting in relation to his recent acrylics of urban wasteland and desolate places.
Profile: Blind with Camera at DadaFest 2010
An exhibition by Blind with Camera is showing at the DaDa-Fest International, Liverpool until 3 December 2010. DAO talked to Partho Bhowmick who set up the project in Mumbai, India in 2006 after being inspired by Evgen Bavcar, an accomplished blind photographer based in Paris.
Interview: Matthew Miller talks about Fabrica's House of Vernacular exhibition
Wendy McGowan-Griffin interviews Matthew Miller, Co-Director of Fabrica Gallery about the curatorial decisions made during the installation of Martin Parr's 'House of Vernacular,' which ran from 2 October to 28 November 2010 as part of the Brighton Photography Biennial.
Profile: StopGAP Dance Company present a new double bill - Trespass
Autumn 2010 see StopGAP Dance Company embarking on a tour of their latest double bill - 'Within' choreographed by Thomas Noone and 'Splinter' choreographed by Rob Tannion. Lucy Bennett provides a dancers' insight into this exciting development in StopGAPs work
Profile: Accentuate
Over the coming months DAO intends to report on a range of events taking place under the Accentuate banner. Accentuate is funded by Legacy Trust UK which is creating a cultural and sporting legacy from the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, SEEDA and the regional cultural agencies. Screen South is the home of Accentuate.
Profile: Deafinitely Creative
Deafinitely Creative, the nation's only playwriting programme exclusively for deaf writers, has chosen its four finalists for 2010-11.
Dysarticulate: a DIY intervention from Creative Campus
Led by artist Jon Adams, this initiative intends to start a dialogue and a series of conversations reflecting the real issues around disability, our fragility and the nature of Public Art.
Preview: Revealing Culture: HeadOn - Portraits of the Untold by Tanya Raabe
Garry Robson Artistic Director DaDaFest International 2010 reflects on the impact of the work of award-winning visual artist/disabled artist Tanya Raabe as she launches a major touring show at Solihull Gallery.
News: First Quarter of Shape Diamonds Programme Announced
Disabled Londoners are set to benefit from Shape Diamonds in 2012, a year which includes the Cultural Olympiad and Queen's Diamond Jubilee.
New Exhibition Invites Art on Disability
Shape, in association with Westway Development Trust and our sponsors HSBC, would like to invite applications for the Shape Open Exhibition 2012 from artists who have work that comments or makes reference to issues surrounding disability.
News: Disabled artist makes streets her canvas in the build up to London 2012
A street in High Wycombe will be creatively transformed in March as part of a cultural programme celebrating London 2012. Conceptual disabled artist, Zoe Partington, has worked on developing a creative response to how disabled people navigate through urban spaces and the impact this has on them emotionally and physically.
News: DaDaFest 2012 presents Niet Normaal - Difference on Display
From Fri 13 July – Sun 2 September, the Bluecoat will be given over to this landmark exhibition, which will feature the work of over 30 internationally renowned artists including new commissions, each addressing a definitive question of our time: 'what is normal and who decides?' specifically focussing on language as freedom and language as imprisonment.
News: Adam Reynolds Bursary
There is a week to go for artists to submit applications for Shape Arts' Adam Reynolds Memorial Bursary. Submissions close on 8 May 2012.
News: Multimedia art project to be staged at Exeter Cathedral
Multimedia artist Mark Ware has been awarded Arts Council Grants for the Arts funding to develop and produce an exciting, innovative high quality multimedia digital art project in collaboration with Exeter Cathedral, to interpret 900 years of history, using digital and HD technology.
News: AMIs 2011: Royal College of Physicians and Shape win prestigious award for 'inspired' exhibition
The Royal College of Physicians (RCP) and partners, Shape, have won a top award with their 'challenging' exhibition of RCP portraits Re-framing disability: portraits from the Royal College of Physicians.
News: DaDaFest gets a makeover!
Innovative Liverpool-based disability and deaf arts organisation Disability and Deaf Arts will now be known as DaDaFest – taking on the name of its best known event, the critically acclaimed international festival. In line with this name change, the entire DaDaFest brand has received an overhaul including a vibrant new image and website design.
News: Unity Festival International Disability Arts Festival in Cardiff
The Unity Festival, created by Hijinx Theatre, is taking place between 21 – 30 June and will showcase and celebrate the best in inclusive, disability and learning-disability arts from Wales, the UK and around the world, promoting positive images of disability and social inclusion to audiences
News: Unlimited Global Alchemy
Artist Rachel Gadsden (UK) and the Bambanani artist-activist Group (South Africa) explore the psychology and politics of HIV/AIDS and of life-giving medical regimes in an Unlimited commission, showing in Cambridge, Liverpool and London as part of the London 2012 Festival.
News: DaDaFest 2012 commissions North-West based artists for Niet Normaal: Difference on Display
Niet Normaal: Difference on Display, a major international contemporary art exhibition, comes to the Bluecoat, Liverpool this summer as part of DaDaFest 2012 and is set to include two new commissions from influential North West artists
News: Jon Adams recognised by Royal Society of Arts
Portsmouth University's Artist in Residence, Jon Adams, has been awarded a prestigious fellowship by the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts (RSA).
News: Jon Adams exhibits 'Look About' at Pallant House Gallery
Opening today at Pallant House Gallery in Chichester, West Sussex, is a studio exhibition showcasing the results of 'Look About', a two year mapping and collecting project by Portsmouth‐based artist Jon Adams in response to the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad.
News: Paul Cummins: 'English Flower Garden'
Fine ceramic artist Paul Cummins has made more than 12000 individual flower heads for a series of 6 unique art installations at some of the UK's most beautiful historic houses and socially significant public sites. The project is an Unlimited commission and is part of the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad.
News: Liz Crow's latest work to be featured at SPILL Festival
Trish Wheatley talks to Liz Crow about her new work 'Bedding In' which is one of the eight Diverse Perspectives commissions funded by Arts Council Grants for the Arts programme.
News: Video artwork by Chris Tally Evans has been selected for VSA in Washington DC
A short piece of video art by Chris Tally Evans, depicting one year of life on a reach of the River Wye, is among the artwork to be exhibited at the Kennedy Center, Washington DC, USA this June for a prestigious VSA exhibition titled Shift.
News: DadaFest 2012: Dates and theme announced
DaDaFest, the International Festival of Disability and Deaf Arts, has announced that the festival is to return in summer 2012, with the theme of TransActions - Fluid Bodies: Shifting Identities
News: CoolTan Arts walk with Arthur Smith in celebration of World Mental Health Day 2011
Cooltan's BIG Largactyl Shuffle was organised to celebrate World Mental Health Day and explored the history of the NHS 'from cradle to grave'.
News: British-Bangladeshi artist Sanchita Islam presents The Rebel Within at Rich Mix, London
The London based social charity Rich Mix is hosting the first ever mid-career retrospective of a living British-Bangladeshi female artist – Sanchita Islam. The exhibition, entitled 'The Rebel Within', runs from 6 March - 28 April 2013
News: The Art House secures funding for development of Wakefield's Drury Lane Library as artists' spaces
Plans for inclusive arts organisation The Art House to develop Drury Lane Library as a vibrant artist-hub in the centre of Wakefield, West Yorkshire, is one step closer to being realised with investment from Arts Council England.
News: Six Deaf Explorers embark on journeys to support arts development and cultural exchange
The Deaf Cultural Centre, based in Birmingham, West Midlands, are inviting arts organisations, promoters and venues to collaborate with Deaf practitioners
News: The Basement presents Sick! a Festival of Contemporary Performance
A new festival starts in Brighton this weekend. John O'Donoghue looks into the background of Sick! and highlights some of the must-see events happening from 1 - 16 March.
News: Pallant House Gallery's innovative project, Outside In, wins prestigious Charity Award
Pallant House Gallery is delighted to announce that Outside In, its pioneering project aimed at those facing barriers to the art world, has won the Charity Awards 2013, the highest profile event in the charity calendar.
News: Yinka Shonibare announced as patron and selection panel judge for the Shape Open 2013
Shape are delighted to announce the appointment of Yinka Shonibare, one of the UK's leading contemporary visual artists, as patron to the Shape Open.
News: Jos Boys to publish 'Doing Disability Differently' - a new book on Disability and Architecture
Jos Boys invites DAO readers to suggest buildings they like for a book aimed at architects, exploring how they can be more engaged and creative around disability in their design work; so that accessibility and inclusive design become integral to their design thinking and doing, rather than as just an afterthought at the end of the architectural process.
News: 900 Years of Light: Multimedia performance at Exeter Cathedral
Exeter Cathedral will be the setting for a multimedia response to the building's 900 year history and the contributions that craftspeople have made during that time. 900 Years of Light is the culmination of Cathedra 900, an Arts Council England funded project by visual and multimedia artist Mark Ware. For the last 18 months, Mark has been exploring the Cathedral and interpreting its art and architecture through photography, abstract photomontages, 3D artwork and sound.
News: CoolTan Arts shortlisted for Guardian Charity Awards from 1300 entrants
The Guardian released its 2013 shortlist for this years Charity Awards and from 1300 original entrants, CoolTan Arts have made the final stage alongside thirty other charities.
News: Yinka Shonibare MBE announces winning artists for Shape Open 2013
Yinka Shonibare, Patron to Shape, a disability-led arts organisation, announced the winner and runner up to their annual Shape Open exhibition 2013 as Eric Fong, and Katherine Araniello respectively, for their impactful moving image submissions.
News: Touch Art Fair pioneers a new approach to presenting visual arts
The Touch Art Fair is the first ever tactile art fair in the UK. On exhibition at 35 Marylebone High Street, London W1 from 17 - 20 October the fair is organised by pioneering french artist Scratch Adelia. Jake and Dinos Chapman have created a gigantic new piece of work especially for the event amongst fifteen other international artists working in the haptic arts.
News: Shape announce winner of Adam Reynolds Bursary 2013
The winner of the 2013 Adam Reynolds Memorial Bursary is artist, photographer, sculptor and film maker Aaron McPeake.
News: Yinka Shonibare helps Disabled Artists get into Shape this Christmas
Internationally renowned artist Yinka Shonibare MBE (RA) and patron for Shape the disability-led arts organisation, is helping to raise vital funds to open doors for disabled artists this Christmas.
News: From sea to sky: Artist Sue Austin takes wheelchair to dizzy new heights
A new documentary has launched charting multimedia, performance and installation artist Sue Austin's journey to create her upcoming artwork, Creating the Spectacle!: Flying Free.
News: DaDaFest International 2014: Art of the Lived Experiment exhibition announced
Conceived by DaDaFest, curated by Aaron Williamson and delivered in partnership with the Bluecoat, Liverpool. The exhibition runs from 8 November 2014 to 11 January 2015 as part of DaDaFest International 2014.
News: Adam Reynolds Memorial Bursary 2014 Shortlist Announced
Shape is delighted to announce the four artists shortlisted for the Adam Reynolds Memorial Bursary.
News: Adam Reynolds Memorial Bursary 2014 at the V&A - Winner Announced
The winner of the 2014 Adam Reynolds Memorial Bursary, which will be hosted by the Victoria and Albert Museum with support from The Helen Hamlyn Centre of Design at the Royal College of Arts, is multidisciplinary artist Carmen Papalia.
News: Together! 2014 Disability History Month Festival
Following a busy summer Together! are delighted to announce the programme for the Together! 2014 Disability History Month Festival. Highlights include the festival launch and private view of the Open Exhibition; Krip Hop Nation's workshop and performance; The Hands Project on International Day of Disabled People; the Together! Disability Film Festival and the launch of a poetry anthology and end-of-festival party.
News: Jon Adams wins award for Democracy Street
Digital public art project to create unique maps of the UK as part of Parliament's 2015 Historic Anniversaries programme.
News: Artists Commissions Announced to commemorate historic anniversaries in 2015
Parliament in the Making is a year-long programme of UK-wide events and activities which will commemorate significant historic anniversaries that underpinned the establishment of Parliamentary democracy and the legal system in the UK and around the world.
News: Unlimited opens the second round of submissions
Unlimited, the initiative which supports disabled artists to create and present exceptional work across the artforms, announces the opening of the second round of submissions for commission funds. Disabled artists and companies who are creating new disability-led work are invited to apply.
News: FACT in Liverpool support exciting upcoming project Madlove by artist James Leadbitter
FACT (Foundation for Art and Creative Technology) has been successful in an application for £29,870 of funding from the Wellcome Trust. The money will allow FACT to realise an exciting participatory installation called Madlove by artist James Leadbitter as part of next spring's Group Therapy exhibition.
News: flip announce launch of support for nine Disabled Artists in Scotland
A new initiative to support the next generation of disabled artists in Scotland is being launched by flip - disability equality in the arts - and other National Arts organisations offering 9 opportunities for disabled artists across Scotland to develop their artistic practice or career through an individualised programme of mentoring and support.
News: Kent-Based Deaf Visual Artist Cycling to Paris to support Shape
Deaf artist Christopher Sacre is to tackle a 300 mile London to Paris bike ride, raising money for the disability-led arts charity Shape Arts to support disabled people's access to the Arts
News: Tanya Raabe-Webber takes up residence at Project Ability
Acclaimed artist Tanya Raabe-Webber has been awarded a Grants for The Arts, supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England, to be an artist in residence with visual arts organisation Project Ability, Glasgow as part of their International Summit for learning disability artists and their supported studios, 23 Feb - 25 March 2015.
News: Unlimited Launches New Commissioning Round with Nine Highly Ambitious and Diverse New Works
UNLIMITED today announced nine new commissions spanning a wide range of disciplines by some of the most talented and ambitious disabled artists from all over the UK.
News: Unlimited 2015 - Round Two Commission Launch
Tom Wentworth attended the launch event for the second round of commissions for Unlimited, at Chapter Arts Centre in Cardiff on 26th March.
News: Internationally acclaimed artist Sue Austin launches "Immersed in 360"
Following over 150 million views of her signature underwater wheelchair performance and powerful TED talk, internationally acclaimed artist Sue Austin curates new work, inviting you to become 'Immersed in 360' at the innovative Salisbury Arts Centre this Spring.
News: The Shape Arts Adam Reynolds Memorial Bursary (ARMB) 2015
The Shape Arts Adam Reynolds Memorial Bursary (ARMB), set up in memory of sculptor Adam Reynolds to support mid-career disabled artists, is open for submissions until 27 July. This year's successful recipient will be awarded £5,000 and a three-month residency at The New Art Gallery Walsall in January 2016.
News: Disabled artists take centre stage at this year's Edinburgh Festival Fringe
This year's Edinburgh Festival Fringe sees the first Unlimited exhibition, showing work by exceptional disabled artists at Summerhall's Meadow Galleries from 5 August to 5 October.
News: Artist Shortlist Announced for the eighth Shape Adam Reynolds Memorial Bursary
Shape and The New Art Gallery Walsall are delighted to announce the four artists shortlisted for the Adam Reynolds Memorial Bursary.
News: The 'wavelength project' investigates the brain's responses to sound and light
The wavelength project is an ongoing exploration into the effects of artificial and natural sound and light on the brain with wide implications across arts and science. Produced and led by artist Mark Ware in partnership with the Sackler Centre for Consciousness Science and Kent Wildlife Trust the ongoing project aims to deliver a number of Arts Council England supported artistic outcomes.
News: Disability Arts Cymru celebrates poetry competition winners with launch of an e-book
Last year Disability Arts Cymru (DAC) launched its first Annual Poetry Competition. Each of the poems was written in response to a piece of artwork from DAC's Annual Touring Exhibition 2015. The winning poems are accompanied by the artworks that inspired them in an e-book, which is now being made freely available to the public.
News: Kate Murdoch announced as Shape Open 2016 winner
Shape Open patron Yinka Shonibare MBE announced artist Kate Murdoch as the Open's fourth winner for her sculpture entitled, 'Bad Head Day'.
News: HOUSE and Outside In present Thompson Hall exhibition at Regency Town House
HOUSE and Outside In have announced Home Away From Home, a newly commissioned set of paintings by artist Thompson Hall, to be shown at the Regency Town House. The exhibition, part of HOUSE – Brighton's visual arts festival – will be open from 30 April -29 May 2016.
Inner Worlds Outside
Colin Hambrook went to the Whitechapel Gallery in London to see the latest exposure of Outsider Art.
Tommy McHugh: The Universe Explodes
Danny Start reviews a Liverpool artist whose creativity came to the fore after having a stroke
Christine Finn: Leave Home Stay
Colin Hambrook talks about the impact of Christine Finn's installation 'Leave-Home-Stay'
Yinka Shonibare: Adam Reynolds bursary
Colin Hambrook and Joe McConnell respond to a talk by Yinka Shonibare at the Shape's launch of the Adam Reynolds bursary
The Disabled Avant-Garde Today!
DAO reveiws Aaron Williamson and Katherine Araniello's latest exhibition
Yinka Shonibare: Turner Prize (2004)
Deborah Williams reviews the work of Turner Prize (2004) nominee Yinka Shonibare.
Henri Matisse: Drawing with Scissors. Late Works 1950-1954
Colin Hambrook reviews a touring exhibition by one of the most important French painters of the 20th century
Caroline Cardus: The Way Ahead
Natalie Andrews from Dada-South writes about the touring exhibition Way Ahead.
On The Next Level: Space Between
Tony Heaton reviews this wide-ranging, exploratory exhibition, which has been touring the south-west.
Xposure 2004: London Festival of Deaf and Disability Arts
The third Xposure Arts Festival, which ran from 1 to 27 November 2004, is one of the largest festivals of disabled artists and performers in the UK.
Art and Power: transformARTive
Kate Cotton talks to art + power about their programme for supporting artists' professional development On the eve of their tenth anniversary art + power showed their latest exhibition, transformARTive at the Grant Bradley Gallery, in their hometown of
Ju Gosling: Abnormal
Joe McConnell reviews Ju Gosling's recent exhibition culminating from her residency with the National Institute of Medical Research
In Touch with Art: Conference on Art, Museums and Visual Impairment
Liz Porter attends an International Conference on Art, Museums and Visual Impairment held November 2007 at the V&A, London
The Studio Project: Intoart
Tim Hayton investigates a project based in South London set up to support artists who have no access to mainstream art education
Paralympic Handover day
Liz Porter relived some memories at the Paralympic Handover event at Stoke Mandeville on 17 September 2008
Graham Lewis
Some lively new work is on show as part of the St Ives September Festival
Review: Simon Mckeown's digital artwork 'Motion Disabled'
Colin Hambrook went up to Wolverhampton Art Gallery to see a new exhibition by Simon Mckeown
Review: 'Outside In' at Pallant House by Colin Hambrook
Colin Hambrook revels in a show that puts outsider art centre stage in the delightful setting of Pallant House in Chichester. More than 500 artists sent over 800 works in to the show, with 150 selected for display. As the show opened, six prize winners were announced from the displayed entries.
Review: Jon Adams - the Goose on the Hill
Colin Hambrook caught up with the opening of the 'goose' and offers his impressions of Jon Adams retrospective on show at Pallant House Gallery from 13 October – 22 November 2009
Review: Miroslaw Balka's How It Is at Tate Modern - how it was for one visually impaired art lover
Miroslaw Balka's installation at Tate Modern came with a certain amount of hype and, as I am registered blind, I was curious how I would experience it. I do have some useful vision, but absolutely zero night vision, so this was going to be interesting...
Review: DaDaFest 2009 - Kevin Connolly's Rolling Exhibition at Open Eye Gallery
Susan Bennett braves the weather to search for a major show - The Rolling Exhibition - by Kevin Connolly at Open Eye Gallery, part of DaDaFest 2009 in Liverpool
Review: 100 Artists for World Aids Day, Sussex Beacon, Brighton
100 Artists took part in an exhibition to raise money for the Sussex Beacon, at Concorde 2, Brighton on Saturday 29 November 2009. One of the artists, Bonny Cummins, gives a personal response to an emotional day.
Review: Billy Childish - Unknowable but Certain at the ICA, London
The Institute of Contemporary Arts exhibits Billy Childish's first major retrospective of work in London, bringing together a cross-section of works from the artists career as a musician, artist, novelist, film maker and poet. Colin Hambrook reviews the show by this talented, infamous artist.
Review: Contemporary Art from Iraq at Cornerhouse, Manchester
Harry Matthews reviews Contemporary Art Iraq – the first comprehensive UK exhibition of work by Iraqi artists since the first Gulf War. Now on show at Cornerhouse until 20 June 2010
Review: DaDaFest International 2010
DaDaFest – the UK's leading and biggest deaf and disability arts festival celebrates its tenth year in 2010. In celebration, disabled and non disabled artists from all over the world will perform and exhibit at DaDaFest International 2010, a two week extravaganza of artistic wonder which showcases and celebrates the best in disability and deaf arts.
Review: The House of Vernacular
Wendy McGowan discovers some new meanings behind our interpretation of everyday photographs in 'The House of Vernacular' - on show at Fabrica Gallery, Brighton until 28 November 2010.
Review: Access All Areas
Hosted by the Live Art Development Agency, Access All Areas was a two-day public programme, a showcase and inquiry into the work of disabled artists whose medium is Live Art, where the artist's most important piece of kit is their own body. Debbe Caulfield investigates.
Review: Bruce Davies exhibition: WASTE/LAND/PROCESS
Colin Hambrook meets Land Artist Bruce Davies in the middle of a residency that involves using waste from the heathland at Holton Lee - on show at Faith House until 8 April.
Review: The Great Wall of Vagina by Jamie McCartney
Sue Kent reviews The Great Wall of Vagina - a series of panels using moulds taken directly from the body to produce sculpture - on show from 6 - 31 May 2011 at Jamie McCartney Sculpture Studios, 7 Ship Street Gardens, Brighton, as part of the Brighton Fringe Festival.
Review: 'Labyrinth of Living Exhibits'
Simon Raven gives his impressions of 'Labyrinth of Living Exhibits' - a performance event curated by Aaron Williamson at the Hunterian Museum, London, presented by Shape and Arts Catalyst.
Review: Outside In Launch
Outside In is now open for submissions. Liz Porter went along to the launch event at Pallant House Gallery in Chichester to soak up the excitement.
Review: Nick Blinko's 'Visions of Pope Adrian 37th'
Colin Hambrook got a magnifying glass out to see Nick Blinko's fantastical 'Visions of Pope Adrian 37th' on show at Pallant House Gallery, Chichester until 14 August 2011.
Review: Longcare Survivors: Biography of a Care Scandal
Debbe Caulfield reviews John Pring's investigative study of abuse of disabled people in residential care: 'Longcare Survivors: Biography of a Care Scandal.' Published by the Disability News Service.
Review: Diary Drawings: Mental Illness and Me by Bobby Baker
John O'Donoghue reviews Bobby Baker's award-winning book of 158 diary drawings, which give a record of the artist's dealings with mental health services, coping with breast cancer, and her struggle to get the treatment she felt she needed.
Review: Bobby Baker - Mad Gyms and Kitchens
Joe McConnell reviews Bobby Baker's new touring performance piece
Review: Alf Wiltshire
John O'Donoghue reviews the work of Outsider Artist Alf Wiltshire and discovers a gentle humour in the poems, text art and paintings of a prolific artist.
Review: The View From Here
Trish Wheatley reviews an exhibition featuring works by Martin Bruch, Juan delGado, Aidan Moesby and an intervention by DAO blogger Gini, currently on show at Salisbury Arts Centre, as part of the Re-Imagining Exhibitions programme.
Review: William Blake Largactyl Shuffle
CoolTan Arts' Largactyl Shuffle group staged an enjoyable and successful walk, exploring the life and work of William Blake, in a unique guided cultural tour starting at Tate Modern, ending at Bunhill Cemetery.
Review: 'Defying Definitions: disability arts in the mainstream'
Alan McLean attends a thought-provoking symposium produced by DaSH, at the end of a series of 'Outside In' commissions. Held at the Arena Theatre Wolverhampton, on 2 December, the day explored Dash's support of work at New Art Gallery Walsall, Oriel Davies Newtown and Wolverhampton Art Gallery.
Review: Edward Burra Retrospective at Pallant House Gallery
The first major exhibition for 25 years of the highly individual work of the popular British artist Edward Burra (1905–1976) is on show at Pallant House Gallery, Chichester until 19th February 2012. Colin Hambrook reviews the life and works of this exceptional watercolourist who documented significant moments in the second half of the 20th century.
Infinitas Gracias: Mexican Miracle Paintings
Infinitas Gracias: Mexican miracle paintings is on show at the Wellcome Collection, London until 26 February 2012. DAO New Voices writer Obi Chiejina explores the mystery behind this exhibition of votive paintings.
Review: Signs for Sounds: Contemporary Letterforming and Calligraphy
'Signs for Sounds' explores the contemporary practice of letter-forming from traditional calligraphy to the use of digital technologies and performance art. Obi Chiejina saw the Harley Gallery Touring Exhibition curated by Jeremy Theophilus, at the Bilston Craft Gallery, Wolverhampton.
Review: Death: Southbank Centre's Festival For the Living
In the foyer of the Southbank Centre, a small group of toddlers were gathered around a cardboard coffin, decorating it with glitter and flowers. This was 'Death: a festival for the living,' which took place between 27-30 January. Nicole Fordham Hodges speaks the unspeakable.
Review: A Bigger Picture: David Hockney at the Royal Academy
A Bigger Picture at the Royal Academy showcases David Hockney's landscape work. Included are oil paintings, photo-collages, charcoal drawings, watercolours, prints and film. With over 150 works displayed, spanning Hockney's career of over fifty years, it is as much a celebration as an exhibition and, as such, it exudes generosity and abundance. Debbie Caulfield was profoundly affected.
Review: Lucian Freud Portraits
The most ambitious exhibition of the work of Lucian Freud for ten years is now showing at the National Portrait Gallery until 27 May 2012. It is the first to focus on his portraits. Nicole Fordham Hodges went along, and took a friend.
Review: Launching Rockets Never Gets Old
'Launching Rockets Never Gets Old' looks at the artistic accidents generated by Raphael Hefti by interfering in industrial glass processes. Obi Chiejina assesses the impact of these accidents upon the artist and gallery visitor. The exhibition runs until the 18th March 2012 at Camden Arts Centre, London.
Review: Spare Tyre launch Picture Me as part of an International Women's Day celebration
Outside the New Diorama Theatre, a huge electronic woman is projected onto a high commercial building. She sways as if on a catwalk, endlessly walking on. Inside, Spare Tyre is celebrating International Women's Day, with a series of performances focussed on violence against women. Reviewed by Nicole Fordham Hodges
Review: Picasso and Modern British Art
Deborah Caulfield recently spent two glorious hours at Tate Britain's Picasso & British Modern Art exhibition. She urges you to go, even if your passion for Modern Art is barely lukewarm.
Review: Ceramic Impressions/ British Dental Association
The ceramic artist Judy DiBase extracted dental exhibits from the British Dental Museum to produce a series of quirky ceramic 'memories' for the temporary exhibition 'Ceramic Impressions'. Obi Chiejina explores the use of these extracted dental exhibits and their ceramic responses as forms of human communication, artistic expression and interpretation for the museum visitor. The exhibition runs at the BDA Museum until 24 May.
Review: SELECT EDIT: PUBLIC PRIVATE
Windows with a Difference presented a day of artists' talks at The New Art Gallery Walsall, on 29 February 2012. Tamar Whyte's personal and moving interpretation of this event on the theme of Art and Health, demonstrates the perspective of artists, and the enrichment of talking about our diversity.
Review: Ardent Hare present First Impressions - a Go Public commission
Deborah Caulfield just about found her way to New Bucks University, High Wycombe on 16 March 2012, for Zoe Partington's 'First Impressions' - a film installation about accessing the urban environment, from a blind person's perspective
Review: Cooltan Arts: Women of Dickens exhibition
'Women of Dickens', an exhibition of art, poetry and textiles, was launched on March 14th at CoolTan Arts, with a series of workshops and a poetry reading. Nicole Fordham-Hodges went along, and discovered a secret code.
Review: Shape Open
The award ceremony for the Shape Open exhibition at Portobello Gallery, last night, was a crowded affair. Colin Hambrook went along to soak up Shape's outing into a mainstream gallery space in West London.
Preview: One Morning In May - Noëmi Lakmaier
If you are in the City of London today (28 May), you will get a chance to see Disability Art in action as Noëmi Lakmaier makes her way from Toynbee Studios heading towards the City of London and one of London's most iconic buildings, The Gherkin... on her hands and knees.
Review: Hayward Gallery presents Invisible – Art of the Unseen 1957-2012
The first UK Exhibition of artworks to explore the invisible, the hidden and the unknown is at the Hayward Gallery, Southbank Centre until 5 August. Nicole Fordham Hodges went to look for the unseeable
Review: Yoko Ono 'To The Light'
Richard Downes catches up with Cut Piece, from a major exhibition of Yoko Ono's work at the Serpentine Gallery, London until 9 September.
Review: Niet Normaal: Difference on Display
Adapted from a landmark Dutch exhibition, Niet Normaal (a popular phrase literally translated as 'not normal', but also meaning 'cool') features work in a variety of media. DAO is gathering a range of responses to the major DaDaFest exhibition on display at the Bluecoat Gallery, Liverpool from now until the 2 September.
Review: Simon McKeown's 'Motion Disabled: Unlimited'
Motion Disabled Unlimited - the award winning exhibition and installation by Simon Mckeown - got a public outing at the torch relay celebrations, in South Park, Oxford on 9 July. Deborah Caulfield ponders the meaning of Disability Art writ large and loud at such a mainstream event.
Review: Edvard Munch: The Modern Eye at Tate Modern
Tate Modern are showing a retrospective of the later works of reknowned Norwegian painter Edvard Munch until 14 October. Deborah Caulfield reviews the exhibition, which contains works from a period in the artists life when he became visually impaired.
Review: Mark Ware's 'Cathedra 900' at Exeter Cathedral
Kate Cotton experienced the preview of Cathedra 900: a 3D banner exhibition by Mark Ware, in the nave of Exeter Cathedral until 31 August
Review: Superhuman at the Wellcome Trust
Superhuman at the Wellcome Trust gallery in London, looks at the history of humanity's desire to be more than human. But John O'Donoghue came away uneasy about the whole idea.
Review: Unlimited: Maurice Orr's 'The Screaming Silence of the Wind'
Maurice Orr's paintings are designed to be touched. His innovative use of dried fish skins as media, and the unusual access he gives to his paintings, makes this exhibition - on show in the Festival Village at the Southbank Centre until 9 September - a memorable experience. Nicole Fordham Hodges saw and touched these respectfully wild landscapes
Review: Unlimited: The Garden
Amardeep Sohi reviews Graeae and Strange Fruit's Unlimited offering at the Unlimited Festival on the Terrace at the Southbank Centre.
Review: SOMEDAY ALL THE ADULTS WILL DIE: Punk Graphics 1971- 1984 at the Hayward Gallery, Southbank Centre
The Hayward Gallery's latest exhibition provides a comprehensive overview of punk graphic design, surveying imagery produced before, during and after the punk years. Richard Downes goes in search of links with Disability Arts
Review: Unlimited Global Alchemy: Rachel Gadsden and the Bambanini
Rachel Gadsden's commission 'Unlimited Global Alchemy' was part of the Southbank Centre's Unlimited festival. Nicole Fordham Hodges was moved by the paintings' dance of 'fragility and hope'.
Review: Free: Art by Offenders, Secure Patients and Detainees
Curated by Sarah Lucas 'Free' marks the 50th anniversary of the Koestler Trust. It is showing at the Southbank Centre until 25 November. Nicole Fordham Hodges experienced this intense, wide-ranging exhibition.
Review: Karamel Gallery presents I Am An Artist
Karamel Gallery in North London, plays host to an art exhibition produced with a group of people with learning difficulties. The students from Area 51 further education college were engaged in painting portraits of their favourite competitors. Richard Downes happened along and sent in the following review.
Review: Outside In: National 2012
The biggest visual arts treat of the year so far, has arrived in the form of Outside In: National which opened today at Pallant House Gallery in Chichester, West Sussex. Colin Hambrook extols the exhibitions virtues as a beacon for creativity.
Preview: Lets Make History Together 2012
Richard Downes looks forward to a free festival timed to coincide with UK Disability History Month
Review: Abigail McLellan (1969 – 2009): A Retrospective at Rebecca Hossack Gallery
Abigail McLellan was an acclaimed artist when she was diagnosed with MS in 1999. She continued to produce and refine her intense, vibrant art for the last ten years of her life, often using ingenious techniques to outwit the effects of her illness. She died aged 40. Nicole Fordham Hodges went to the Rebecca Hossack Gallery to see the retrospective of her work on show until 1 December.
Review: The World Press Photo Awards 2012 at the Royal Festival Hall
The World Press Photo Exhibition returns to Southbank Centre, bringing together award-winning photographs from around the world which capture the most powerful, moving and sometimes disturbing images of the year. Richard Downes trips through the horrors to find glimmers of hope
Review: Together 2012 Festival Launched
Richard Downes attends the launch on 21 November of 'Together 2012', Newham's friendly Disability Arts Festival at The Hub, Star Lane, E16 4PZ
Review: Liz Crow presents 'Bedding In' as part of The Spill Festival
Rosa Postlethwaite discusses Liz Crow's thought-provoking 'Bedding In', a live art performance, which took place at Ipswich Art School Gallery from 1-3 November, as part of the SPILL Festival
Review: Shape present The Adam Reynolds Bursary Shortlist Five and the First Four
Richard Downes critiques the Adam Reynolds Memorial Bursary Shortlist 5 + The First 4 - on exhibition at Swiss Cottage Library until 6 January 2013
Review: CoolTan Arts: 'The Winter Edition'
'The Winter Edition', the second in a series of exhibitions exploring the life, work and heritage of Charles Dickens, is showing at Southwark Cathedral until 14 January 2013. Nicole Fordham Hodges was at the private viewing, which illuminated a dark December night.
Review: Shape present 'Perceptions Of Balance'
Nine artists, brought together as part of Shape's Creative Steps programme, use varied media to illustrate and express their encounters with how they may or may not experience equilibrium. The exhibition is on show at Lauderdale House until 3rd February 2013. Review by Richard Downes
Review: DASH and Live Art Development Agency present M21: From the Medieval to the 21st Century
On 24 January, Toynbee Studios in East London saw the launch of a joint Dash, Live Art Development Agency publication: 'M21: from the Medieval to the 21st Century'. Several disabled artists commissioned through the Unlimited programme were there to talk about their experience. Richard Downes reports.
Review: Light Show at the Hayward Gallery, Southbank Centre
Light Show brings together sculptures and installations from 22 artists who use light to sculpt and shape space. Richard Downes is disturbed and illuminated by this exhibition of immersive environments, free-standing light sculptures and projections on show at the Hayward Gallery, London until 28 April 2013.
Review: Unlimited: an evening of film in the Southbank Centre
'Total Permission' follows conductor Charles Hazlewood, founder of the British Paraorchestra, as he encounters the artistry within 12 of the Unlimited commissions. Nina Muehlemann went to the launch of the film at the Southbank Centre on 6 February
Review: SICK! Festival presents Under Observation
SICK! Festival of Contemporary Performance Art produced by contemporary performance organisation, the Basement plays in Brighton from 1- 16 March. Colin Hambrook went along to an afternoon of durational performance and film entitled Under Observation
Review: SICK! Festival presents Jochem Stavenuiter's Eleonora
SICK! Festival of Contemporary Performance Art produced by contemporary performance organisation the Basement plays in Brighton from 1- 16 March. John O'Donoghue saw Jochem Stavenuiter's tale of what happened when his mother Eleonora had a stroke
Review: Shape In The City's Pop-Up GalleryJohn O'Donoghue went along to Shape In The City's Pop-Up Gallery at 40 Gracechurch Street, London. This is what he found.
Review: Arts & Disability Ireland and Fire Station Artists' Studios 'Pathways to Practice' symposiumSinead O'Donnell reviews 'Pathways to Practice' - a one day symposium exploring and celebrating visual artists' practice and development through the Arts & Disability Ireland and Fire Station Artists' Studios 'Studio Award for an Artist with a Disability'
Review: The Portrait Anatomised at the National Portrait GalleryInspired by neuro-scientific imagery, Susan Aldworth's experimental printmaking explores the relationship between our physical brain and our sense of self. Her portraits of three people with epilepsy are now showing at the National Portrait Gallery until 1 September. Nicole Fordham-Hodges went to see this haunting, thought-provoking exhibition.
Review: SICK! Festival presents the vacuum cleaner's acclaimed show MentalSICK! Festival of Contemporary Performance Art produced by contemporary performance organisation the Basement, played in Brighton from 1- 16 March. John O'Donoghue went to see the vacuum cleaner's show Mental, which documents 10 years of being an outlaw, inpatient and artist activist.
Review: Side by Side Exhibition at the Southbank CentreThe Rocket Artists, in partnership with the University of Brighton, present Side by Side - an international exhibition showcasing learning disability, art and collaboration. **Nicole Fordham Hodges** reviews the exhibition, on show in the Spirit Level, Southbank Centre, London until 5 April
Review: PhotoVoice's launch 'Able Voices: Participatory photography as a tool for for inclusion'
Richard Downes attends PhotoVoice's launch of 'Able Voices: Participatory photography as a tool for for inclusion'. His prejudice shatters like glass
Review: COnscription by Caglar Kimyoncu
COnscription explores the call-up to military service for people who don't 'fit the mould'. The four-channel film is on show at the Old Truman Brewery, London until 18 May. Joe McConnell reviews a multimedia installation which follows the stories of four individuals who meet at a military hospital - three subjects under assessment and their doctor.
Review: Souzou: Outsider Art from Japan at the Wellcome Collection, London
The first major display of Japanese Outsider Art in the UK is showing at the Wellcome Collection until 30 June. The 46 artists represented are residents and day attendees in social welfare institutions across Japan. Nicole Fordham Hodges went to see and experience the power which is 'Souzou'.
Review: Alternative Guide to the Universe at the Hayward Gallery, London
Alternative Guide to the Universe explores the work of self-taught artists and architects, fringe physicists and visionary inventors. Richard Downes lends a critical eye to the exhibition on show at the Hayward Gallery, London, until 26 August
Review: Short Circuit: When Disability And Digital Collide
Disabled people aren't strangers to technology. From hearing aids to wheelchairs we've been drawing on human inventiveness to give us not just access but options. John O'Donoghue went along to look how digital technology is changing the face of disability art.
Review: The Art of Bounce: Disability Arts Festival in Belfast
The Bounce Festival took place during September 2013, over three, dynamic days. Rosaleen McDonagh was there, assessing the development of Disability Arts in Northern Ireland.
Overview: Common Pulse: Intersecting Abilities
Ju Gosling reports on Common Pulse a bi-annual festival and symposium curated by Durham Art Gallery in rural Ontario, focusing on 'important current developments that are taking place in the Canadian art and culture scene'. The theme for 2013's festival was Intersecting Abilities.
Review: The Shape Open 2013: Disability Re-assessed
Shape's annual visual arts competitive exhibition invites disabled and non-disabled artists to submit work on a disability theme. Tim Hayton reviews this years' exhibition on show at The Nunnery Gallery in London E3 until 20 October 2013.
Review: BBC Imagine: Turning the Art World Inside Out
The latest in Alan Yentob's 'Imagine' series on BBC One attempted to examine how we define 'Outsider Art' asking "Why in 2013 is Outsider Art finally being feted by the art establishment, and what took it so long?" Michelle Kopczyk gives a critical analysis of how the programme failed to provide answers.
Review: Together 2013
Dao posts reports by Richard Downes and Stephen Portlock on performing arts and visual arts at the month-long Together! Festival held in the London Borough of Newham from 22 November - 19 December
Extraordinary Change: Engage International Conference 2013
Engage are an advocacy and support organisation for gallery education. Liz Porter attended their international conference in Birmingham on 7-8 November, which explored the challenges that education in galleries and the visual arts face in a period of uncertainty.
Review: Creative Minds South East one-day conference
It's a bold question to pose, especially at a time when funding cuts conspire to put all creative organisations on the defensive: how do we perceive, discuss and measure quality in work by artists with learning disabilities? Bella Todd reports on the performing arts aspect of the Creative Minds conference, held on 10th March at Brighton Dome - and asks some pertinent questions to stimulate further debate.
Review: Hayward Gallery host Martin Creed's 'What's the point of it?'
Winner of the 2001 Turner Prize, Creed uses a wide range of artistic media and including music, his art changes everyday materials and actions into surprising reflections on life. Jessie Woodward sent in the following review of access within the exhibition, which is on show until 5 May.
Review: Katherine Araniello & Jenna Finch: Screw the Taboo
Deborah Caulfield catches the latest Live Art collaboration by Katherine Araniello and Jenna Finch.
Review: From There to Here: The hidden history of People with Learning Difficulties at Liverpool Museum
Visiting a provocative exhibition on at the Museum of Liverpool until 13 July, Jade French explores the unseen history of people with learning difficulties and asks: why aren't we doing more in our galleries to make ideas accessible? Article reproduced with kind permission of The Double Negative.
Review: Shape Gallery: Shortlist 6
Shape have just launched Shortlist 6: an exhibition of work marking the 6 years of the Adam Reynolds Memorial Bursary awards. Colin Hambrook visited Shape's pop-up gallery in Westfield Shopping Centre, Stratford to see the work of the most recent bursary-winner, Aaron McPeake alongside that of three of the shortlisted artists.
Review: DaDaFest: Working Lives: Here & There
Working Lives: Here & There is the latest exhibition by DadaFest, a disability and deaf arts organisation based in Liverpool, aiming to explore disability and employment, not just locally in Liverpool, but worldwide, through photographs and supporting narratives of disabled people in their workplaces. Review by Jade French
Review: Shape Artist's Network talk by Aaron McPeake on receiving the Adam Reynolds Memorial Bursary
Adam Reynolds Bursary winner Aaron McPeake gave a talk at the Shape Gallery in Westfield on his Spike Island residency on 3 July, as part of the launch of Shape's Artist Network; a new, quarterly event for emerging and mid-career artists to get together, develop new collaborations and share ideas for professional development. Colin Hambrook reflects on the artists' practice.
Review: Unlimited 2014 Katherine Araniello, The Dinner Party Revisited
Sophie Partridge caught the anarchic chaos that was Katherine Araniello's Unlimited live art performance in the Purcell Room at the Southbank Centre
Review: Unlimited 2014 Opening event: Does It Matter? World War I Shorts
Like the excellent opening of Glastonbury 2014 Festival's Sunday programme with the English National Ballet performing Akram Khan's World War I themed 'Dust', Unlimited Festival got into full swing with five disabled artists' responses to the centenary of The Great War. Review by Trish Wheatley
Review: Unlimited 2014: Lea Cummings: 'Cosmic fields of endless possibilities'
Nina Muehlemann allows herself to fall under the colourful spell of Lea Cummings' 'Cosmic fields of endless possibilities'. The Royal Festival Hall's Spirit Level foyer features magical looking paintings that were produced in a 'meditative state'.
Review: Unlimited 2014: Bekki Perriman: The Doorways Project
Bekki Perriman's installation 'The Doorways Project' explores homelessness through spoken word and photography. Nina Muehlemann reflects on the quiet and cautiously assembled work in the Royal Festival Hall, that is part of this Unlimited research and development award.
Review: Shape Open 2014: Too Wonderful to be [in]Visible
This year's Shape Open exhibition questions how we perceive disability, using painting, audio, textile, and even a mask made of meat to look beyond that which is visible. Currently in its third year, Shape Open is an annual call-out for both disabled and non-disabled artists to submit work of any medium in response to a disability-focused theme - this year, '[in]visible'. Mik Scarlet wheeled his way through the vast Westfield shopping complex to the exhibition.
Review: DaDaFest International 2014: Art of the Lived Experiment
DaDaFest is certainly making its presence known, says Jade French reviewing the ambitious visual arts exhibition taking place in the Bluecoat, Liverpool.
Review: DaDaFest International 2014: The Life and Impact of Edward Rushton
Unsung - Liverpool's Most Radical Son is an exhibition at the Museum of Liverpool celebrating the bicentennial of the life of Edward Rushton (1756 – 1814). DaDaFest marked the beginning of Disability History Month with a day of talks in the museum about the life and impact of the City's most implacable anti-slavery abolitionist, human rights activist and pioneer for disability rights. Review by Cate Jacobs
Review: DaDaFest International 2014: Unsung Hero: Liverpool's Most Radical Son
Edward Rushton, poet, activist and scouser has been forgotten and left in the margins of our history... until now. As part of this years' festival, DaDaFest have partnered with The International Slavery Museum, The Museum of Liverpool and the Victoria Gallery and Museum to celebrate the life of this fascinating figure through a series of displays featuring at each site. Review by Jade French
Review: DaDaFest International 2014: Ship of Fools
Colin Hambrook responds to 'Ship of Fools', the vacuum cleaner's self-initiated Anti-Section action, residency and mental creative space documented as a video diary on show in 'Art of the Lived Experiment' at the core of DaDaFest 2014
Review: DaDaFest International 2014: Art of Living the Experiment
Art of the Living the Experiment was a show of four very different performances, which had connecting themes and strands that produced an interesting and diverse whole. Review by Cate Jacobs
Review: DaDaFest International Congress: Disability Culture and Human Rights
The DaDaFest Congress explored arts as a tool for social change, providing examples of creativity and artistic excellence from countries and cultures across the world. Review by Deborah Caulfield
Review: InTouch at the RA: an audio described tour of the 'Giovanni Battista Moroni' exhibition
Stephen Portlock relays his experience of an audio described tour of the 'Giovanni Battista Moroni' exhibition, at the Royal Academy, London - one in a programme of ongoing accessible events at the gallery, designed to draw an audience of disabled visitors and disabled artists.
Review: DaDaFest International 2014: Rachel Gadsden Al Noor: Fragile Vision
Fragility, survival and hope are the driving themes behind Al Noor~Fragile Vision, a thought-provoking exhibition produced by Rachel Gadsden in collaboration with artists from the Middle East as part of DaDaFest 2014 at the Bluecoat, Liverpool. Review by Jade French
Review: James Leadbitter: 'Madlove'
It's a Wednesday night at Liverpool's FACT and Jade French is sat in its cadbury purple cinema space for a talk titled 'Madlove'. This new and innovative project asks, if we could design our own asylum – then what would it look like?
Review: Tate Britain Audio-Described Tour: Femme Fatale
The Tate Britain run an ongoing series of free BSL-interpreted and Audio-described tours of work in their collections. Dao sent Stephen Portlock to review an audio-described talk on Monday 19th January by Auntie Maureen, exploring artworks in the collection in terms of the archetype of the 'Femme Fatale'.
Review: Lea Cummings: Infinite Psychic Love Explosion
Glasgow-based artist and musician Lea Cummings' first solo exhibition is bright, vibrant, but somewhat vacuous – which may well be the point, says Paul F Cockburn.
Review: The Ugly Girl: A Musical Tragedy in Burlesque by Terry Galloway
This no-holds barred musical examines what it means to be the typical Ugly Girl adrift in a comically hostile universe through slapstick, music and dark humour. Starring Julie McNamara and Liz Carr, The Ugly Girl is reviewed by Roger Cliffe-Thompson as 'a classic of it's genre'.
Review: Group Therapy: Mental Distress in a Digital Age at FACT, Liverpool
Originating from FACT's extensive work within mental health and wellbeing, Group Therapy explores the complex relationship between technology, society, and mental health. Jade French responds to the brilliant lens the exhibition holds up to some of the darker aspects of living with mental health issues.
Review: Shape: Shortlist 7 Exhibition
Shape's Shortlist 7 exhibition shows work by the 2014 Adam Reynolds Memorial Bursary winner Carmen Papalia, currently in residency at the Victoria & Albert Museum, plus the other shortlisted artists: Laila Cassim, Omeima Mudawi-Rowlings and Peter Matthews. Review by Colin Hambrook
Review: Q S Lam: Schizophrenics Can Be Good Mothers Too
Published by Muswell Hill Press, 'Schizophrenics Can Be Good Mothers Too' takes the reader on the artist Q S Lam's journey through the labyrinthine passages of psychosis describing her strategies and struggles to recover from the impact of the illness on everyday life, drawing on her personal experience, using art, not medication, to keep well. Review by Colin Hambrook
Review: Daily Life Ltd: Expert View Symposium... let them eat cake
Led by Dr. Bobby Baker and the team at Daily Life Ltd, The Expert View Symposium promised to be an entertaining, inspiring and fun day of discussion, debate and performance, relevant to anyone with an interest in understanding the relationship between the Arts and Mental Health. Colin Hambrook was there, amongst other things, for the butterscotch cake.
Review: All is calm, all is chaos, in Mark Wood's world
Mark Wood, who died tragically in 2013 at the age of 44, was a prolific creative who worked in photography, painting, cartoon, poetry, short story and music composition. Deborah Caulfield reviews 'Spirit of Nature' an exhibition of his work on show at Oxford Town Hall until 22 July.
Review: DoesLiverpool: DesktopProsthetics workshop and exhibition at FACT
DoESLiverpool are developing an iteration of the Enabling the Future project within the 'Build Your Own: Tools For Sharing' Exhibition at FACT in Liverpool until 31 August 2015 with the Crafts Council and in association with Norfolk Museums Service and Norwich Hackspace. Review by Susan Bennett
Review: Edinburgh Festival: Unlimited Exhibition... Summerhall
Unlimited's first exhibition at Summerhall is a series of ambitious mixed media installations by the UK's leading disabled artists. Review by Colin Hambrook
Review: Edinburgh Festival: Audio-description at the Unlimited Exhibition... Summerhall
Unlimited's first exhibition at Summerhall is a series of ambitious mixed media installations by the UK's leading disabled artists. Chloe Phillips reviews the audio description available with the exhibits at Summerhall: on show until 5 October
Review: FACT, Liverpool: Lesions in the Landscape
'Lesions in the Landscape' asks 'How does our individual and collective memories influence our understanding of society?' Susan Bennett reports on an exciting art/ science collaboration on show at FACT, Liverpool, which parallels the effects of amnesia on one woman and the evacuation of the inhabitants of St Kilda in the North Atlantic in 1930.
Review: Together! Not So Private View: Colin Hambrook and Bruchinaarts
Simon Jenner reviews the opening of a Together! exhibition in Canning Town on 22 October - a welcoming place and a fine bright gallery space, currently exhibiting Colin Hambrook and Bruchina's artwork until 15 November at The Hub
Review: Picture Taking: Exploring Myself Through Photography
Hackney Museum plays host to Picture Taking: Exploring Myself Through Photography, an exhibition featuring the work of pupils from a local SEN school. Reviewer, Richard Downes finds the show raises difficult questions about representation.
Review: Shape Gallery: Ilham Exhibition
Ilham (inspiration) was originally exhibited at the Museum of Islamic Art, Doha, Qatar, as part of the Definitely Able conference that explored issues of disability and equal access to arts and culture in the Middle East. A sample of work by the four UK based artists from that show is on exhibition at Shape Gallery in Stratford until 30th November. Review by Colin Hambrook
Review: #SummitPortrayed: Tanya Raabe-Webber
Tanya Raabe-Webber's new exhibition at Glasgow's Project Ability is so much more than just some sketches of the participants at a recent conference, as Paul F Cockburn discovers.
Review: Mental Spaghetti: The Mind Machine
Mental Spaghetti is an Outsider Art organisation whose name fits the aesthetic of their exhibition The Mind Machine, which took place at the Menier Gallery, London from the 18th – 23rd January. Review by Colin Hambrook.
Review: Attenborough Arts Centre official launch: Lucy + Jorge Orta
The Attenborough Arts Centre's new gallery space officially opened on 29th January 2016 with an exhibition by Lucy + Jorge Orta. Liz Porter attended the launch and the exhibition, assessing both from a visually impaired perspective.
Review: Reframing the Myth: Graeae and Central Illustration Agency
Celebrating 35 years of Graeae Theatre, prominent figures from its history were paired with artists and illustrators from the Central Illustration Agency to create 40 new artworks. Kate Lovell visited the exhibition at the Guardian's offices in London, wishing that it had shouted louder and been bolder.
Review: Shape Open 2016
This year Shape present their fourth Open Exhibition with what promises to be the largest attendance yet, undoubtedly helped by the fact it is held in Yinka Shonibare's Guest Projects studio, just off the thriving gallery scene of Vyner Street in Hackney. Review by Colin Hambrook.
Review: Daily Life Ltd and Bobby Baker 'Letting in the Light'
An intimate, glowing haven of wild colour and intricate detail illuminates Stratford High Street, London with a series of large light boxes featuring images of paintings, drawings, digital and mixed media work. – Kate Lovell visits 'Letting in the Light'
Review: Thompson Hall: 'Home Away from Home'
Thompson Hall was commissioned by Outside In and HOUSE to produce a new solo exhibition, Home Away from Home for the HOUSE Festival in Brighton. The exhibition runs from 30 April – 29 May at the Regency Town House. Review by Colin Hambrook.
Lara Varga
Gallery of work from printmaker, Illustrator and Book Artist Lara Varga.
National Disability Arts Collection and Archive
An introduction to the National Disability Arts Collection and Archive at Holton Lee
Andrew Roberts
DAO presents a small gallery of some of painter, Andrew Roberts' work.
Gallery: Tony Heaton
Tony Heaton is a practising sculptor and leading figure within the Disability Arts movement. On these pages you will find a selection of some of his key works.
Phil Lancaster
Phil Lancaster's compelling, computer generated images express artistsic ideas as an intriguing and clever form of expression.
Tommy McHugh
Gallery of work from a Liverpool artist whose creativity came to the fore after having a stroke.
Chris Hammond Gallery
Chris Hammond is a gifted graphic artist and designer as evidenced by her work for Full Circle Arts - look at its leaflets and website for examples. Her inspirations are eclectic, ranging from the late Ian Stanton, to Rothko's work at Tate Modern.
Benedict Phillips: Invisible Apartheid of Words
Benedict Phillips' UK and US residencies
Nancy Willis: Early Days Gallery
A painter, printmaker and sculptor, Nancy Willis is an exceptional artist who has been exhibiting at mainstream and Disability Arts events since the mid 1970's.
James Aldridge: Inside-Out
James Aldridge explores his relationship to disability and impairment
John Exell
Sculptural and visual arts pieces from John Exell in conjunction with Centrepieces - a Mental health system user-led art group in Crayford, Kent
Art + Power
Gallery of work from Art + Power, a learning disability group based in Bristol.
Sue Williams: Urban Regeneration
Paintings by Sue Williams
Rachel Gadsden: Beyond the Asylum
Beyond the Asylum: A collection of paintings by Rachel Gadsden which formed the basis for the accompanying narrative.
Colin Hambrook: Dreams of the Absurd
Making paintings and prints about his experience of visions, hallucinations and dreams, brought Colin Hambrook into contact with emerging Disability Arts.
Mark Ware: The Dog that Barked like a Bird
These gallery pages contain stills from a video composition 'The Dog that Barked like a Bird' - originally based around a diary record the artist kept following a stroke in 1996. The film is part of a multi-media project, which also includes an exhibition and a play.
Crippen Cartoons
Disabled cartoonist Dave Lupton has a unique cutting edge 'disability vision', and is constantly working to bring his cartoons to a wider audience.
Pauline Alexander: The Many Faces of Discrimination
In collaboration with disabled sound and media artists Jon Adams and Caglar Kimyoncu, Pauline Alexander produced The Art of Discrimination. Here are some stills from that video installation.
Gallery: Tales From The Boarders
A series of works from the installations created for 'Tales from the Boarders' by artists Anne Teahan and Damien Robinson.
Gallery: Caroline Cardus' artwork from the Driving Inspiration project
Vicky-Hope Walker from Creative Bucks introduces a gallery of Caroline Cardus' work
Gallery: Jon Adams presents The Goose on the Hill
Jon Adams presents a gallery of images of artworks on exhibition at Pallant House Gallery from 13 October – 22 November 2009
Gallery: David Feingold
David Feingold is a visual designer turned social worker, turned doctoral student in disability studies at National-Louis University, Chicago. He has found a way to turn pain into pictures and anguish into art - Disability Art, that is - in the form of digital visual assemblages.
Gallery: urban wastelands, desolate places by Kit Wells
By exploring our urban wastelands and desolate places in his paintings, Kit Wells points up human frailty and helplessness in a landscape created for man's ease of living, but resulting in an inner-city hell.
Gallery: Harry Matthews' visionary artworks
Visual artist and writer Harry Matthews shares some of his images, with a description of the vision behind his paintings and drawings.
Gallery: Aidan Moesby
Aidan Moesby is a text artist who utilises a variety of media, technologies and approaches in order to realise the artwork.
Gallery: Maureen Oliver
Maureen Oliver's paintings echo another dimension of reality. The narratives within her artwork engage the viewer with a need to find out more about the human drama described in her paintings.
Gallery: Altered Images
Altered Images - an innovative exhibition, designed to stimulate engagement with the visual arts by people with disabilities, opens to the public at the Irish Museum of Modern Art from 17 June 2010 to 15 August 2010
Gallery: Nancy Willis presents Transformation
Animated art by Nancy Willis, based on 'The Explorer' by Allan Sutherland, with music by Chris Morris.
Gallery: BlindArt
BlindArt is a charitable organisation whose aim is to encourage participation and interaction of the visually impaired in the sighted domain of the visual arts. DAO presents a gallery of some of the artwork in the BlindArt collection
Gallery: Charles Devus
Charles Devus is an artist, writer, performer and musician. This gallery displays examples from his forthcoming graphic novel Justin Sane - the travails of an aesthetic detective and his alien son, Cedric.
Gallery: Vince Laws - HM The Queen Never... plaques
Vince Laws has been busy with a series of blue plaques commemorating things HM The Queen Never Did... He posts a selection on DAO
Crippen presents the Criptarts
Crippen's latest cartoon strip takes DAO readers on an unpredictable journey with a host of disabled characters, featuring some surprising guest appearances from well known members of the disability arts community. Watch the characters develop as they grapple with many of the issues that confront us all as disabled artists, and support each other as members of the DAO extended family.
Gallery: Liz Crow: Bedding In, Bedding Out - a live durational performance
Liz Crow presents her new work 'Bedding In, Bedding Out' which is one of the eight Diverse Perspectives commissions funded by Arts Council's Grants for the Arts. Drawing on audio recordings and time lapse photography of the performance, Reflections from the Bed introduces the work, its backdrop and its politics.
Gallery: Sarah HirstSarah Hirst is currently in her 3rd and final year on a fine art degree. The theme of her work is about exploring the masks we wear in everyday life. Her gallery of Dream Watercolours represents work that came out of a project making work about experience of hallucinations.
Gallery: Dolly Sen: Portugal Prints working with the Royal Academy of Arts
As part of DAO's Diverse Perspectives programme, funded by Arts Council England, film-maker Dolly Sen was commissioned to produce a short documentary exploring the relationship Portugal Prints has with the Royal Academy of Arts access programme. 'Greenhouse of Hearts' highlights the inspired, dynamic work that this small project is delivering.
Gallery: Aidan Moesby: Hang on it'll be okay - an artistic response to The West Yorkshire Playhouse
As part of DAO's Diverse Perspectives programme, funded by Arts Council England, artist Aidan Moesby was commissioned to make work for exhibition at The West Yorkshire Playhouse in response to a series of dialogues and conversations with the theatre staff. 'Hang on, it'll be okay' responds to a period of organisational change within the organisation. His lighthouses, exhibited in June 2013 are a metaphor for the purpose of the arts as a beacon, there to guide and to create safe passage.
Gallery: David Beaumont
Currently based at artspace in Coventry, David Beaumont creates installation-based sculpture; video and photography. This gallery shows a selection of his work, featured at the MA show at Coventry University in 2013.
Gallery: Sanchita Islam: Schizophrenics Can Be Good Mothers Too
Rich Mix is hosting an exhibition of recent works by Sanchita Islam from 4 - 27 June. The artist explains some of the ideas behind the exhibition in a moving and intimate series of reflections on a selection of the artworks.
Gallery: Emma Stephenson
Emma Stephenson is a London based artist/illustrator working mainly on reportage projects and themes. Her latest project is about her perspective on the world from her wheelchair.
Tim Jeeves: A portrait of a young man as the (disabled) artist
Tim Jeeves questions the label disability artist in the light of his current work.
Pauline Alexander: the Many Faces of Discrimination
Pauline Alexander tells Colin Hambrook her story of turning direct experience of employment discrimination into Art
North West Disability Arts Forum: TransARTDAO contacted North West Disability Arts Forum NWDAF to find out about an innovative project aiming to open up debate about identity, access and inclusion within contemporary art
Making History with a SalonMelissa Mostyn states the case for a Deaf Arts Salon.
InterAction Milton Keynes: Ways of Seeingdao presents a podcast covering the Ways of Seeing Conference which took place in Milton Keynes in September 2007
Ju Gosling: Towards a Scientific Model of DisabilityJu Gosling talks about her residency at the National Institute of Medical Research
Maria Kuipers
Colin Hambrook reviews the work of an artist whose work embraces a therapeutic approach.
Disability Arts Moments
DAO asks what are your favourite pieces of work (in any art form) by disabled artists? What do you feel should be preserved for future generations?
Holton Lee Disability Arts Open ExhibitionColin Hambrook reflects on the first open exhibition to embrace Disability Arts and asks how we push the debate for quality to a further level
On The Next Level: Labels Seminar
In response to a workshop, as a part of Art Shape's 'Space Between' touring exhibition, Zoe Partington confronts the issue of labels. Who uses them? Who chooses them?
Alan Scott: in memoriamAlan Scott was a photographer, printmaker, writer and raconteur with a love of philosophy and a wealth of understanding and knowledge. Sadly, Alan died on Thursday 16 October, aged 57 years. Here DAO reproduces a selection of words and images to create
Disability Art and Science: Resonant Frequency
Resonant Frequency was a partnership between ITHACA, Science Oxford (the Oxford Trust) and Disability Arts Online (DAO) which sought to explore the issues around disability arts and science.
Discussion: Art of Difference Festival and Symposium 2009
Colin Hambrook, editor of DAO, attended the Art of Difference Disability and Deaf Arts Festival at the Gasworks, Melbourne from 10-21 March 2009. He also went along to the Momentum09 one-day conference in Auckland on 27 February 2009. Here he compares the differences between the development of Disability Arts in the UK in comparison to developments in the Antipodes.
Mark Ware: Mind Games
Mark Ware has created a play, a film and an exhibition that's influenced by his life after a stroke at the age of 39. Colin Hambrook talked to him about his creative journey.
Interview: Gus Cummins talks about his new work Ictal
Gus Cummins is creating a variety of visual arts and media, inspired by his experience of epilepsy. The work ranges from painting to video and digital installations. Colin Hambrook asked Gus a few questions in preparation for seeing the work at DadaFest
Phil Lancaster
Colin Hambrook talked to Phil Lancaster about his compelling, computer generated images and his view on Disability Art in general.
Shape Open
Trish Wheatley interviews Ben Fredericks, Shape's Programme Officer about the up-and-coming Shape Open - a visual arts competition, that asks disabled and non-disabled artists to respond to 'disability'
Opinion: Celf o Gwmpas from mid-Wales meet Kettuki from Finland
Mid-Wales arts organisation Celf o Gwmpas recently took four disabled artists to meet with Kettuki in Hämeenlinna, Finland, as part of a mentoring programme. Chris Tally Evans discusses some broader issues about empowerment that came out of the trip.
Interview: John O'Donoghue talks to Tony Heaton, Shape CEO
John O'Donoghue talks to Tony Heaton, Shape CEO about art, his involvement in Shape, and his views on Unlimited, the recent series of commissions given to disabled artists as part of the Cultural Olympiad.
Interview: Ruth Gould on DaDaFest's 'Outrageous Ambitions'
Susan Bennett talks to Ruth Gould Chief Executive Officer of DaDaFest about the history of the Disability Arts organisation and its plans for survival in times of recession
Interview: Jo Verrent talks in-depth about her involvement with the 2012 'Unlimited' commissions shown as part of the Cultural Olympiad
Following our series of interviews on the legacy of the Unlimited programme of work by disabled artists, which travelled the length and breadth of the UK in 2012, Nina Muehlemann talks to Jo Verrent about her involvement as well as her hopes, fears and expectations for Unlimited
Interview: Luke Pell talks in-depth about his involvement with the 2012 'Unlimited' commissions shown as part of the Cultural Olympiad
Following our series of interviews on the legacy of the Unlimited programme of work by disabled artists, which travelled the length and breadth of the UK in 2012, Nina Muehlemann talks to Luke Pell about his expectations for the commissions and the festival. She asks him about the next steps in his career after working with Candoco?
Interview: Sue Austin talks about the impact 'Unlimited' has had on her life since her showcase of Creating the Spectacle
Following our series of interviews on the legacy of the showcase of Unlimited commissions by disabled artists at the Southbank Centre as part of London 2012, Nina Muehlemann talks to Sue Austin about her expectations of being a part of Unlimited. What has she achieved with Creating the Spectacle? What are the artists' future plans?
Juan delGado: Fluctuation in Time
Juan delGado tells Joe McConnell about an exciting ongoing project which started in Palestine 3 years ago.
Interview: Tony Heaton discusses Shape's Animate artists' talks
Animate will explore the rich history of Disability Arts, through a programme of talks and workshops. Colin Hambrook talked to Tony Heaton, sculptor and Chief Executive of Shape, about the background to these events to be staged in London.
Interview: Colin Hambrook talks to Anne Teahan about 'Knitting Time'
Knitting Time is an illustrated poetry collection and visual arts exhibition by Colin Hambrook, which reflects on themes of loss and 'psychosis'. Anne Teahan talked to him about the work and found out how his mother used to knit universes…
Profile: Driving Inspiration: teams up disabled artists and Paralympians with disabled and non-disabled young people
Driving Inspiration – originally set up in partnership with Creative Bucks to take Paralympians and disabled artists into schools in Buckinghamshire – has been ongoing since 2009. Kristina Veasey talks about her involvement with the project.
Interview: Wendy Martin talks about her plans for programming Unlimited 2014 at the Southbank Centre
Unlimited, led by Shape and ArtsAdmin, returns this September for another festival showcase at London's Southbank Centre. Bella Todd talks to Wendy Martin, Head of Performance and Dance about her expectations for presenting the work of Deaf and disabled artists at the largest arts venue in Europe
Interview: Unlimited 2014: The Flickering Darkness (Revisited) by Juan delGado
Spanish artist Juan delGado and creator of The Flickering Darkness (Revisited) met the film's editor Colombian filmmaker Juan Soto in a dimly lit room at the Geffrye Museum in East London. A conversation about how the artistic processes were led by their intentions in the making of the film, was transcribed and edited here by Manuel Angel Macia
Interview: Unlimited 2014: Katherine Araniello hosts The Dinner Party Revisited
Sophie Partridge interviews Katherine Araniello about her Unlimited 2014 commission: The Dinner Party. It was just another Wednesday in the life of a Crip Arts Activist; chatty Chihuahuas, parents expected later... they got down to business!
Interview: Unlimited 2014: Sue Austin talks about 'Creating the Spectacle'
Since the first Unlimited Festival, the life and work of artist Sue Austin has undergone huge transformations. Nina Muehlemann talked with the artist to discuss the success of 'Creating the Spectacle!'
Opinion: Unlimited 2014: Katherine Araniello hosts The Dinner Party Revisited
Katherine Araniello first presented The Dinner Party in 2011. A development of that work, The Dinner Party Revisited, has been commissioned for 2014's Unlimited Festival - a commission that confirms Katherine as one of the most significant Live Artists in the UK. So what does it mean to be a 'Live Artist'? Lois Keidan, Director of the Live Art Development Agency (LADA) explains.
Interview: Unlimited 2014: Aidan Moesby and Pum Dunbar: Fragmenting The Code(x)
Fragmenting The Code(x) is a collaboration between two artists, part of a raft of a Unlimited Research and Development Project. John O'Donoghue talks to Aidan Moesby about the analysis of language at the basis of this site-specific work
Interview: Unlimited's Senior Producer Jo Verrent introduces the commissions programme
On the eve of the Unlimited Festival 2014 at London's Southbank Centre, Jo Verrent talks to Bella Todd about the commissions programme and delivers some exciting partnership news set to ensure the festival's legacy reverberates throughout the UK… and beyond.
DaDaFest International 2014: Art of the Lived Experiment, curated by Aaron Williamson
Conceived by DaDaFest and delivered in partnership with the Bluecoat, Liverpool, 'Art of the Lived Experiment' runs from 8 November 2014 to 11 January 2015 as part of DaDaFest International 2014. Colin Hambrook interviewed curator Aaron Williamson about the exhibition which contains the work of 28 artists from the UK and abroad, and includes sculpture, film, installation, painting, prints and performance works.
Opinion: Now+Then: 3 Decades of HIV in Merseyside: a participant's perspective
Now+Then is a documentary film that uncovers Merseyside's journey with HIV from the 1980s to the present day through people's own stories. Created specifically for the Sahir House exhibition, showing at the Museum of Liverpool Life until 8 February 2015 the film is the culmination of two years work archiving the history of HIV on Merseyside. One of the participants, Cate Jacobs writes about her experience of working with Danny Kilbride, creative director of Thinking Film
Interview: Tony Heaton on the next tranche of Unlimited applications
Colin Hambrook talks to Tony Heaton, CEO of Shape who are lead partners with Artsadmin for the Unlimited programme, with a focus on the kinds of work that Unlimited might attract in the second round of applications, with a deadline set for 2 February 2015.
Opinion: DaDaFest International 2014: The Big Debate
A highlight of the DaDaFest Congress was the Big Debate. Trish Wheatley responds to the question of recognising how much influence non-disabled people should have in working within the Disability Arts sector
Interview: Gary Thomas: on being an artist
Gary Thomas is a writer, director and artist with 11 short films and 4 screenplays to his name. He's been blogging on Dao on and off since 2010. His film installation 'The Dog & The Palace' won an Inspire Mark from the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. He shares his successes and aspirations with Dao
Interview: Liz Crow on Figures
Artist/activist Liz Crow talks to Trish Wheatley about her current project Figures, the mass-sculptural performance that makes visible the human cost of austerity and urges action against it.
Interview: Richard Butchins talks about his Unlimited R&D piece: '213 Things About Me'
Award winning documentary maker and disabled writer Richard Butchins' first video work '213 Things About Me' is due to be exhibited in Edinburgh as part of an Unlimited showcase by leading disabled artists at Summerhall. Colin Hambrook talked to him about the making of the work.
Interview: flip Artists: The View From Here
A recent exhibition in Edinburgh's Gayfield Creative Spaces presented work by nine disabled artists who have recently completed a nine-month programme of mentoring and support from several high profile arts organisations in Scotland. Paul F Cockburn spoke with Robert Softly Gale, director of flip: Disability Equality in the Arts, who coordinated the programme.
Interview: Words, Pictures, Food and Laundry – a portrait of an artist who refuses categorisation
In the first of our series of peer-to-peer artists' interviews as part of DAO's Viewfinder project, Anne Teahan spoke to Deborah Caulfield, discovering an artist, writer and disability activist who confounds all the usual definitions.
Interview: A clear sense of direction – Elinor Rowlands
"When we feel inadequate, it's because we're not being heard" – Elinor Rowlands talks to Kate Lovell about 'coming out' as a disabled artist in the latest of DAO's Viewfinder peer-to-peer interviews.
Interview: Esther Fox: where art, genetic survival and science intersect
Artist Esther Fox explores genetic screening, disability and the ethical discussions surrounding her right to exist, in Pandora's Box, her forthcoming sculptural installation in the Science Museum's 'Who Am I?' gallery. She spoke to Anne Teahan about the work.
West Midlands Disability Arts Forum: Common SenseCommon Sense is a pioneering series of events, organised by West Midlands Disability Arts Forum (WMDAF)
The National Disability Arts CollectionThe National Disability Arts Collection & Archive: The Story So Far… (November 2005)
Research: Anne Teahan - 'Sharing Cultures'
Sharing Cultures is a project researching disability arts by artist Anne Teahan inspired by Revealing Culture an international festival of disability art and culture at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington DC in summer 2010. Here Anne reflects on the show and what disability has got to do with art.
Research: Anne Teahan - Sharing Cultures: Disability and Visibility
Sharing Cultures is a project researching disability arts by artist Anne Teahan inspired by Revealing Culture an international festival of disability art and culture at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington DC in summer 2010. Here Anne shares her extensive research on a selection of artists whose work was chosen for exhibition.
Gallery: Peter Street: Memories of the Disability Action Network
The Disability Action Network carried out many protests against the lack of accessible transport (amongst other things) during the latter half of the 1990's. Peter Street recalls some of the action and shares some of his dramatic photographs.
Aaron Williamson: Tales of Life Models in the Walker Art Gallery's 'High Victorian Art' Room 8
Commissioned by DaDaFest 2012 as part of 'Niet Normaal: Difference on Display' in association with Liverpool Biennial, Aaron Williamson has created a tour into researching the personal histories of the life models who posed for some of the Victorian painters whose work is on display in the Walker Gallery, Liverpool.
Research: Art, Disability and Community Integration - a report by Matthew Edmonds
With an award from the Winston Churchill Memorial Fellowship, writer, Matthew Edmonds undertook research, looking at the importance of integration and the need for accessible artistic forums. He posts his report on Dao.
Rachel Gadsden: Beyond the Asylum narrative
Within her artistic practice Rachel Gadsden has been exploring derelict Asylums seeking to examine the traces of life within their fabric despite the neglect and decay. This narrative by Tim Hayton is based on her collection of paintings, 'Beyond the Asylum'.
Disabled artists explore scientific ideasAs part of this blog, Colin Hambrook is building an overview of artists and art projects that have set out to explore different aspects of an engagement between disability arts and science.
Proud - by Allan Sutherland from the words of Jennifer Taylor
In the sequence of transcription poems 'Proud' we learn how Jennifer Taylor survived rejection - as a person with a learning disability - to go on to live independently.
This Hearing Thing - by Allan Sutherland from the words of Wendy Bryant
'This Hearing Thing' tells Wendy Bryant's story, through a sequence of transcription poems, of what it was like to grow up with a hearing impairment, from her early school years onwards.
Dan Dare Braces - by Allan Sutherland from the words of Peter Moore
Peter Moore tells his story of surviving abuse through the following sequence of transcription poems
Seeing in close up: exploring the work of photorealist painter Chuck Close
Chuck Close is a leading figure in the photorealism movement, creating huge portraits of himself, his friends and his family. He became a wheelchair user in the late 1980's, radically developing his artistic techniques alongside, but as Jo Verrent explores, his connection to disability started much earlier than that…
Part of the Course: on the work of Bobby Baker
Bobby Baker has always explored the intricacies and complexities of our daily lives, but when she made public 158 of her 711 daily watercolours in a breathtaking exhibition at the Wellcome Collecition, 'Diary Drawings: Mental Illness and Me' (1997-2008) she spoke more personally and publicly than ever before. The book of the exhibition won the Mind Book of the Year, 2011, chosen from more than 100 entries as the year's greatest literary contribution to increasing understanding of mental health issues. Sarah Pickthall explores her unique artistic approach.
Gallery: Grace Eyre Foundation
Grace Eyre offer a wide range of visual art sessions for people with learning difficulties in Brighton & Hove. Sessions aim to build on existing talents and offer opportunities to pursue new avenues of artistic exploration. DAOs gallery contains a selection of work by Grace Eyre artists
Creative Minds: 'What as a practitioner are you going to do now?'
The Creative Minds event held in Brighton on Monday 10th March was full to capacity with a good mix of delegates from different roles and organisations. The work was impressive presenting visual art, performance and films that were full of life. Creative Minds was well organised with plenty of activity and scope for discussion and sharing of practice and thought. The speakers were engaging, their presentations witty, and their messages strong. To add to the debate Kristina Veasey asks 'What as a practitioner are you going to do now?'