A day for d/Deaf, disabled, and neurodivergent artists to explore new ideas, create new work concepts, meet new people, and lead creative change.

In partnership with Undercover Artist Festival and Metro Arts, Brisbane Festival will present a gentle and joyful daylong event for artists working from their homes, studios, workshop spaces, community centres or professional employment and diverse arts companies. We want to bring everyone together – from those who make money from your creative practice/s to those who make art to express your lived experience.

Everyone is welcome! Disabled, d/Deaf, neurodivergent, or lived experience of mental ill-health – all artists of all backgrounds in our community are invited to join.

The day will look something like this:

Please register for each of the session/s you wish to attend, as detailed below.

Part 1: A creative workshop facilitated by Lenine Bourke |  10:00am – 12:00pm

• Free Registration Required

We know that many disabled, d/Deaf, and neurodivergent artists create work that is deeply influenced by their experiences, perspectives, and ways of navigating the world. Also, other artists just work with the world and ideas around them or imagined. In this session, Lenine Bourke will encourage us to connect and explore the kind of art we want to make and how we want to share it – from a local gallery, or venue, to a festival or even the Paralympics Cultural Program in the future.

Networking lunch | 12:00pm -1:00pm

Part 2: Meeting people in leadership roles in the arts sector | 1:00pm – 2:00pm

• Free Registration Required

This will be a chance to meet arts leaders keen to meet you, find out about your work and ideas, and learn what is needed to fully embrace d/Deaf and disabled artists in the arts sector.

The title for this day, “Access by Design”, also speaks to how access informs what we make and how we make it. We want for each of you to share your vision of the arts experiences you want to bring to audiences, asking questions about new ways of presenting work, inclusive practices, and your vision for the diversity in audiences and engagements in arts and culture.

Break | 2:00pm – 2:30pm

Part 3: Disability Awareness in the Arts | 2:30pm – 4:00pm

• Ticketed $90.00 + booking fee. Registration Required

A training and skills development session for allies and the extended arts sector, facilitated by Undercover Artist Festival’s Maddie Little.

This workshop will include everything from disability awareness introductory topics (the social model of disability, language, etiquette) to in-depth discussion of cultural safety and agency for disabled and d/Deaf creatives. The training will also unpack the role of an Artist Support – a person who supports an artist with disability – in respecting creative agency, and knowing when to Step In and Step Out.