Harry Josephine Giles and Sasha Saben Callaghan have conceived of a collaborative project that asks disabled artists to write a manifesto for what the arts in Scotland could and should be like for them in the post pandemic era.
Before COVID-19, disabled artists were already routinely excluded from visual arts and galleries, were already often failed by the arts and cultural sector. No one has to tell us the reasons why – poverty, prejudice, stairs, forms, noisy parties, austerity, tickboxes – we all know. Same old, same old. Normal was already no use to us, and we were never normal.
Now, at a time when all of our adjustments are suddenly reasonable, the world is experiencing just a fraction of our normal, and everyone else is suddenly interested in isolation, vulnerability and distance communication, we want to hand that provocation over to you. Because we're not going back to normal. The world is changing, so let's remake it with our ideas. If we want an artistic revolution, this is our chance.
To build the manifesto, which will be produced both online and in print, artists are being asked to consider questions such as ‘What would art be like if it was always centred on disabled people?’, ‘How is art in Scotland set up to exclude disabled people?’ and ‘Can art ever include disabled people in a society that excludes us’?
Submissions will be paid and are invited from artists based in Scotland, at any level of experience who identify as Disabled, D/deaf, chronically ill, neurodiverse, crip, mad, sick, spoonie or otherwise. To find out more about the manifesto and how to submit a contribution before the deadline of 30 June, visit the Not Going Back to Normal website here.
This project is produced by Collective and was commissioned and is supported by a group of Scottish arts organisations: Arika, Artlink, CCA, Collective, DCA, Glasgow School of Art Exhibitions, Project Ability and the Scottish Sculpture Workshop.
Episode 10: A Means Without End took place at the Tramway, Glasgow from Wednesday 20th to Sunday 24th November 2019 and was five days of performances, discussions, screenings and study sessions about how the art and thought of collectivist desires, the complex flow of contemporary maths and the counterintuitive realities of particle physics help us grow the capacity to be one another’s means without end. We're working on the documentation from these events and hope to be able to share this with you soon.
In the summer of 2019 Arika supported two people from the Scottish Ballroom scene to attend the House Lives Matter convening conference and events at New York City Black Pride including The Heritage Ball. We then supported Vogue Scotland's Grace Jones X Nick Cave Ball.
Arika also were invited to attend a Creators Exchange on the Land on Arran in July 2019 as part of the Indigenous Contemporary Scene events at the Edinburgh Fringe and took part in a follow-up event about Land Acknowledgments and Cutural Protocols.
The I wanna be with you everywhere festival that took place at Performance Space New York and the Whitney Museum of American Art in April 2019 was a great success. We're working on the video, audio and photo documentation from the events so that we can share the events with you soon.
We also have ongoing work with sex worker, migrant and anti-poverty groups in Glasgow. You can get a wee insight into the kind of things we've been up to recently here.
