As part of the new ‘We Shall Not Be Removed’ Disability Arts Alliance, we have been calling for disabled people in the arts not to be left behind in emergency responses to Covid-19. Having taken part in a day of social action to celebrate disabled artists earlier this month, here’s some of what we’ve shared and what we’ve learned.
The first stage of the public campaign was an open letter, signed by DaDaFest and over 150 other disabled artists and cultural leaders. Demands included that:
“Disabled artists, employees and audiences must be prioritised and celebrated in both cultural policy and delivery […] The renewal and recovery of the wider cultural industries must be guided by a fully inclusive approach informed by disabled creative professionals to strengthen the accessibility of the sector and implement the learning from this crisis about home working and online access."
You can read it in full here, where Easy Read, BSL and Audio versions are also available: https://graeae.org/wsnbr/
A further video was released featuring stories from disabled artists within the movement. Contributors included Nadia Nadarajah, John Kelly and Jamie Beddard, as well as UK Government Disability Champion, Andrew Miller, whose message was “We need to resist the ableism that will undoubtedly emerge to drive national reconstruction”
When it came the day of social media action on 17 June, the aim was to celebrate the excellence of disabled artists, accompanied by the demands “We Shall Not Be Removed” and “End Ableism”. We had lots of our own previously showcased artists to celebrate, and enjoyed discovering plenty more on social media throughout the day.
Afterwards, it was great to see the movement gaining coverage in the wider media. Andrew Miller, GRAEAE’s Jenny Sealey and musician, John Kelly, were later interviewed by The Guardian about the campaign, with Kelly adding: “We want to demonstrate solidarity and support for disabled people who are facing a very challenging future because of the pandemic, by sharing the rich tapestry of our artworks to raise our voice, of our talent and our resilience”.
Though there have been positive responses from the media and some political figures so far, We Shall Not Be Removed's mission is far from over. At DaDaFest we're looking forward to continuing to collaborate with our wonderful community to make sure disabled people's contributions and experiences within the arts sector are rightfully acknowledged.
Are you a disabled artist, a disabled-led arts organisation or otherwise committed to disability equality in the arts? You can sign up to join the alliance and Slack forum yourself, find out how here: https://www.weshallnotberemoved.com/join-us/