Writings
About Disability Arts In The North East Past and Present
About Disability Arts In The North East Past and Present
The photograph above is of Lindsay Carter who had organised a friendly gathering outside the Lit and Phil in Newcastle. She gave out copies of a poem, cakes and daffodils to people drawing attention to the fact that she couldn't gain entry as a wheelchair user, due to the steps at the front entrance.
"The space has the spirit of the people
who fill it"
Lindsay Carter
Mimosa Festival Poem, 2006
We are delighted to share some writings, reflections and recollections from disabled artists based in the North East. Please do be aware that, as you would expect, these writings are wide ranging and include experiences positive and negative.
All images have alt text descriptions.
"The space has the spirit of the people
who fill it"
Lindsay Carter
Mimosa Festival Poem, 2006
We are delighted to share some writings, reflections and recollections from disabled artists based in the North East. Please do be aware that, as you would expect, these writings are wide ranging and include experiences positive and negative.
All images have alt text descriptions.
gobscure
provoked 2 madness by the brutality ov wealth picturesbybish
gobscure is provoked 2 madness by the brutality ov wealth
Audio version of this article press below
end ov the nineties we were working across the north-east in community arts. we didnt wear a tie, were poorly paid but we made things happen. self-taught, coming from disability, bisexuality, homelessness & more, our creativity wznt valued tho we were allowed to help others in gaining voice. power-plays from within as much as without made it clear we were to offer ourselves as 'community ally' & not discuss our disabilities for e.g. this would allow status quos to continue & individuals rather than collectives to keep hold ov narrow territories.
were hit by a car chased by the police & without help / support ('services', arts, legal etc) couldnt continue working. life happens. gatekeepers in services then work hard to keep yu out, retraumatising. arts largely copy the same power-structure as 'services' (an average artistic director is close to psychiatrist or ward-manager, think about it), try asking them for a voice they then re-retraumatise. lanyard-spreaders ov these worlds unite. restart in west yorkshire having to also contend with librarians (?is a shudder ov librarians their collective noun). held at gunpoint outside our towerblock, without help / support we become homeless (again), sectioned (again), end in a homeless hostel a long way away trying to return to be housed in the north-east & also be heard creatively.
were hit by a car chased by the police & without help / support ('services', arts, legal etc) couldnt continue working. life happens. gatekeepers in services then work hard to keep yu out, retraumatising. arts largely copy the same power-structure as 'services' (an average artistic director is close to psychiatrist or ward-manager, think about it), try asking them for a voice they then re-retraumatise. lanyard-spreaders ov these worlds unite. restart in west yorkshire having to also contend with librarians (?is a shudder ov librarians their collective noun). held at gunpoint outside our towerblock, without help / support we become homeless (again), sectioned (again), end in a homeless hostel a long way away trying to return to be housed in the north-east & also be heard creatively.
housing contains the word sing provoked21 picturesbybish
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austeritycrutch provoked21 picturesbybish
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we were fortunate to meet cardboard citizens (homeless / ex-homeless theatre) & Augusto Boal & learn about 'spect-actors' & 'cop-in-the-head', how our brain boils down the essence ov theatre ov the oppressed - a technique ov reframing narratives, regaining voice, rewriting futures. we made it back to the north-east, just where Vici-Wreford-Sinnot did her best supporting us & others collectively help make change via arcadea, & much more recently at Arc Stockton. in recent times others have also helped - including Greyscale Theatre, sound&music, the NewBridge Project, Alma Zevi Venice, Graeae, Third Angel, Slung Low, Museum of Homelessness, Futures Venture radical independent arts fund. Vici wrote the successful application for provoked to tour safely, the first time solo work ov ours has received arts council funding. (2 theatre companys included our writing in their ace-funded work). despite being in the clinically extremely vulnerable category we managed to safely & ethically tour & contribute to local foodbanks, homeless, refugee, trans / queer & other projects along the way. we've also created a body ov work on the shared DNA ov homelessness & disability called 'housing contains the word sing' with & for Museum ov Homelessness & Disability Arts Online (were associate artists with both). provoked ... show was made possible by Third Angel, Slung Low, Museum of Homelessness, & our brilliant access support worker Lindsay. CPT seed commission & Arc Stockton residency also supported the work while the 'set' & e.p. ov sound-art was exhibited thanks to Dolly Sens Art ov Protest in Bedlam; zines & original artworks have also been distributed; & our bilingual (BSL & spoken-english) film cant start revolutions sitting on yr arse has now been viewed over a thousand times.
it took 20year to be supported to safely / ethically tour 'provoked 2 madness by the brutality ov wealth' about some ov those homeless experiences while collectivising & placing it in a historical context & offering 'spect-actors' (active audiences) ways to reframe narratives, regain voice, rewrite futures. cardboard citz said the shows title wz the best ever. its a phrase from Engels conditions ov the working class we read in a homeless hostel after a 'support worker' said 'what dya need books for yr homeless?' Engels was writing about the Seaham miners during the 1840's co Durham miners strike. our show provoked is about revenge. revenge by 13year ov reading, graduating from the open university, 2016. its also about our current council flat subsiding on the Heaton colliery mining disaster ov 1815 where 75 men & boys died underground because the local mine owner cut corners. its also about artist Hieronymous Bosch who painted those visions & torments having watched his home town burn as a child & whose art gave us meaning as a teen when thatcher was provoking us to madness. Bosch's hometown is where most red tape was manufactured binding legal documents to say oi, this matters. red tape saves lives. this show reframes narratives, tells good news stories, invites more 'oppositional defiance disorder' (its in that psychiatric bible, the diagnostic & sadistic manual). housings not difficult, its a human right.
set provoked21 picturesbybish
Reviews
'a moving, powerful, eloquent show.' Slung Low Leeds
'what a beautiful energy yu brought.' Colchester arts centre
'majestic.' MGC Futures
'insightful & imaginative ... lots ov food for thought as always.' Mandala Theatre
'beautiful & important & yr words about small islands will stay with me.' Unfolding Theatre
‘’dizzying & hypnotic, cutting edge social commentary, part creative resistance & part performance. ... spellbinding’’ Museum ov Homelessness
https://disabilityarts.online/magazine/opinion/gobscure-reframes-personal-stories-to-create-a-bigger-picture-in-their-latest-show/ DAO review
were so proud ov provoked & those who support us, angry that systems have kept us out until our life is this limited.
there will be a launch ov 4 miniature films from the world ov provoked shot by brettinthecity at slung low leeds, supported by third angel, spring 2022.
https://gobscure.wixsite.com/provoked
what next? again supported by Third Angel & MGC futures, were working on heart-felt - a new solo show about hearts & heartlessness. alongside our two heart-attacks as 'side-effects' ov enforced antipsychotic medication, expect politicians (not much heart), doctor who (two hearts), octopi (three hearts, they produce their own ink, & yu cant burn their libraries - theres evolution!) & edible loveheart poetry. love&rage
'a moving, powerful, eloquent show.' Slung Low Leeds
'what a beautiful energy yu brought.' Colchester arts centre
'majestic.' MGC Futures
'insightful & imaginative ... lots ov food for thought as always.' Mandala Theatre
'beautiful & important & yr words about small islands will stay with me.' Unfolding Theatre
‘’dizzying & hypnotic, cutting edge social commentary, part creative resistance & part performance. ... spellbinding’’ Museum ov Homelessness
https://disabilityarts.online/magazine/opinion/gobscure-reframes-personal-stories-to-create-a-bigger-picture-in-their-latest-show/ DAO review
were so proud ov provoked & those who support us, angry that systems have kept us out until our life is this limited.
there will be a launch ov 4 miniature films from the world ov provoked shot by brettinthecity at slung low leeds, supported by third angel, spring 2022.
https://gobscure.wixsite.com/provoked
what next? again supported by Third Angel & MGC futures, were working on heart-felt - a new solo show about hearts & heartlessness. alongside our two heart-attacks as 'side-effects' ov enforced antipsychotic medication, expect politicians (not much heart), doctor who (two hearts), octopi (three hearts, they produce their own ink, & yu cant burn their libraries - theres evolution!) & edible loveheart poetry. love&rage
kicking the bucket provoked21 picturesbybish
Aidan Moesby
On the Shoulders of Those Gone Before
My eyes are resting on the middle distance. I am trying to go back in my memory about the wheres and whens and the who and the why. This is not where I should have been, or thought I’d be more precisely. But I do know how I got here. I got here with the good fortune of meeting some amazing people along the way, who took the time to listen, to see me, to explain, to answer the naïve questions, to hold my hand, to pick me up, to point me on my way and wait for me when I had need to repeat or deepen the learning.
I got here through the patience, tolerance, kindness, generosity, care and love of so many people. I got here despite the myriad of rejections (which still come), despite being difficult to be around at times, despite of the naysayers and despite of the endemic, pernicious, ableist systematic barriers of the cultural landscape. I say I got here like I am done, I’m not, there is still far to go and the road ahead is long and not without its struggles, I am resting. Pausing. Reflecting. Thinking of the where I’ve been and where I may be going.
When in 2005 I met Vici Wreford-Sinnott at Arcadea, I didn’t even know what disability arts was let alone identify as disabled or an artist. It was the beginning of my recovery as an individual and it gave me meaning again. The first steps were shaky and uncertain. I wish I remembered meeting Vici for the first time and able to recount some amazing story worthy of a raconteur, but sadly I don’t remember any of those times that I can’t piece together through notes and photos. But I know meeting Vici was pivotal. I showed in the Mimosa Festival in 2006, gained some semblance of a disabled community in the north east. I showed some work at the Mushroom Works and spoke to Jeff Armstrong. I didn’t know it but we would be in each-others orbits for the not enough years which were left to come.
I was lucky to be selected for a development residency at Waygood/Harkers. I had a massive studio and I filled it with ‘stuff’ and played and made. After 6 months I had an exhibition and had to clear up and leave. It gave me a glimpse of a possible future and I am forever grateful for that. This lead to working with the Art House in Wakefield in one of its’ many incarnations and I worked with Anne Cunningham which lead to my working with Kerry Harker, who I still work with today. Back in 2011 Colin Hambrook from Disability Arts Online was a saviour at a doomed event in New Zealand which fostered an ongoing personal and professional relationship. Within all this I met Alisdair Cameron, head of Launchpad, now ReCoCo. Whilst not involved in disability arts directly he is the glue which held many of my projects together and remains a great advocate of the arts and mental health. We worked together on the Mind the Gap exhibition at Discovery and delivered training for TWAM. Most long term was with Tess Denman Cleaver on a theatre project with the early intervention in psychosis team for 4 years.
As things come full circle and people weave in and out of each others lives I re met Vici initially through ARC Stockton, and no modern recounting of Disability Arts would be complete without Vici but also Annabel Turpin who has done so much for the sector but who has also supported me so much in recent years. Important to mention is also the impact which Disability Arts Online is having in the region now working with artists to develop practice.
There is still so much left to achieve to become an equal accessible world. It has moved on and changed a lot for the better since the early 2000’s. The conversations are more nuanced, we can talk of Access Riders, Crip Time, Neurodiversity and not just about the physical quick wins of ramps. But still, so far to go. I won’t be going on alone. I walk with those who have helped me here and I will meet more along the way. None of us get by without the help of others, I hope I offer mine where I can. I am grateful to all those who have and continue to give so generously in so many ways to support me in what I do.
More from Aidan here at his websiter: https://aidanmoesby.co.uk
Karen Sheader
Home Truths
This piece is written almost entirely from memory, so any factual errors relating to the Disabled People’s Direct Action Network campaigns and procedures are mine. I was unable to find any coverage of this demo at all, so have tried not to include details of any individuals who were present as I can’t verify the facts. The piece contains strong language and the song No Place Like Home is a powerful depicting of conditions from the imagined perspective of one of the people who died as a result of the shameful practices and lack of care provided at Cawston Park Hospital, which some people may find upsetting.
Newcastle City Centre, Gray’s Monument, 2001
‘Our homes, not nursing homes! Our homes, not nursing homes…’
Over and over, the words shouted by the voices of angry people split the air, some in wheelchairs, some with guide dogs, some signing the words, some wearing black T-shirts with ‘Piss on Pity’ flashing across their bodies in shrieking pink. Occasionally a lone voice would holler ‘Free our People! And the chant would change.
‘Free our People! Free our People!’
It was thrilling to see the gathering of disabled people at Gray’s Monument in Newcastle, many clutching white crosses which were being handed out by Direct Action Network (DAN) officials and whose number represented the number of people living in nursing and care homes in Newcastle and Gateshead. A shaven-headed beauty with a Mohican and a studded dog collar told us to hold on to the cross as we would be planting them in the ground later to acknowledge and pay respect to those disabled people who were living in these homes without their consent or agreement.
With my former partner Neill, who was my accompanist, and poet,actor and performer Lisa Dennis, we stood in front of the imposing tower of the Monument and began to play,
‘I woke up this morning with a bad pain in my head
In came a care assistant, to drag me out of bed
They tell me it’s for my own good,
that I must go for training
I’ve been training twenty-seven years,
besides, it’s fucking raining”
The Fugertivs No-hope ATC (Joyful Noise)
Continuing with ‘The Bus Driver’, then Melissa, I remember feeling elated and choked when the crowd joined in when we chanted,
‘We want rights, not charity, we want rights, we want rights, not charity! Rights, rights rights not charity, cos charity keeps me where you think I should be!’
The Fugertivs Rights Not Charity
(Joyful Noise)
We finished to an enormous round of cheering, and, still holding our crosses, were invited to the head of the line behind an enormous DAN banner bearing the Free Our People campaign colours. Neill began playing as we walked, and the crowd, led by Lisa, who wrote the song, began,
Oh-oh-ay-oh
Oh-oh-ay-oh
Oh-oh-ay-oh
Let’s riot on the buses!
Let’s riot on the trains!
Let’s riot in the taxis!
And on the planes!
The Fugertivs feat. Lisa Dennis, Let’s Riot (Joyful Noise)
The crowd behind us took up the chant and again I was overwhelmed at the feeling of belonging. Following orders from the DAN officials, we moved to the middle of the road, and settled down to annoy the Saturday afternoon drivers, all the while shouting ‘Free our people!’ as leaflets were handed out and some people gave us nods of encouragement, while others just made their displeasure known!
Lean on your big horn, you fat bastard
Curse me across the road,
The blind school never taught me
How to use the green cross code!
Karen Sheader Band, Planet of the Blind (Planet of the Blind)
When we had made our presence felt sufficiently, we moved off towards the gardens by Eldon Square. Silently, people placed their crosses in the earth in rows which reminded me of the cemeteries of Flanders. I can’t recall exactly how many there were, but certainly the number was in the hundreds, symbolizing hundreds of fettered lives, open to abuse, ignorance, ill-treatment and sheer boredom, unable to live, love, indulge their own dreams and desires. We stood silently for a couple of minutes. Then somebody broke the silence and the sombre mood.
‘Play the Bollocks song!’
I wondered for a moment if it was disrespectful to sing something so irreverent, but the crowd were having none of it!
‘Play the Bollocks song!’
‘Play the Bollocks song!’
So we struck up again, in the cold sunshine which was beginning to fade, with the crowd joining in delightedly at the end as scandalised shoppers gave us a wide berth:
‘You reckon that you’re our champion
Defender of all poor crips
Well I just can’t believe the crap that I’ve heard
That comes pouring out of your lips
You like to keep us where you think we belong
With sentiment and prejudice
Well I hope that some tosspot talks shite about you
Next time you go out on the piss!
Bollocks to you, and Bollocks to you, and Bollocks to you
And Bollocks to you….
The Fugertivs, Bar-room Bollocks, (Joyful Noise)
The chorus went on and on, disabled people venting their frustration and anger in a shared musical protest. Then this happened.
The people in chairs, people with dogs, and sticks, and those with their PAs and family members and friends, and those who shared our identity without visible impairment, and our non-disabled allies, gathered round us.
‘Long live The Fugertivs! Long live The Fugertivs!
‘Long live The Fugertivs! Long live The Fugertivs!
It was a moment I could have stayed in forever. Thanking everyone after the impromptu performance, one guy in a wheelchair beckoned me over and showed me ‘Bollocks to you’ tattooed on his neck! What an honour!
Writing this from a distance of more than 20 years it seems almost unbelievable that all this happened.
And sadly, for the residents of Winterbourne View,(closed in 2010) Whorlton Hall (closed in 2019) and just this year, 2021, Cawston Park, it might just as well not have happened.
Upon seeing the events at Cawston Park, Norfolk, being exposed on the BBC Six O’clock News I cried to think that after all this time these horrific places still make colossal amounts of money whilst torturing and killing their ‘guests” or ‘victims’
I wrote this song, No Place Like Home shared in the video below, in response to the report I read in Learning Disability Today, which you can find here (please refer to the content awareness statement at the beginning of this article)
https://www.learningdisabilitytoday.co.uk/report-urges-government-to-act-after-three-people-with-learning-disabilities-died-at-a-private-hospital
The lyrics are below the video
This piece is written almost entirely from memory, so any factual errors relating to the Disabled People’s Direct Action Network campaigns and procedures are mine. I was unable to find any coverage of this demo at all, so have tried not to include details of any individuals who were present as I can’t verify the facts. The piece contains strong language and the song No Place Like Home is a powerful depicting of conditions from the imagined perspective of one of the people who died as a result of the shameful practices and lack of care provided at Cawston Park Hospital, which some people may find upsetting.
Newcastle City Centre, Gray’s Monument, 2001
‘Our homes, not nursing homes! Our homes, not nursing homes…’
Over and over, the words shouted by the voices of angry people split the air, some in wheelchairs, some with guide dogs, some signing the words, some wearing black T-shirts with ‘Piss on Pity’ flashing across their bodies in shrieking pink. Occasionally a lone voice would holler ‘Free our People! And the chant would change.
‘Free our People! Free our People!’
It was thrilling to see the gathering of disabled people at Gray’s Monument in Newcastle, many clutching white crosses which were being handed out by Direct Action Network (DAN) officials and whose number represented the number of people living in nursing and care homes in Newcastle and Gateshead. A shaven-headed beauty with a Mohican and a studded dog collar told us to hold on to the cross as we would be planting them in the ground later to acknowledge and pay respect to those disabled people who were living in these homes without their consent or agreement.
With my former partner Neill, who was my accompanist, and poet,actor and performer Lisa Dennis, we stood in front of the imposing tower of the Monument and began to play,
‘I woke up this morning with a bad pain in my head
In came a care assistant, to drag me out of bed
They tell me it’s for my own good,
that I must go for training
I’ve been training twenty-seven years,
besides, it’s fucking raining”
The Fugertivs No-hope ATC (Joyful Noise)
Continuing with ‘The Bus Driver’, then Melissa, I remember feeling elated and choked when the crowd joined in when we chanted,
‘We want rights, not charity, we want rights, we want rights, not charity! Rights, rights rights not charity, cos charity keeps me where you think I should be!’
The Fugertivs Rights Not Charity
(Joyful Noise)
We finished to an enormous round of cheering, and, still holding our crosses, were invited to the head of the line behind an enormous DAN banner bearing the Free Our People campaign colours. Neill began playing as we walked, and the crowd, led by Lisa, who wrote the song, began,
Oh-oh-ay-oh
Oh-oh-ay-oh
Oh-oh-ay-oh
Let’s riot on the buses!
Let’s riot on the trains!
Let’s riot in the taxis!
And on the planes!
The Fugertivs feat. Lisa Dennis, Let’s Riot (Joyful Noise)
The crowd behind us took up the chant and again I was overwhelmed at the feeling of belonging. Following orders from the DAN officials, we moved to the middle of the road, and settled down to annoy the Saturday afternoon drivers, all the while shouting ‘Free our people!’ as leaflets were handed out and some people gave us nods of encouragement, while others just made their displeasure known!
Lean on your big horn, you fat bastard
Curse me across the road,
The blind school never taught me
How to use the green cross code!
Karen Sheader Band, Planet of the Blind (Planet of the Blind)
When we had made our presence felt sufficiently, we moved off towards the gardens by Eldon Square. Silently, people placed their crosses in the earth in rows which reminded me of the cemeteries of Flanders. I can’t recall exactly how many there were, but certainly the number was in the hundreds, symbolizing hundreds of fettered lives, open to abuse, ignorance, ill-treatment and sheer boredom, unable to live, love, indulge their own dreams and desires. We stood silently for a couple of minutes. Then somebody broke the silence and the sombre mood.
‘Play the Bollocks song!’
I wondered for a moment if it was disrespectful to sing something so irreverent, but the crowd were having none of it!
‘Play the Bollocks song!’
‘Play the Bollocks song!’
So we struck up again, in the cold sunshine which was beginning to fade, with the crowd joining in delightedly at the end as scandalised shoppers gave us a wide berth:
‘You reckon that you’re our champion
Defender of all poor crips
Well I just can’t believe the crap that I’ve heard
That comes pouring out of your lips
You like to keep us where you think we belong
With sentiment and prejudice
Well I hope that some tosspot talks shite about you
Next time you go out on the piss!
Bollocks to you, and Bollocks to you, and Bollocks to you
And Bollocks to you….
The Fugertivs, Bar-room Bollocks, (Joyful Noise)
The chorus went on and on, disabled people venting their frustration and anger in a shared musical protest. Then this happened.
The people in chairs, people with dogs, and sticks, and those with their PAs and family members and friends, and those who shared our identity without visible impairment, and our non-disabled allies, gathered round us.
‘Long live The Fugertivs! Long live The Fugertivs!
‘Long live The Fugertivs! Long live The Fugertivs!
It was a moment I could have stayed in forever. Thanking everyone after the impromptu performance, one guy in a wheelchair beckoned me over and showed me ‘Bollocks to you’ tattooed on his neck! What an honour!
Writing this from a distance of more than 20 years it seems almost unbelievable that all this happened.
And sadly, for the residents of Winterbourne View,(closed in 2010) Whorlton Hall (closed in 2019) and just this year, 2021, Cawston Park, it might just as well not have happened.
Upon seeing the events at Cawston Park, Norfolk, being exposed on the BBC Six O’clock News I cried to think that after all this time these horrific places still make colossal amounts of money whilst torturing and killing their ‘guests” or ‘victims’
I wrote this song, No Place Like Home shared in the video below, in response to the report I read in Learning Disability Today, which you can find here (please refer to the content awareness statement at the beginning of this article)
https://www.learningdisabilitytoday.co.uk/report-urges-government-to-act-after-three-people-with-learning-disabilities-died-at-a-private-hospital
The lyrics are below the video
No Place Like Home
I can’t say it very well, but in my eyes you can tell - I’m terrified!
I talk with my hands, and they say they understand me but they lied
They claim that they’ve heard, but they don’t understand a word
They crash in through my door and they pin me to the floor
They put a needle in my arm and they tell me it will make me calm inside
Before I used to love to sing, my very favourite thing was karaoke
And every time I got the chance I loved to dance, even the Hokey cokey
Now they hardly use my name, and every day is just the same
We sit around and watch tv, but nothing that I want to see
There’s nothing else to do, and sometimes I don’t make the loo and they prod and poke me.
Chorus
Who’s going to get me out of here?
Maybe it’s my Mum
I ask her please, take me back home
Every single time that she can come
She doesn’t know what goes on here
Cos they all act like everything’s so good
If she knew what it’s really like
She’d come to take me home, I know she would
I’m not doing all that well and I wish that I could tell them how I’m feeling
No matter how I try, I’m always left to lie and stare up at the ceiling
My chest begins to heave, and I struggle hard to breathe
Stuck here by myself with nobody here to help
Today I messed my bed, and then they slapped me round the head, said stop your squealing
Who’s going to get me out of here
Cos I feel really bad.
I ask them with my eyes, please listen,
I just want to see my dad!
They tell him that I’m ok, I’m doing fine,
I’m just under the weather
Now all I wanna do is close my eyes
And drift away to sleep forever.
Who is going to get them out of there
Cos it sounds a lot like hell
Who is going to open up and speak
For the ones who just can’t tell?
Who is going to open up the doors
And lead them out into the day?
Cos if we all do nothing, then in hell is where they’re gonna stay.
Karen Sheader Band No Place Like Home
I can’t say it very well, but in my eyes you can tell - I’m terrified!
I talk with my hands, and they say they understand me but they lied
They claim that they’ve heard, but they don’t understand a word
They crash in through my door and they pin me to the floor
They put a needle in my arm and they tell me it will make me calm inside
Before I used to love to sing, my very favourite thing was karaoke
And every time I got the chance I loved to dance, even the Hokey cokey
Now they hardly use my name, and every day is just the same
We sit around and watch tv, but nothing that I want to see
There’s nothing else to do, and sometimes I don’t make the loo and they prod and poke me.
Chorus
Who’s going to get me out of here?
Maybe it’s my Mum
I ask her please, take me back home
Every single time that she can come
She doesn’t know what goes on here
Cos they all act like everything’s so good
If she knew what it’s really like
She’d come to take me home, I know she would
I’m not doing all that well and I wish that I could tell them how I’m feeling
No matter how I try, I’m always left to lie and stare up at the ceiling
My chest begins to heave, and I struggle hard to breathe
Stuck here by myself with nobody here to help
Today I messed my bed, and then they slapped me round the head, said stop your squealing
Who’s going to get me out of here
Cos I feel really bad.
I ask them with my eyes, please listen,
I just want to see my dad!
They tell him that I’m ok, I’m doing fine,
I’m just under the weather
Now all I wanna do is close my eyes
And drift away to sleep forever.
Who is going to get them out of there
Cos it sounds a lot like hell
Who is going to open up and speak
For the ones who just can’t tell?
Who is going to open up the doors
And lead them out into the day?
Cos if we all do nothing, then in hell is where they’re gonna stay.
Karen Sheader Band No Place Like Home
Black Robin
A Witness to A 'Golden Age'
As a photographer and filmmaker recording events meant that I was a witness to and for a time in the Disability Arts Movement that felt like a more cohesive time than we have today. As someone fairly new to disability arts in the 2000s I felt like disabled artists began to be taken seriously on mainstream stages.
Years of fight had gone into this of course, it didn’t just happen. It was work and perseverance of people like Geof Armstrong, Tom Shakespeare, Paula Greenwell and Lindsay Carter, among many other artists and activists, which would continue to be carried forward even to today. It wasn’t that there was a sudden understanding in the mainstream arts sector I don’t think, as that battle still continues. The early pioneers created both space and a visibility that could no longer be ignored. Important voices were being heard. Making themselves heard.
I worked at Arcadea but also I had begun documenting the work of disabled artists both here and in my home country of Ireland so that the work would not be forgotten. There are archives about Disability Arts – the brilliant Allan Sutherland’s Chronology of Disability and the NDACA Archive – providing excellent records of the national picture. Having the materials specific to the North East, which I believe has it’s own history, role and voice in the movement, it felt important to find a way to share that. We are indebted to the artists on whose shoulders we build and make progress.
The 200os have been described as a ‘golden age’ in Disability Arts – the cohesion, the body of work produced, the raised platforms and a sense national connection through the regional disability arts agencies, and a pocket of funding over a number of years ensuring that disabled artists were supported.
A couple of stand out memories for me are The Mimosa Festival which brought together a huge array of disabled artists from all over the country, and showcased disabled artists based in the North East. It lasted for a month across September in 2006. It felt busy, productive, relevant and it felt like something really important was happening. It felt like we made inroads into venues, which might previously not have programmed disabled artists. There was a very eclectic programme across a wide variety of artforms including film, dance, comedy, photography, conceptual art, live art, painting, sculpture, poetry, theatre, and music. There were a mix of scales of work shared – from the Divine Disabled Divas and theatre at the Sage, to more intimate interventions like the transformation of the early Star and Shadow space, where we made it our own in a way no-one had before or has since. It was unique. As Lindsay Carter said at the time – ‘the space has the spirit of the people who fill it’, which can be taken literally in the case of the Star and Shadow, but also of the Golden Age of Disability Arts. It was filled with action, art and hope.
An exciting part of my work was 21: The Last Avant Garde which celebrated the 21st anniversary of self-organised disability arts in the North East by presenting 21 portraits of disabled artists who had worked in the North East. There was a photographic portrait each of 21 artists, who also supplied a written statement and an object of significance described by them and shared on a small shelf next to their portrait. I felt proud to be able to capture this group of artists and an opportunity to promote their work, so there was a ripple effect from the exhibition. It marked their contribution to the arts. No-one from outside our community was doing that – gathering the work or capturing the contribution. It also felt like a moment of solidarity and showed that publicly. It needs to be seen – that we feel like a community and that we feel excluded and judged differently to other artists. The exhibition was held at Waygood Gallery and also did a mini-tour to different locations and was used in schools to share information about disability generally and also the work disabled people do. This could have been on a much bigger scale and had a much bigger impact. The launch event stays in my mind because of how much of a celebration it felt – we had food, live music, all the disabled artists were there, friends, family, and people from the arts. The artists felt celebrated.
It was a time that disabled artists felt connected and included, despite the struggle for equality. Since that time the face of disability arts has changed in many ways. In the North East, having spoken to many disabled artists over the last 18 months, people have felt disconnected and fragmented for almost a decade, but there is a feeling of a resurgence of the necessity of disability awareness, of disabled peoples’ place in the cultural landscape. There is amazing talent out there and disabled people are finding each other through different groups like Little Cog and Disconsortia, creating connections and new platforms. With a commitment from organisations like ARC Stockton to include disability art in their programme there is a definite ripple effect as we see more organisations realising that they need to do something. They probably need to upskill and gain knowledge and learning from disabled people but the arts landscape definitely has the potential to be more inclusive of the work of disabled people.
As a photographer and filmmaker recording events meant that I was a witness to and for a time in the Disability Arts Movement that felt like a more cohesive time than we have today. As someone fairly new to disability arts in the 2000s I felt like disabled artists began to be taken seriously on mainstream stages.
Years of fight had gone into this of course, it didn’t just happen. It was work and perseverance of people like Geof Armstrong, Tom Shakespeare, Paula Greenwell and Lindsay Carter, among many other artists and activists, which would continue to be carried forward even to today. It wasn’t that there was a sudden understanding in the mainstream arts sector I don’t think, as that battle still continues. The early pioneers created both space and a visibility that could no longer be ignored. Important voices were being heard. Making themselves heard.
I worked at Arcadea but also I had begun documenting the work of disabled artists both here and in my home country of Ireland so that the work would not be forgotten. There are archives about Disability Arts – the brilliant Allan Sutherland’s Chronology of Disability and the NDACA Archive – providing excellent records of the national picture. Having the materials specific to the North East, which I believe has it’s own history, role and voice in the movement, it felt important to find a way to share that. We are indebted to the artists on whose shoulders we build and make progress.
The 200os have been described as a ‘golden age’ in Disability Arts – the cohesion, the body of work produced, the raised platforms and a sense national connection through the regional disability arts agencies, and a pocket of funding over a number of years ensuring that disabled artists were supported.
A couple of stand out memories for me are The Mimosa Festival which brought together a huge array of disabled artists from all over the country, and showcased disabled artists based in the North East. It lasted for a month across September in 2006. It felt busy, productive, relevant and it felt like something really important was happening. It felt like we made inroads into venues, which might previously not have programmed disabled artists. There was a very eclectic programme across a wide variety of artforms including film, dance, comedy, photography, conceptual art, live art, painting, sculpture, poetry, theatre, and music. There were a mix of scales of work shared – from the Divine Disabled Divas and theatre at the Sage, to more intimate interventions like the transformation of the early Star and Shadow space, where we made it our own in a way no-one had before or has since. It was unique. As Lindsay Carter said at the time – ‘the space has the spirit of the people who fill it’, which can be taken literally in the case of the Star and Shadow, but also of the Golden Age of Disability Arts. It was filled with action, art and hope.
An exciting part of my work was 21: The Last Avant Garde which celebrated the 21st anniversary of self-organised disability arts in the North East by presenting 21 portraits of disabled artists who had worked in the North East. There was a photographic portrait each of 21 artists, who also supplied a written statement and an object of significance described by them and shared on a small shelf next to their portrait. I felt proud to be able to capture this group of artists and an opportunity to promote their work, so there was a ripple effect from the exhibition. It marked their contribution to the arts. No-one from outside our community was doing that – gathering the work or capturing the contribution. It also felt like a moment of solidarity and showed that publicly. It needs to be seen – that we feel like a community and that we feel excluded and judged differently to other artists. The exhibition was held at Waygood Gallery and also did a mini-tour to different locations and was used in schools to share information about disability generally and also the work disabled people do. This could have been on a much bigger scale and had a much bigger impact. The launch event stays in my mind because of how much of a celebration it felt – we had food, live music, all the disabled artists were there, friends, family, and people from the arts. The artists felt celebrated.
It was a time that disabled artists felt connected and included, despite the struggle for equality. Since that time the face of disability arts has changed in many ways. In the North East, having spoken to many disabled artists over the last 18 months, people have felt disconnected and fragmented for almost a decade, but there is a feeling of a resurgence of the necessity of disability awareness, of disabled peoples’ place in the cultural landscape. There is amazing talent out there and disabled people are finding each other through different groups like Little Cog and Disconsortia, creating connections and new platforms. With a commitment from organisations like ARC Stockton to include disability art in their programme there is a definite ripple effect as we see more organisations realising that they need to do something. They probably need to upskill and gain knowledge and learning from disabled people but the arts landscape definitely has the potential to be more inclusive of the work of disabled people.
Vici Wreford-Sinnott
Disability Arts in the North East – A Missing Narrative
To give a context to the development of disability arts in the North East of England, dating as far back as 1986, and likely before that with individuals, it is essential to pay tribute to the pioneers, leaders and artists of the movement, who were involved long before my own personal involvement. Them Wifies, still active and doing amazing work today, were a socially informed community and participatory arts organisation who supported learning disabled people to take part in drama activities and this saw the beginnings of The Lawnmowers Theatre Company in 1986. Geraldine Ling became their director and was a visionary, informed by social justice for learning disabled people. The company has worked internationally and have trained with Augusto Boal who developed Theatre of the Oppressed. They are committed to working locally in Gateshead and the wider region with many, many thousands of people. Tom Shakespeare, another visionary, is a social scientist specialising in ethics, examining medicine, culture and politics with disabled people. He has been involved in the disability rights movement since 1986 and remains a pivotal figure in his thinking, research and writings. Tom is also an artist, having performed his own work and created a collection under the title of No Small Inheritance. He has published several books on disability including Disability Rights and Wrongs. He was based in the North East for many years and served on the Arts Council of England and chaired Arts Council England, North East.
Leading figures in the disability rights movement in the North East were connected through their belief in the power of the arts to inform and increase the profile of disabled people in public life. The late Geof Armstrong was a key national leader in the development of disability arts, and particularly the development of regional disability arts agencies. He truly was a force of nature with an uncompromising vision for the development of disability arts. He forged the creation of the Workhouse cabarets which gave so many disabled artists a platform and a space for disabled people to come together to share ideas and experiences. The work he established at London Disability Arts Forum fed into a cabaret circuit across the country and the establishment of further disability fora. He was a true radical who saw that grassroots activity would strengthen and empower disability communities. He founded the National Disability Arts Forum (NDAF) in Newcastle in 1990. Geof led on many projects with both regional and national impact, and his work formed the bedrock of disability arts for several decades. In 2010 Geof became director of Arcadea and developed the hugely successful Hub for learning disabled people to take part in the arts in Newcastle. Leaving a monumental legacy, Geof sadly died in 2020 and is a great loss to our movement. Geof worked alongside Paula Greenwell who was Chair of NDAF and also became chair of Arcadea. Paula was an academic, lecturer, activist and artist. A powerhouse, she was involved in several disabled peoples’ organisations fighting for change. Paula was a founder member of Invisible Cabaret - a women’s performance group - and worked with Tyneside Disability Arts (TDA), Get Off Our Backs Theatre Company and NorDAF. Her life was dedicated to bringing about change for disabled people. Other key influential trailblazers in the 1990s through the establishment and development of NDAF, Northern Disability Arts Forum (NorDAF est 1991) and TDA were Stuart Bracking, Veronica McKale, Colin Cameron (now an academic based at Northumbria University specialising in many areas of disability studies), Karen Sheader, Dave Colley, Beth Ford, Margaret Parker, Martine Dellard and Silvie Fisch. There are many more and it is hoped that their stories will also be captured in this archive in honour of their work and contribution.
You can read about some of the disabled artists from the region on the ‘People’ page of this website but it is important to mention people who have dedicated themselves to furthering the position of disabled people in art and culture from that time. Ground breaking artists involved include Karen Sheader, The Fugertivs, Invisible Cabaret, Pauline Heath, Get Off Our Backs, Grin and Bare It, Lisa Dennis, Deaf Youth Theatre, Ann Torode, Lynn Paterson, Julie Storey, Maggie Cameron, The Lawnmowers, The Happy Pills, Gobscure, Aidan Moesby, Neil ‘Twink’ Tinning, Janet Tucker, Denise Armstrong, Sue Vass, Lindsay Carter, George Wallace, and Fisheye. Again, there are many more artists who have dedicated themselves to disability justice and culture, than this human brain can bring forward at the time of writing but let’s be clear, no-one is intentionally left off this list, and it’s a list which will grow as our collective brains enable.
It’s important to say something about the national backdrop to disability arts developments in the North East, in disability activism and thinking. Key thinking about disabled people in society was happening in academic and sociology circles of disabled people. Landmark developments include the beginnings of the Rights Movement, the acknowledgement of stereotypes of disabled people in culture, the development of the social model of disability and the formation of crucial disabled peoples’ organisations. The fight was on for rights, self-determination, 'nothing about us without us', equal representation, protective and anti-discrimination legislation, and significant societal change for an excluded, oppressed community.
Catalysts for great change at this time included Mike Oliver, a British sociologist, author, and disability rights activist. He was the first Professor of Disability Studies in the world, and key advocate of the social model of disability. His book The Politics of Disablement was published in 1990. Vic Finklestein was a tutor in disability studies at the Open University and later visiting senior research fellow in the Centre for Disability Studies, Leeds University. Vic’s ideas influenced and inspired many disabled activists. Colin Barnes is a disabled person and special school survivor who has been involved with the disabled people’s movement throughout his academic career. He established the Centre for Disability Studies as the British Council of Organisations of Disabled People’s Disability Research Unit at the University of Leeds. Paul Hunt was a disabled writer and activist who spearheaded the early Disability Rights Movement in Britain, fought for self-determination in residential care. In 1966 he edited and wrote the foreword for the publication “Stigma: The Experience of Disability”, a collection of essays about the new liberation movement. One of the earliest campaigning groups was UPIAS - the Union for the Physically Impaired Against Segregation, of which Paul was a founding member along with Vic Finkelstein. Together with the rest of the Union, they formulated the basic principles of the social-model interpretation of disability. The Disabled People's Direct Action Network (DAN), was a group of disabled people across Britain campaigning for civil rights, with high-profile street demonstrations rallies and protests, demanding accessible public transport and campaigning for independent living. They held the "free our people” campaign (referenced in Karen Sheader's article above). There were campaigns to stop the annual telethon which represented disabled people so badly, and to bring about the Disability Discrimination Act 1995, which saw the formation of the Disability Rights Commission headed up by Chairman Bert Massie from 2000 to 2007, later to become Sir Bert Massie. Dynamic and exciting times for disabled people who felt politicised, mobilised and like there was a framework of support.
Disabled people have historically had lower status as citizens than our non-disabled peers. Much of this can be attributed to negative misconceptions about disabled people, perpetuated in historical narratives of disability equalling deficit. As far back as Ancient Greece and the development of the Olympian ideal perfection was prized. Perfect gods and perfect people reigned and the less perfect you were, the less good you were perceived to be, and therefore the less value you had. This thread of thinking remains with us today with tropes of tragedy, being broken, being a burden, being helpless pervading literature, theatre, film, dance, visual art, television and media. Deeply embedded prejudices which are continually perpetuated. The less valued you are, the less determination you have over your own life, and this is certainly what happened to disabled people, in no small measure fuelled by eugenics arguments about eliminating ‘defects’, indicating that disabled lives were less worth living. So the fight for human and civil rights became necessary the more disabled people acknowledged we were being oppressed and treated as second class citizens. That fight continues today. Disability Arts was a necessary ingredient in that Rights struggle.
Many activists were also artists and found ways to protest, celebrate and share experiences through song, comedy, live art, poetry, visual art on the streets and in cabarets. Art and culture became an important part of self-identification, a celebration and pride grew from being part of a supportive community with common goals. The movement was vocal about change, but also about our culture, our shared history and our identities.
You can see listed on the events pages many of the developments which have brought about platforms for disabled artists and influenced change - theatre productions, exhibitions, a regionwide festival, cabarets, ambassadors placed in venues and organisations, mentoring programmes and more. Over the years the urgency of the work has come and gone depending on the social climate of the time, but the work, the artforms have evolved from agit-prop political work to incredibly sophisticated and nuanced aesthetics. A huge shift has happened as a direct result of the work of disabled campaigners, thinkers and artists and our allies.
To give a context to the development of disability arts in the North East of England, dating as far back as 1986, and likely before that with individuals, it is essential to pay tribute to the pioneers, leaders and artists of the movement, who were involved long before my own personal involvement. Them Wifies, still active and doing amazing work today, were a socially informed community and participatory arts organisation who supported learning disabled people to take part in drama activities and this saw the beginnings of The Lawnmowers Theatre Company in 1986. Geraldine Ling became their director and was a visionary, informed by social justice for learning disabled people. The company has worked internationally and have trained with Augusto Boal who developed Theatre of the Oppressed. They are committed to working locally in Gateshead and the wider region with many, many thousands of people. Tom Shakespeare, another visionary, is a social scientist specialising in ethics, examining medicine, culture and politics with disabled people. He has been involved in the disability rights movement since 1986 and remains a pivotal figure in his thinking, research and writings. Tom is also an artist, having performed his own work and created a collection under the title of No Small Inheritance. He has published several books on disability including Disability Rights and Wrongs. He was based in the North East for many years and served on the Arts Council of England and chaired Arts Council England, North East.
Leading figures in the disability rights movement in the North East were connected through their belief in the power of the arts to inform and increase the profile of disabled people in public life. The late Geof Armstrong was a key national leader in the development of disability arts, and particularly the development of regional disability arts agencies. He truly was a force of nature with an uncompromising vision for the development of disability arts. He forged the creation of the Workhouse cabarets which gave so many disabled artists a platform and a space for disabled people to come together to share ideas and experiences. The work he established at London Disability Arts Forum fed into a cabaret circuit across the country and the establishment of further disability fora. He was a true radical who saw that grassroots activity would strengthen and empower disability communities. He founded the National Disability Arts Forum (NDAF) in Newcastle in 1990. Geof led on many projects with both regional and national impact, and his work formed the bedrock of disability arts for several decades. In 2010 Geof became director of Arcadea and developed the hugely successful Hub for learning disabled people to take part in the arts in Newcastle. Leaving a monumental legacy, Geof sadly died in 2020 and is a great loss to our movement. Geof worked alongside Paula Greenwell who was Chair of NDAF and also became chair of Arcadea. Paula was an academic, lecturer, activist and artist. A powerhouse, she was involved in several disabled peoples’ organisations fighting for change. Paula was a founder member of Invisible Cabaret - a women’s performance group - and worked with Tyneside Disability Arts (TDA), Get Off Our Backs Theatre Company and NorDAF. Her life was dedicated to bringing about change for disabled people. Other key influential trailblazers in the 1990s through the establishment and development of NDAF, Northern Disability Arts Forum (NorDAF est 1991) and TDA were Stuart Bracking, Veronica McKale, Colin Cameron (now an academic based at Northumbria University specialising in many areas of disability studies), Karen Sheader, Dave Colley, Beth Ford, Margaret Parker, Martine Dellard and Silvie Fisch. There are many more and it is hoped that their stories will also be captured in this archive in honour of their work and contribution.
You can read about some of the disabled artists from the region on the ‘People’ page of this website but it is important to mention people who have dedicated themselves to furthering the position of disabled people in art and culture from that time. Ground breaking artists involved include Karen Sheader, The Fugertivs, Invisible Cabaret, Pauline Heath, Get Off Our Backs, Grin and Bare It, Lisa Dennis, Deaf Youth Theatre, Ann Torode, Lynn Paterson, Julie Storey, Maggie Cameron, The Lawnmowers, The Happy Pills, Gobscure, Aidan Moesby, Neil ‘Twink’ Tinning, Janet Tucker, Denise Armstrong, Sue Vass, Lindsay Carter, George Wallace, and Fisheye. Again, there are many more artists who have dedicated themselves to disability justice and culture, than this human brain can bring forward at the time of writing but let’s be clear, no-one is intentionally left off this list, and it’s a list which will grow as our collective brains enable.
It’s important to say something about the national backdrop to disability arts developments in the North East, in disability activism and thinking. Key thinking about disabled people in society was happening in academic and sociology circles of disabled people. Landmark developments include the beginnings of the Rights Movement, the acknowledgement of stereotypes of disabled people in culture, the development of the social model of disability and the formation of crucial disabled peoples’ organisations. The fight was on for rights, self-determination, 'nothing about us without us', equal representation, protective and anti-discrimination legislation, and significant societal change for an excluded, oppressed community.
Catalysts for great change at this time included Mike Oliver, a British sociologist, author, and disability rights activist. He was the first Professor of Disability Studies in the world, and key advocate of the social model of disability. His book The Politics of Disablement was published in 1990. Vic Finklestein was a tutor in disability studies at the Open University and later visiting senior research fellow in the Centre for Disability Studies, Leeds University. Vic’s ideas influenced and inspired many disabled activists. Colin Barnes is a disabled person and special school survivor who has been involved with the disabled people’s movement throughout his academic career. He established the Centre for Disability Studies as the British Council of Organisations of Disabled People’s Disability Research Unit at the University of Leeds. Paul Hunt was a disabled writer and activist who spearheaded the early Disability Rights Movement in Britain, fought for self-determination in residential care. In 1966 he edited and wrote the foreword for the publication “Stigma: The Experience of Disability”, a collection of essays about the new liberation movement. One of the earliest campaigning groups was UPIAS - the Union for the Physically Impaired Against Segregation, of which Paul was a founding member along with Vic Finkelstein. Together with the rest of the Union, they formulated the basic principles of the social-model interpretation of disability. The Disabled People's Direct Action Network (DAN), was a group of disabled people across Britain campaigning for civil rights, with high-profile street demonstrations rallies and protests, demanding accessible public transport and campaigning for independent living. They held the "free our people” campaign (referenced in Karen Sheader's article above). There were campaigns to stop the annual telethon which represented disabled people so badly, and to bring about the Disability Discrimination Act 1995, which saw the formation of the Disability Rights Commission headed up by Chairman Bert Massie from 2000 to 2007, later to become Sir Bert Massie. Dynamic and exciting times for disabled people who felt politicised, mobilised and like there was a framework of support.
Disabled people have historically had lower status as citizens than our non-disabled peers. Much of this can be attributed to negative misconceptions about disabled people, perpetuated in historical narratives of disability equalling deficit. As far back as Ancient Greece and the development of the Olympian ideal perfection was prized. Perfect gods and perfect people reigned and the less perfect you were, the less good you were perceived to be, and therefore the less value you had. This thread of thinking remains with us today with tropes of tragedy, being broken, being a burden, being helpless pervading literature, theatre, film, dance, visual art, television and media. Deeply embedded prejudices which are continually perpetuated. The less valued you are, the less determination you have over your own life, and this is certainly what happened to disabled people, in no small measure fuelled by eugenics arguments about eliminating ‘defects’, indicating that disabled lives were less worth living. So the fight for human and civil rights became necessary the more disabled people acknowledged we were being oppressed and treated as second class citizens. That fight continues today. Disability Arts was a necessary ingredient in that Rights struggle.
Many activists were also artists and found ways to protest, celebrate and share experiences through song, comedy, live art, poetry, visual art on the streets and in cabarets. Art and culture became an important part of self-identification, a celebration and pride grew from being part of a supportive community with common goals. The movement was vocal about change, but also about our culture, our shared history and our identities.
You can see listed on the events pages many of the developments which have brought about platforms for disabled artists and influenced change - theatre productions, exhibitions, a regionwide festival, cabarets, ambassadors placed in venues and organisations, mentoring programmes and more. Over the years the urgency of the work has come and gone depending on the social climate of the time, but the work, the artforms have evolved from agit-prop political work to incredibly sophisticated and nuanced aesthetics. A huge shift has happened as a direct result of the work of disabled campaigners, thinkers and artists and our allies.
Lindsay Carter
Mimosa Festival Poem
Lindsay was the festival poet for the month long Mimosa Festival held across the North East by Arcadea in 2006. She performed this piece at The Metamorphosis Ball which was a cabaret to close the Festival at Sage Gateshead.
Wallsend’s Buddle hosted transition
writ large there was Ceitach’s mission
one by one, he restored identity, and more
to the genocide victims of T4
To the disabled people whose bodies
were tossed
onto the fires of Hitler’s Holocaust
Stark contrast then to explore the trees
In the beautiful photography
of Aileen Hay who found a way
to calm us before our head’s turn
to the scratch republic of
outlaw artist sean burn
Dhorothya
Gave us 13 relics in WombMan
Strange Creatures stared out from pre-op
Scans
Herstory not history was pagan and grand
Newcastle’s sparkling new dance city
Mimosad with strawberries and
champagne, very glitzy
Pauline Heath made us laff, but did she
Leave without a man?
Wayne Hooks pluffed the feathers as
Only Wayne Hooks can
Rachel Kay gave us Tear or Tear
I don’t care which
because it was beautifully choreographed
by Caroline Bowditch
Who even in her absence made us watch
her on the screen
whilst Fiona Wright of Girl Jonah might
just have been seen
sitting in the audience
watching Common Ground’s Sign Dance
They gave us Breaker, Breakdown and Breakthrough
No music just movement, communication
and a take through
Deafworld beauty
At Mushroom Works just up from Spillers
Unseen was packed out by pseudo-Wellers
It was Up Close and Personal with Twink
Who gave us the bright white corridor of fame
spread with Jam
And Inside Out by A.J. Moesby
whose analytic cabinet shows me
the remedy
to who I am
Get over it!
At the top of the Ouseburn behind the
Tanners Pub
Is the Star and Shadow, which embraced
Mimosa Club
The space has the spirit of the people
who fill it
and the mimosa flower
reverberated artist power.
Girl Jonah were tray steamy
This Two gave us dancing with mermaids
different dances taking chances
Giovanna Maria Casetta showed how an
exterior self
can hide a taboo state of health
She lay her fragility bare
As she sat and slowly plucked out her hair
sean burn gave us the voice
that oppressors never captured
his bandwidth let it out
tattoed apple pips were scattered
Tom Shakespeare and Topsy Qur’et
Were an asymmetric duet
Who fell for each other and stood for each
Other
And skated the process of death.
Mimosa Screen took Sage Gateshead by storm
Seven eopics were seen in short film form
Milner/Minter aired a newscast that
thumbed its nose
Sally Pearce revealed what stick people
wear under their clothes
Roaring Mouse showed us how to
spruce up when cupid calls
while sean burn’s checkov spoke the
quiet truth of it all
Terence Healy drew a line and verbal
portrait of an actor
whose advice was very simple – use
what you have to
Liz Crow splashed a swimming pool tale
of Nectar
a Deaf youth’s life decision – choose
what you love
writing changes lives said sean burn in
stealing brecht
a red tulip startled from the depth of
his text
It wouldn’t fit ’Through the Buttonhole’
Writ by Karen Sheader
The disablist host of her gameshow was
An obnoxious oily bleeder
Divine Divas grabbed Sage Gateshead
by its tits
Mistress of Ceremonies was
Ms Caroline Bowditch
Minika Green was born to sing and she
left us ‘Feelin’ Good’
She sang the language of jazz and
had ‘The Look of Love’
Silent Diva Caroline Parker swung her
rainbow pants
that trademark twirl, that lip, that curl
she had us all entranced
Karen Sheader took us to a place
where we were all accepted
via Venus Mars and Lourdes whose
water was rejected
A place where lust will know no bounds,
a magic land waiting
for a drop dead gorgeous sound and
bolshy agitation
Mimosa Stage at Sage Gateshead
Tom Shakespeare’s family tree
showed the way heredity shapes us
the ologies that for the ‘me’
Laurence Clark had a wonderful claim
to fame
as a child he was on TV
when he proudly refused to wear the
patronising badge
which simpered ‘Jim fixed it for me.’
So Liz Carr is MCing Metamorphosis Ball
She’ll camp up our culture and rip up the hall
Now down to the cocktails they’re chic
Slash pokey
Make prats of yourselves with the karaoke
but before we get drunk I’d like to say a
Very happy first birthday to arcadea
Lindsay Carter 2006
Mimosa Magazine
Lindsay was the festival poet for the month long Mimosa Festival held across the North East by Arcadea in 2006. She performed this piece at The Metamorphosis Ball which was a cabaret to close the Festival at Sage Gateshead.
Wallsend’s Buddle hosted transition
writ large there was Ceitach’s mission
one by one, he restored identity, and more
to the genocide victims of T4
To the disabled people whose bodies
were tossed
onto the fires of Hitler’s Holocaust
Stark contrast then to explore the trees
In the beautiful photography
of Aileen Hay who found a way
to calm us before our head’s turn
to the scratch republic of
outlaw artist sean burn
Dhorothya
Gave us 13 relics in WombMan
Strange Creatures stared out from pre-op
Scans
Herstory not history was pagan and grand
Newcastle’s sparkling new dance city
Mimosad with strawberries and
champagne, very glitzy
Pauline Heath made us laff, but did she
Leave without a man?
Wayne Hooks pluffed the feathers as
Only Wayne Hooks can
Rachel Kay gave us Tear or Tear
I don’t care which
because it was beautifully choreographed
by Caroline Bowditch
Who even in her absence made us watch
her on the screen
whilst Fiona Wright of Girl Jonah might
just have been seen
sitting in the audience
watching Common Ground’s Sign Dance
They gave us Breaker, Breakdown and Breakthrough
No music just movement, communication
and a take through
Deafworld beauty
At Mushroom Works just up from Spillers
Unseen was packed out by pseudo-Wellers
It was Up Close and Personal with Twink
Who gave us the bright white corridor of fame
spread with Jam
And Inside Out by A.J. Moesby
whose analytic cabinet shows me
the remedy
to who I am
Get over it!
At the top of the Ouseburn behind the
Tanners Pub
Is the Star and Shadow, which embraced
Mimosa Club
The space has the spirit of the people
who fill it
and the mimosa flower
reverberated artist power.
Girl Jonah were tray steamy
This Two gave us dancing with mermaids
different dances taking chances
Giovanna Maria Casetta showed how an
exterior self
can hide a taboo state of health
She lay her fragility bare
As she sat and slowly plucked out her hair
sean burn gave us the voice
that oppressors never captured
his bandwidth let it out
tattoed apple pips were scattered
Tom Shakespeare and Topsy Qur’et
Were an asymmetric duet
Who fell for each other and stood for each
Other
And skated the process of death.
Mimosa Screen took Sage Gateshead by storm
Seven eopics were seen in short film form
Milner/Minter aired a newscast that
thumbed its nose
Sally Pearce revealed what stick people
wear under their clothes
Roaring Mouse showed us how to
spruce up when cupid calls
while sean burn’s checkov spoke the
quiet truth of it all
Terence Healy drew a line and verbal
portrait of an actor
whose advice was very simple – use
what you have to
Liz Crow splashed a swimming pool tale
of Nectar
a Deaf youth’s life decision – choose
what you love
writing changes lives said sean burn in
stealing brecht
a red tulip startled from the depth of
his text
It wouldn’t fit ’Through the Buttonhole’
Writ by Karen Sheader
The disablist host of her gameshow was
An obnoxious oily bleeder
Divine Divas grabbed Sage Gateshead
by its tits
Mistress of Ceremonies was
Ms Caroline Bowditch
Minika Green was born to sing and she
left us ‘Feelin’ Good’
She sang the language of jazz and
had ‘The Look of Love’
Silent Diva Caroline Parker swung her
rainbow pants
that trademark twirl, that lip, that curl
she had us all entranced
Karen Sheader took us to a place
where we were all accepted
via Venus Mars and Lourdes whose
water was rejected
A place where lust will know no bounds,
a magic land waiting
for a drop dead gorgeous sound and
bolshy agitation
Mimosa Stage at Sage Gateshead
Tom Shakespeare’s family tree
showed the way heredity shapes us
the ologies that for the ‘me’
Laurence Clark had a wonderful claim
to fame
as a child he was on TV
when he proudly refused to wear the
patronising badge
which simpered ‘Jim fixed it for me.’
So Liz Carr is MCing Metamorphosis Ball
She’ll camp up our culture and rip up the hall
Now down to the cocktails they’re chic
Slash pokey
Make prats of yourselves with the karaoke
but before we get drunk I’d like to say a
Very happy first birthday to arcadea
Lindsay Carter 2006
Mimosa Magazine
Paula Greenwell
Shelf Life*
A qualified university lecturer, Paula Greenwell, was a writer, director, performer and guest lecturer on Disability Studies Courses. She was a member of Invisible Cabaret, performed and directed for Tyneside Disability Arts and Get Off Our Backs Theatre Company. Paula was a founder member of NorDAF. She served as Chairperson of National Disability Arts Forum. Paula was involved in developing Disability Arts activity in the North east region and has been part of numerous regional and national projects – a national mentoring scheme for disabled writers, and her work was published in NorDAF News and Shelf Life. Here in her own words, shared by her, from Shelf Life (an NDAF publication edited by Kaite O’Reilly, Paula discusses perceptions of becoming disabled and notions of a ‘shelf life’ for disabled people).
“When I was diagnosed twenty five years ago, it was said ‘Poor Paul, she loves to dance.’ And so I did, but why did I immediately lose my ability to dance? It took twelve years before I used a wheelchair but assumptions were always made. I could list numerous experiences and accomplishments but why should I justify myself?
I have been viewed as someone in terminal loss. So what should I do? Wait for my death only looking at my watch or calender?
Yes I was a good disco dancer, but twenty five years on I’m not bemoaning the loss of that skill. There are plenty of people who can’t dance. Me, I’ve been there, done that, got the tee shirt.
What annoys me is that I’m not allowed to get on with my life, and treated as though I’m a breed apart. I won’t be the last person to get a chronic progressive illness. I’m not a tragic individual. I’m trying to ensure that in future, society does not stick us in loss and limit our choices. The progression of humanity should not be limited to a fear of dying. What limits us all is a fear of living. There never has been security. Life is transient. How stimulating is a journey on a conveyor belt to a predictable end? […] Convention and the search for security does not widen our perceptions or stir our senses.
Longevity is unimportant. The contribution one makes to life is. If I die next week or twenty years on is irrelevant. I will have contributed towards changes."
* As stated above Shelf Life was a publication from NDAF working with disabled writers. Paula kindly gave her permission for this writing to be included in the Special Heritage Edition of Mimosa Magazine in 2009.
A qualified university lecturer, Paula Greenwell, was a writer, director, performer and guest lecturer on Disability Studies Courses. She was a member of Invisible Cabaret, performed and directed for Tyneside Disability Arts and Get Off Our Backs Theatre Company. Paula was a founder member of NorDAF. She served as Chairperson of National Disability Arts Forum. Paula was involved in developing Disability Arts activity in the North east region and has been part of numerous regional and national projects – a national mentoring scheme for disabled writers, and her work was published in NorDAF News and Shelf Life. Here in her own words, shared by her, from Shelf Life (an NDAF publication edited by Kaite O’Reilly, Paula discusses perceptions of becoming disabled and notions of a ‘shelf life’ for disabled people).
“When I was diagnosed twenty five years ago, it was said ‘Poor Paul, she loves to dance.’ And so I did, but why did I immediately lose my ability to dance? It took twelve years before I used a wheelchair but assumptions were always made. I could list numerous experiences and accomplishments but why should I justify myself?
I have been viewed as someone in terminal loss. So what should I do? Wait for my death only looking at my watch or calender?
Yes I was a good disco dancer, but twenty five years on I’m not bemoaning the loss of that skill. There are plenty of people who can’t dance. Me, I’ve been there, done that, got the tee shirt.
What annoys me is that I’m not allowed to get on with my life, and treated as though I’m a breed apart. I won’t be the last person to get a chronic progressive illness. I’m not a tragic individual. I’m trying to ensure that in future, society does not stick us in loss and limit our choices. The progression of humanity should not be limited to a fear of dying. What limits us all is a fear of living. There never has been security. Life is transient. How stimulating is a journey on a conveyor belt to a predictable end? […] Convention and the search for security does not widen our perceptions or stir our senses.
Longevity is unimportant. The contribution one makes to life is. If I die next week or twenty years on is irrelevant. I will have contributed towards changes."
* As stated above Shelf Life was a publication from NDAF working with disabled writers. Paula kindly gave her permission for this writing to be included in the Special Heritage Edition of Mimosa Magazine in 2009.
Geof Armstrong
The Journey of a Movement
Geof was one of the founders of the disability arts movement in the UK. He sadly passed away in 2020. He wrote this article for the Heritage Edition of Mimosa Magazine in 2009 reflecting on his journey and that of the movement.
“Geof Armstrong had been involved in disability arts since the beginning. An important voice throughout the movement, Geof worked in London, with many others to develop the first organized disability arts cabarets and projects. Profiling for the first time, very many of the established disabled artists we know today. He was involved in setting up London, Northern and national disability arts forums, becoming director of the latter for over 16 years. As the movement grew, Geof became involved in a more strategic way by campaigning hard to influence national policy and practice.
The National Disability Arts Forum closed in 2008 and Geof founded Disability Cultural Projects which continued to deliver the only national newsletter relating to disability equality and the arts, known as etcetera. Here Geof reflects on the personal journey of a movement.
Each of us takes our own journey towards understanding the world around us and how we fit or don't fit in. On my journey, I learned the big ideas, those that have driven so much of the equality agenda we have today, by working with people who were kind enough and stubborn enough to stick with me, until they finally sunk in. Feminism, racism, socialism, and the social model of disability all passed along, like a magical whisper to which I was invited to add my own perspective.
In the late 70s, a bunch of ‘crips’ who happened to be in the same place at the same time, chose for their perspective, the arts. Radicalized by the women's movement, captivated by civil rights, emasculated and infantilized by the medical model, for us the time was ripe to mix it up and use the arts to express the social model.
This was an era of chaos. Thatcher, the Falklands War, the minus strike riots, Billy Bragg, UB 40, Gay Sweatshop, the poll tax and much more. There was nothing else we could do other than raise our voices and join the chorus of outrage that was sweeping the nation.
And so, powered by idealism and driven by optimists the disability arts movement emerged. The early days were both romantic and rebellious. There were love affairs, power struggles, huge success and bitter disappointment, tabs, booze, and furious late night debates at disability cabaret clubs with evocative names such as The Ghetto, The Workhouse and Bedlam, all to the soundtrack of Johnny Crescendo’s “Choices and Rights” song, and a backdrop of charmless bits of wheelchair pounded flat by Tony Heaton. into an angry map of the UK.
From this smoky cradle, and alongside the Disability Rights Movement, we used creativity to challenge segregation, to challenge charity, to challenge the authority that flowed from the medical model we were angry, and if it moved, we challenged it.
The North East was no exception to the disability culture shock that rippled across England. As with the rest of the country, many of the region's arts managers funders and organizations were concerned that we would fail, or would ignore the wider the disabled community, and resisted the notion of self-determination.
However, the obvious achievements of disability arts elsewhere, the popularity of local groups such as The Lawnmowers, with our ability to draw disabled people into venues, a degree of visionary thinking at Northern Arts, and some persuasive talking, secured the funding for a regional conference and eventually the launch of the Northern Disability arts forum, now Arcadea.
The rest is, as they say, history or is it? In the very recent past [time of writing was 2009], Disability Arts became Disability and Deaf Arts, further strengthening and broadening the sector and adding an exciting new dimension. Our artists’ work is now more sophisticated and retrospective with local visual artists such as Eddie Hardy, sean burn and Neil Tinning, alongside Grin and Bare It Theatre Company, elevating and expanding our ideas of who we are and what we can do.
Yet, amazingly, there are still those within the arts establishment who refuse to listen to or trust us, or in fact truly care if disabled and Deaf people are empowered by or are even part of the arts. One can only imagine that this is because they don't understand what we have achieved and are trying to do, assuming that all we want to need is to be mainstreamed, not imagining that we have our own voice to refine and our own culture to contribute.
Having unrestrained access to culture is acknowledged as a human right, being able to participate in or attend what's on next week at the Sage Gateshead, the Baltic or the Theatre Royal is an aspect of that right, which we must not forget. However, access is not cultural diversity, nor is it cultural equality. These are bigger ideals, both of which are now the next part of my journey as a disabled artists towards understanding how I fit or don't fit in with the world around me.
Geof was one of the founders of the disability arts movement in the UK. He sadly passed away in 2020. He wrote this article for the Heritage Edition of Mimosa Magazine in 2009 reflecting on his journey and that of the movement.
“Geof Armstrong had been involved in disability arts since the beginning. An important voice throughout the movement, Geof worked in London, with many others to develop the first organized disability arts cabarets and projects. Profiling for the first time, very many of the established disabled artists we know today. He was involved in setting up London, Northern and national disability arts forums, becoming director of the latter for over 16 years. As the movement grew, Geof became involved in a more strategic way by campaigning hard to influence national policy and practice.
The National Disability Arts Forum closed in 2008 and Geof founded Disability Cultural Projects which continued to deliver the only national newsletter relating to disability equality and the arts, known as etcetera. Here Geof reflects on the personal journey of a movement.
Each of us takes our own journey towards understanding the world around us and how we fit or don't fit in. On my journey, I learned the big ideas, those that have driven so much of the equality agenda we have today, by working with people who were kind enough and stubborn enough to stick with me, until they finally sunk in. Feminism, racism, socialism, and the social model of disability all passed along, like a magical whisper to which I was invited to add my own perspective.
In the late 70s, a bunch of ‘crips’ who happened to be in the same place at the same time, chose for their perspective, the arts. Radicalized by the women's movement, captivated by civil rights, emasculated and infantilized by the medical model, for us the time was ripe to mix it up and use the arts to express the social model.
This was an era of chaos. Thatcher, the Falklands War, the minus strike riots, Billy Bragg, UB 40, Gay Sweatshop, the poll tax and much more. There was nothing else we could do other than raise our voices and join the chorus of outrage that was sweeping the nation.
And so, powered by idealism and driven by optimists the disability arts movement emerged. The early days were both romantic and rebellious. There were love affairs, power struggles, huge success and bitter disappointment, tabs, booze, and furious late night debates at disability cabaret clubs with evocative names such as The Ghetto, The Workhouse and Bedlam, all to the soundtrack of Johnny Crescendo’s “Choices and Rights” song, and a backdrop of charmless bits of wheelchair pounded flat by Tony Heaton. into an angry map of the UK.
From this smoky cradle, and alongside the Disability Rights Movement, we used creativity to challenge segregation, to challenge charity, to challenge the authority that flowed from the medical model we were angry, and if it moved, we challenged it.
The North East was no exception to the disability culture shock that rippled across England. As with the rest of the country, many of the region's arts managers funders and organizations were concerned that we would fail, or would ignore the wider the disabled community, and resisted the notion of self-determination.
However, the obvious achievements of disability arts elsewhere, the popularity of local groups such as The Lawnmowers, with our ability to draw disabled people into venues, a degree of visionary thinking at Northern Arts, and some persuasive talking, secured the funding for a regional conference and eventually the launch of the Northern Disability arts forum, now Arcadea.
The rest is, as they say, history or is it? In the very recent past [time of writing was 2009], Disability Arts became Disability and Deaf Arts, further strengthening and broadening the sector and adding an exciting new dimension. Our artists’ work is now more sophisticated and retrospective with local visual artists such as Eddie Hardy, sean burn and Neil Tinning, alongside Grin and Bare It Theatre Company, elevating and expanding our ideas of who we are and what we can do.
Yet, amazingly, there are still those within the arts establishment who refuse to listen to or trust us, or in fact truly care if disabled and Deaf people are empowered by or are even part of the arts. One can only imagine that this is because they don't understand what we have achieved and are trying to do, assuming that all we want to need is to be mainstreamed, not imagining that we have our own voice to refine and our own culture to contribute.
Having unrestrained access to culture is acknowledged as a human right, being able to participate in or attend what's on next week at the Sage Gateshead, the Baltic or the Theatre Royal is an aspect of that right, which we must not forget. However, access is not cultural diversity, nor is it cultural equality. These are bigger ideals, both of which are now the next part of my journey as a disabled artists towards understanding how I fit or don't fit in with the world around me.
Heritage Mimosa Magazine on Deaf Arts
Deaf Arts in the North East
This article was written for Mimosa Magazine's Heritage Edition in 2009
On the whole Deaf Arts has not been adequately resourced or supported in the North East, through the arts infrastructure. That doesn't mean that there has been no Deaf Art taking place though. Quite the opposite. Deaf led groups, organisations and NorDAF, now Arcadea, made particular commitments to supporting Deaf artists and projects. Here we look back at some of that activity and also acknowledge that the future needs to see specific resources and funding targeted at promoting Deaf Art and Culture. New alliances have been forged in recent times across the country, and the movement has now become known as Disability and Deaf Arts. Here we take a potted history of Deaf Arts activity across the region.
The Tyneside Cinema hosted the first Deaf Film Festival in 1994. And the Deaf film production company Deaf Owl, based in Gateshead, had a strong presence in the Deaf community in the North East and created much ground-breaking work.
A Deaf Youth Theatre Project had previously been coordinated by Theatre Station in Blyth in 1994, along with other supporters, and a day of activities resulted in the production of a play entirely based on the interests of the young Deaf people involved. Afterwards it was agreed that the Deaf Youth Theatre would meet on a regular basis, and would hold a summer school.
With the appointment of Janet Tucker to NorDAF’s team in 1996, Deaf Arts, meaning any art created by artists who are deaf, and may or may not include references to their experiences as Deaf people and Deaf Culture, was put firmly on the agenda.
Veronica McHale, NorDAF’s Development Manager, along with Janet and the Management Committee worked hard to develop a set of proposals to encourage Deaf Arts in the region. The organisation undertook feasibility research to examine the existing provision at the time, and also to bring Deaf artists together to discuss their needs and aspirations.
It was also made clear that it was entirely up to Deaf artists to determine how Deaf Arts would develop in the North East, and also what their relationship to NorDAF would be.
Common Ground Sign Dance Theatre, of which founding member Denise Armstrong was from the North East regularly toured their work to the region and delivered workshops with Deaf children and adults. In 1998, they premiered their production of Distant Sisters at Live Theatre in Newcastle. It was a piece presenting an unusual and sensual meeting of Frida Kahlo and Marilyn Monroe, crossing the passage of time. Based on their inner landscapes, the piece was presented in signed poetry, song and dance, and reflected the creation of new art forms. Denise later became involved with NorDAF as one of its four ambassadors placed in arts organizations in the region to promote Disability and Deaf equality. She is a Deaf performer, choreographer and artistic director who works creatively throughout the UK and internationally.
Whilst in the region for this premiere, the company worked for two weeks with Newcastle Deaf drama group to develop a performance of their own in ‘Build a Performance.’
Cleveland Arts, which was a sub regional Disability Arts agency, had an equality unit, which collaborated with NorDAF to bring Deaf people together to discuss Deaf Arts North. An event was held at Live Theatre in March 1998, which consisted of workshops performances, and discussions and demonstrations of the skills of Deaf artists.
The Deaf community actively campaigned for many years, for among other rights, British Sign Language to be recognised as a constitutional British language. There are lots of Deaf led organisations involved in organising a range of vibrant cultural activities in the region. In 2001, there was a BSL Recognition March from Gateshead to Newcastle, which ended with an energised cabaret.
Emma Amsden is a Deaf photographer based in the Yorkshire Dales, who has had a long standing relationship with Arcadea. She has exhibited her work in the North East several times and has had her work published many times in national media such as The Guardian, and in 2001, along with Lee Jordan, another deaf photographer, ran Talking Pictures, which was a Deaf photography course held at Blyth Resource Initiative Centre in Northumberland. Their work Crossings was exhibited at the Phoenix Theatre in Blyth.
Also in 2001, Julie Storey and YouSign offered training in BSL, Deaf Awareness and Minicom use to many arts and culture organisations in the region.
In 2002, the Deaf Lifelong Learning Project launched a website developed and hosted by Signpost, Tyne Tees Television’s BSL Translation and Interpretation unit, along with Granada learning
2002 saw Becoming Visible launched as a new organisation to promote Deaf language, Culture and Sports. Becoming Visible is a Deaf led organization and has hosted workshops, Deaf sports days, Deaf Film events, children's events, and hosted a consultation towards the NewcastleGateshead bid for Capital of Culture. The organization continues to develop, promote and support the deaf community whilst providing BSL and interpretation services.
On the whole Deaf Arts has not been adequately resourced or supported in the North East, through the arts infrastructure. That doesn't mean that there has been no Deaf Art taking place though. Quite the opposite. Deaf led groups, organisations and NorDAF, now Arcadea, made particular commitments to supporting Deaf artists and projects. Here we look back at some of that activity and also acknowledge that the future needs to see specific resources and funding targeted at promoting Deaf Art and Culture. New alliances have been forged in recent times across the country, and the movement has now become known as Disability and Deaf Arts. Here we take a potted history of Deaf Arts activity across the region.
The Tyneside Cinema hosted the first Deaf Film Festival in 1994. And the Deaf film production company Deaf Owl, based in Gateshead, had a strong presence in the Deaf community in the North East and created much ground-breaking work.
A Deaf Youth Theatre Project had previously been coordinated by Theatre Station in Blyth in 1994, along with other supporters, and a day of activities resulted in the production of a play entirely based on the interests of the young Deaf people involved. Afterwards it was agreed that the Deaf Youth Theatre would meet on a regular basis, and would hold a summer school.
With the appointment of Janet Tucker to NorDAF’s team in 1996, Deaf Arts, meaning any art created by artists who are deaf, and may or may not include references to their experiences as Deaf people and Deaf Culture, was put firmly on the agenda.
Veronica McHale, NorDAF’s Development Manager, along with Janet and the Management Committee worked hard to develop a set of proposals to encourage Deaf Arts in the region. The organisation undertook feasibility research to examine the existing provision at the time, and also to bring Deaf artists together to discuss their needs and aspirations.
It was also made clear that it was entirely up to Deaf artists to determine how Deaf Arts would develop in the North East, and also what their relationship to NorDAF would be.
Common Ground Sign Dance Theatre, of which founding member Denise Armstrong was from the North East regularly toured their work to the region and delivered workshops with Deaf children and adults. In 1998, they premiered their production of Distant Sisters at Live Theatre in Newcastle. It was a piece presenting an unusual and sensual meeting of Frida Kahlo and Marilyn Monroe, crossing the passage of time. Based on their inner landscapes, the piece was presented in signed poetry, song and dance, and reflected the creation of new art forms. Denise later became involved with NorDAF as one of its four ambassadors placed in arts organizations in the region to promote Disability and Deaf equality. She is a Deaf performer, choreographer and artistic director who works creatively throughout the UK and internationally.
Whilst in the region for this premiere, the company worked for two weeks with Newcastle Deaf drama group to develop a performance of their own in ‘Build a Performance.’
Cleveland Arts, which was a sub regional Disability Arts agency, had an equality unit, which collaborated with NorDAF to bring Deaf people together to discuss Deaf Arts North. An event was held at Live Theatre in March 1998, which consisted of workshops performances, and discussions and demonstrations of the skills of Deaf artists.
The Deaf community actively campaigned for many years, for among other rights, British Sign Language to be recognised as a constitutional British language. There are lots of Deaf led organisations involved in organising a range of vibrant cultural activities in the region. In 2001, there was a BSL Recognition March from Gateshead to Newcastle, which ended with an energised cabaret.
Emma Amsden is a Deaf photographer based in the Yorkshire Dales, who has had a long standing relationship with Arcadea. She has exhibited her work in the North East several times and has had her work published many times in national media such as The Guardian, and in 2001, along with Lee Jordan, another deaf photographer, ran Talking Pictures, which was a Deaf photography course held at Blyth Resource Initiative Centre in Northumberland. Their work Crossings was exhibited at the Phoenix Theatre in Blyth.
Also in 2001, Julie Storey and YouSign offered training in BSL, Deaf Awareness and Minicom use to many arts and culture organisations in the region.
In 2002, the Deaf Lifelong Learning Project launched a website developed and hosted by Signpost, Tyne Tees Television’s BSL Translation and Interpretation unit, along with Granada learning
2002 saw Becoming Visible launched as a new organisation to promote Deaf language, Culture and Sports. Becoming Visible is a Deaf led organization and has hosted workshops, Deaf sports days, Deaf Film events, children's events, and hosted a consultation towards the NewcastleGateshead bid for Capital of Culture. The organization continues to develop, promote and support the deaf community whilst providing BSL and interpretation services.
Links to other North East related writings
We will soon be sharing writings from 21 disabled artists featured in a portraiture exhibition in 2008 - 21: The Last Avant Garde by Fisheye, meanwhile enjoy these writings from wonderful wordsmiths.
A Lyrical Essay by Lisette Auton on a Disconsortia gathering Disconsortia – A Lyrical Essay - Disability Arts Online
Colly Metcalfe on Disconsortia Disconsortia Means - Disability Arts Online
Karen Sheader: Planet of the Blind - disability arts online (wearefreewheeling.org.uk)
Karen Sheader – The Need to be Creative - Disability Arts Online
Colin Cameron references North East activity in this article Disability Arts and Activism
Gobscure Time To Grow
Vici Wreford-Sinnott tells her story and chats about her role in the history of disability arts in Ireland and North East England - Disability Arts Online
Simon McKeown- A vehicle to responding to the crisis
Lady Kitt - A Unexpected Key
A DIY Disabled Artist-Led Takeover - Disability Arts Online
A disabled artist led consortium of extraordinary voices - Disability Arts Online
Disabled Artists Doing It For Ourselves - come and work with us - Vici Wreford-Sinnott
