Disability Arts History Australia website launched

A new Disability Arts History Australia website bringing together the stories, achievements and influence of Australian artists with disabilities over the past five decades has been launched at Queensland University of Technology.

Project leader Bree Hadley said the website “highlights the power of arts and cultural representation to create change, and the work still to be done to achieve full inclusion in the Australian arts sector”.

The website visitors has entries for more than 10,860 artists, organisations and works by artform, location, demographics or topic. Visitors to the site “can also explore 1661 digitised archival records ranging from event programs to annual reports alongside 49 filmed interviews with d/Deaf, Disabled and Neurodivergent artists and allies, each with Auslan interpretation, captions and transcripts,” said Creative Australia.

Producer and steering committee member Simone Flavelle said, “It’s really important for younger artists to see the legacy of many disabled artists and allies who’ve been practising for more than 50 years and for younger artists, allies and administrators to gain a sense of pride in that legacy and understand the evolution of practice, policy and people”.

The website also includes a timeline of significant milestones in Australian disability arts history dating back to advocacy campaigns in the 1960s.

The project is funded by the Australian Research Council, with support from Creative Australia, Queensland University of Technology’s Centre for Justice and Curtin University’s Centre for Culture and Technology, as well as Arts Access Victoria and the University of Melbourne.

Photo: Project leader Bree Hadley.

Category: Local news