About the programme
Art and Disability aims to support greater access to the arts by disabled people as audiences and as artists. We work with leading Italian institutions to celebrate the unique generation of disabled artists in Italy and the UK, and to support exchange of best practice between arts professionals. It is a major ongoing commitment of the British Council. We aim to transform the way that disabled people access the arts as artists and arts professionals, and also as audience members and visitors.
Across Europe, disabled artists are transforming different art forms. In dance, disabled artists are challenging traditional approaches to the body and movement, as well as developing new dance vocabularies. In theatre, disabled artists are telling new and unheard stories, and communicating these stories in powerful and unexpected ways. In the visual arts, disabled artists are revealing diverse perspectives and exploring different ways of experiencing the world.
For us, disabled artists are offering some of the biggest creative opportunities of our time. By working with sector experts and leading disability inclusion professionals, we have seized these opportunities to raise profiles, change perceptions and build legacies for decades, particularly in our theatre and dance work, as captured in our 2021 report Reflecting on Change (PDF, 6 MB).
Together we can make a significant difference to the cultural opportunities for disabled Italian artists and audiences, as well as introduce Italian examples and best practice to UK organisations.
Our main Italian arts partners include:
Oriente Occidente on the Europe Beyond Access programme which focuses on dance professionals – click below for more details.
Linecheck Festival in collaboration with Attitude is Everything, a UK charity, are improving deaf and disabled people's access to live music. Access their free guides in Italian here.
