Crip News v.125

New works, other news, calls, and events. Thanks for being here.

Mar 25, 2024

New Works

No More Silence, an organization dedicated to ending the murders and disappearances of Indigenous women, has partnered with the Centre for Independent Living in Toronto on a new project “with Indigenous community members who experience challenges and barriers when attempting to access cultural and ceremonial spaces in order to develop guidelines to increase the accessibility of these spaces,” led by Elder Wanda Whitebird.

Kinetic Light has announced “an accessible VR experience,” Territory, in partnership with Double Eye Studios and producer/director Kiira Benzing. The work, which will be experienced with a headset and dome installation, “offers encounters with boundaries, cosmic figures, dark forces, partnership, and new worlds” through a” lush combination of immersive cinematography, dance, animation, visual effects, science fiction, fantasy, and even a touch of horror.” The release date is expected later this year.

A white femme care worker shaves the face of a white masc wheelchair user against the backdrop of a shower. — Image by **Michael Ensminger Photography.**

Denver-based Curious Theatre Company and Phamaly Theatre Company opened Martyna Majok's Pulitzer Prize-winning play, Cost of Living, running through April 20.
- The production comes as Curious is experiencing “a financial fight for its life.”

A tree with extending roots grows around a seed-like circle in which is the text: “SOILS SPIRIT Into That Ruptured Pace (Work in Progress).” Mushrooms and flowers grow from the roots. The tree roots grow downwards into the soil to become human hands, holding a red cord and digging into the soil. Behind and above the branches, in the top left corner, is a colonial map of ‘New England’ from 1671. The map becomes covered with sky-like clouds and naked tree branches and becomes a deep dark blue, with a bird with its wings extended bursting from the branches that sprout fresh leaves only where the map is covered.

This week, artist and organizer Marina 'heron' Tsaplina will stage Soils and Spirit: Into that Ruptured Place (A Work-in-Progress), an excerpt from a performance work “(re)connecting puppetry animation to the animacy and memory of the land” as part of the Object Movement Puppetry Festival in NYC. Featuring Stephen Carrington, Emma Davis, Liz June, Maya Patridge, Josephine Pizzino, Ellis Rodenas with music by Nathan Leigh, design by Marina ‘Heron’ Tsaplina, Sarah Lafferty, Eliza Noxon, Torry Bend, and production assistance by Eliza Noxon.
Ben Myers, a deaf web developer, recently published an overview of key issues in captioning.

The image is a view of the corner of a darkened room, with a two-channel video continuously stretching across the corner from one wall to the other. All of the image is taken up by a blurry light grayscale image of what appears to be a rather old city. Laid on top of this background on the right hand wall is a black-and white image with deeper black and brighter white than the background, showing two young men with dark hair and dark t-shirts, holding old-fashioned stereo-optical devices to their heads, which each have a photo attached to a small stand projecting in front of the viewer. One of the two men is up front and on the left, and appears to be speaking. On the bottom of the left hand wall is a caption in yellow text reading "Built from, uh... from stone brick."

Bert Stabler recently published an in-depth profile of media artist Darrin Martin on the anti-ableist blog Institutional Model.

A handwritten all-caps caption says CAPTIONING IS ACCESS WORK. — Still from “**Captioning on Captioning**” (2020) by **Louise Hickman** & **Finnegan Shannon**.

Darrin Martin is curating a special in-person program called “What Are Words For?” this week at the Ann Arbor Film Festival, featuring works by Louise Hickman & Finnegan Shannon, Charles de Augustin, Malic Amalya, Christine Sun Kim, Alison O’Daniel, Darrin Martin, and Liza Sylvestre.
If I Could Just Reach Out and Touch It by Rachel DeForrest Repinz is “an intimate multi-sensory performance” integrating “experimental approaches to audio description and accessibility as creative praxis.” The work will be shown at Brick Art Haus (Brooklyn) on Tuesday, March 26 as part of the Estrogenius Festival.
Robert Softley Gale, CEO of Scotland’s Birds of Paradise Theatre Company, recently reflected on the company’s 30 year anniversary with The List’s Neil Cooper.
For Lavender Magazine, Jen Peeples profiles the organizing of Terri Wilder to support queer disabled elders in NYC.

Video is out from the Disability & Philanthropy’s event “Disability Justice and Labor Rights.”

In Other News…

Disabled artist Johanna Hedva recently explained how the German institution Kunstverein Braunschweig canceled their solo exhibition because Hedva pressed to name the “undeniable genocide” in Gaza in the show’s press release.
Deadline’s Max Goldbart reports on the lack of progress coming out of a so-called landmark five-year disability partnership between the BBC and Netflix that was supposed to “unearth a new generation of shows helmed by disabled talent” but hasn’t produced a single new new show.
AXIS has announced the new cohort of Choreo-Lab Fellows: Larissa Velez-Jackson, August Grace, Brian Golden, and Joelle Santiago will be mentored by Nadia Adame and Kayla Hamilton.

About 15 disabled people, several in wheelchairs, sit and stand in a rough circle while talking outside a glass-fronted building — Image via **Disability News Service**.

The United Nations called for testimony from the United Kingdom government on “grave and systematic violations” of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Representatives from many disability organizations traveled to Geneva to bear witness to the UK’s presentation, calling it “an insult to disabled people” and full of “half-truths, untruths” and “empty assertions.”

Photo of disability rights activists at a rally in Dublin, posing with their fists in the air — Image via **GCN**.

Irish disability organizers recently held a rally following the walloping defeat of a referendum to replace existing constitutional language about care with ableist language that would have severely limited care options for disabled people.
The American Association of People with Disabilities announced the 2024 recipients of the Paul G. Hearne Emerging Leader Awards: Valois Vera and the Medical Students with Disability and Chronic Illness team, Zainub Dhanani, Nora Newcomb, and Ifeoma Ikedionwu.
Organizers Hannah Diviney and Daphne Frias have launched #YourMoveMET to reimagine the Met Gala without the inaccessible entryway steps.
The Ford Foundation recently announced a new $200,000 grant to Tzedek DC for work to address debt-related problems for disabled folks.
The 45th Telly Awards will include a new category this year: Accessibility.

CALLS

The graphic for the offering, "Undoing Internalized Ableism." The graphic has a light gold background and the text "Apply by May 15" in the top right corner and in a purple banner. In the top center of the graphic is "Undoing Internalized Ableism Cohort" and below it is the text "Our goal is for disabled people to support one another so we can effectively contribute to movements without killing ourselves to do so, and decide for ourselves how we can push each other to meet the demands of what is happening to us." Below that is text "We want cohort members to leave with the tools, skills, and analysis to support other disabled people in undoing internalized ableism." Below that are the dates "June 15, 9am PT / 12pm ET" and "June 20, 27 & July 11, 18, 12pm PT / 3pm ET". To the right are two green seedlings sprouting from a small pile of dirt. At the bottom center of the graphic is a purple banner that says "More info + apply: PeoplesHub.org"

PeoplesHub is seeking members for its Summer 2024 Undoing Internalized Ableism cohort, a 6-week program to equip disabled organizers with tools and strategies to combat internalized ableism. Apply by May 15. More here.
Open Style Lab is accepting applications from designers, filmmakers, and occupational/physical therapists for its 2024 Summer Program that will focus on accessible footwear. More here.
Europe Beyond Access is accepting applications from Deaf and/or disabled artists based in Europe with a passion for dance, choreography, or movement for €15,000 and €40,000 in co-production support. Apply by May 19. More here.
Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund (DREDF) is inviting recent law school graduates with disabilities to apply for the new 2024 Judy Heumann Legal Fellowship. More here.

EVENTS

Disability Intimacy: Essays on Love, Care, and Desire by Alice Wong

Tuesday, March 26, 7pm ET, on Zoom

Hear from panelists Yomi Young, Dr. Khadijah Queen, and Sejal Shah featured in the anthology as they explore disability & intimacy themes tied to romance, community, caregiving and friendships. Moderated by Alice Wong.

Supporting Disabled Artist-Educators and Learners

Tuesday, March 26, 6pm ET, online

The Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) is pleased to announce its spring 2024 Visiting Voices Series event, Art & Disability, hosted by the Hurwitz Center. Five disability justice artist-educators working in K-16 institutions, communities, and museums explore issues, support strategies, and resources for art educators and learners in an interactive conversation facilitated by Dr. Pamela Harris Lawton, Florence Gaskins Harper Endowed Chair in Art Education and thought leader for the Hurwitz Center at MICA.

The Politics of Breathing: A Virtual Panel Discussion

Wednesday, March 27, 2pm ET, on Zoom

How is disability art positioned in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic? How is the act of breathing crucial to our understanding of disability, and how does it reveal social structures of oppression? Join us for a virtual panel discussion with Resistance & Respiration artists Darrin Martin, Liz Nurenberg, Dominic Quagliozzi, and Aislinn Thomas. Moderated by exhibition curator Amanda Cachia, the conversation will explore the four artists’ practices, and their relationship to breathing as artists with disabilities.

Visual Storytelling for Chronic Illness

Saturday, March 30, 12pm ET, on Zoom

The Remote Body and the Chronic Pain Project will present a workshop on visual storytelling. In this workshop you will be looking to shape, beyond the conventional narrative arc, to help communicate experiences of chronic illness and chronic pain through visual storytelling. Facilitated by Sarah Stern. Suggested amount is $5-20 (£4-16) with free spaces available too. Email theremotebody@gmail.com to reserve your spot.

Disability Atlantic Arts Symposium

Friday, March 29 - Sunday, March 31, in-person at Bus Stop Theatre Co-op (Halifax, Nova Scotia)

JRG Society for the Arts is collaborating with Theatre New Brunswick to host the 2024 Disability Atlantic Arts Symposium for a weekend of discussions, community, and celebration, and a keynote from Barak adé Soleil.

Beyond Labels: Conversations on Disability

Friday, March 29, 2:30 - 4:30pm ET, in-person at NYU Law (NYC)

People with disabilities should not have to make up for the fact that they have a disability, but instead they should embrace disability as a part of their identity. Please join NYU DALSA and our esteemed guest speakers, Ali Stroker & Tiffany Yu, for a candid conversation on disability where they will speak about their varied experiences while navigating life as a person with a disability, the way in which disability has informed their lives and the person that they are today, and much more.