Disability Photography
Wheelchair Dancer has of a New York photographic exhibition entitled Intimate Encounters by Belinda Mason-Lovering that "debunks the myth that a person with a disability has no sexual identity or desire, an assumption that has led to the repression of discussion or expression of sexuality."
Is that still a myth? You'll need to do some clicking on account of the frames, but the photographs are available to judge for yourself (click Exhibitions; Intimate Encounters; View Exhibition) - be warned; they include depictions of nudity and sexual activity which some people may find offensive. Ditto for the , in New York, where the exhibition will be until the 16th September.
Looking at the pictures on-line, I totally share Wheelchair Dancer's reservations about the need to accompany each photograph with an explanation of the subject's impairment. I also felt that, while often extremely beautiful, some of the photographs are about the absence of shame as opposed to sexual or romantic identity. I think I probably liked the pictures more than Wheelchair Dancer did, but I understood her sentiment that
"The idea that we have sexuality is new and exciting only to the non-disabled (TAB?) world."
WD got to meet Belinda Mason-Lovering and says
"[She said that she] considers her job well-done if her art changes the mind of one able-bodied person. And that was very much the feel of the work. The disabled people were presented on their own terms, but the work was directed at educating the unsuspecting non-disabled audience."
Nothing wrong with that, but it does pose the question of what art about disability for disabled people might look like. Does it exist? Or is all the art we create about disability necessarily about educating non-disabled people? Anyway, do check out the exhibition as well as WD's review of it, in which she models some extremely nice shiny red shoes.
Perhaps there are some answers to be found back over in Blighty, where there's still a few weeks to see the best of the competition 2007 entries at the . The annual competition "showcases stories and photos by and of people with a learning disability".
The exhibition closes on 22nd July and if you can't get to London, you see the photographs . Some of the pictures are really very beautiful, others are simply great fun. The themes are very much about people with intellectual impairments as opposed to being about their impairments or experiences of disability. No strong educational agenda; just a celebration of those lives.
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Cirque Nova is searching for young adventurous disabled people from the London area, who would be interested in being taught 4 days a month or more aerial work to perform at Liberty's disability Festival in Trafalgar Square for 2008.
We are looking for wheelchair bound disabled people.(we will have to visit you and see if your body abilities are able to do the work provided) but Please DON'T assume that you will not be able to do this.
As our funding is aimed at teaching Young People, we can only include in this project people under the age of 25.
If you have the will you can do it! Cirque Nova has worked in training disabled people previously, which has helped them strengthen their limbs and stretch their back and all the work will be done in as much comfort and safety as possible.
At no point will the work be dangerous as we will be using the best climbing equipment and we are very serious about our health and safety.
We need enthusiastic young people, from any background that can deal with heights or think they can learn to handle being winched up to the same height as Nelson's statue in Trafalgar Square.
If you are accepted, we will look for possibilities of funding for you to travel to our training space, which will be obviously an access for disable space, and on the days of performance you will be fed and receive a Per Diem fee, to cover the costs of you not going to work on that day or to cover and other costs you may come across, also when needed accommodation and food will be provided.
This project is aiming to try and include our work and there is a possibility that it may be accepted for the passing of the Paralympics torch event in Beijing (China) to London, which means we might get the chance to travel and perform there.
If this project is successful we will then look to find a further 20 disabled youths to train them to do the same work simultaneously, to create an aerial disabled ballet to perform up high at the Paralympics opening Ceremony in 2012.
We must point that: None of these Olympics projects are guaranteed yet, but if we succeed in performing at Liberties 2008, we are very likely to be accepted for the Olympic ceremonies as well. And also that priority will be given to youths of the London area, as we have limited funding.
So if you are a young man or woman, that likes performance art, which is adventurous and would like to learn to rotate and hang upside-down from the safety of climbing belts.
Please get in touch with us, send us an email and we will discuss the possibilities further.