Arts Centre Melbourne and Arts Access Victoria have joined forces to bring an exciting new major arts and disability festival to audiences. From 9 to 13 November, Alter State is streaming a free digital program of creativity and conversation by Deaf and Disabled artists from Australia and Aotearoa (New Zealand). Explore themes of ritual, time and space in new work by artists Daisy Sanders, Patrick William Carter and Rodney Bell. A line-up of panel discussions and workshops introduce artists from The Museum of Us program sharing their creativity and vision for an accessible future; and the Australian Code of Conduct for Access in the Arts turns the focus to agency for Deaf, Disabled and Neurodivergent people. Plus, much more.
Rodney Bell, MEREMERE, 2021, created with Movement of the Human. Photograph: Tom Hoyle. Courtesy the artist and Alter State, Melbourne.
Artist Rodney Bell’s head and shoulders are painted white. He faces left and has small brown feathers across his eyes.
‘I don’t see the festival as only being a platform to showcase performances by artists with a disability but rather, and importantly, a place where we can have conversations and spark dialogue about what we want to see for the future in our community,’ says Joshua Pether, who, alongside fellow Foundation artists Rodney Bell and Carly Findlay OAM, have helped develop Alter State.
‘We want to build on these conversations, deepen the rigour to our practice and apply that to our performances and the work we create. If we create slowly and methodically, then we can potentially change the face of disability arts in Australia, become a major artistic voice in the Melbourne arts community and within the Pacific region.’
The Alter State digital launch will provide the foundation for the first major festival in late 2022.
