The City of Melbourne’s Arts House has launched a five-year disability-led residency and commissioning program, which aims to support Deaf, Disabled, neurodiverse and chronically ill artists, curators, collectives, and their collaborating allies to develop their artistic potential through The Warehouse Residency.
The inaugural residents are Catherine Dunn and Sam Martin, Leisa Prowd and Mishka, who will receive $25,000 towards artist fees and materials and $4,000 for access services, support, and consultation, as well as three-month access to a dedicated studio space, access to a mentor, equipment, production, and producing expertise, and opportunity to present residency outcomes. “The Warehouse Residency at Arts House will challenge what it means to create and produce accessible art – it will break down the barriers for artists and audiences,” says Dunn.
Leisa Prowd. Photograph: Aaron Walker. Image courtesy the artist and Arts House, Melbourne
Dunn and Martin worked with a group of Deaf artists from March to May with the vision to create a culturally safe space to explore storytelling beyond hearing-centric environments and spoken languages. Performances by these artists will be presented at Arts House in August.
From July, Prowd will delve into themes of perception, voyeurism, and consent by exploring her relationship with her own body in a world not designed for her four-foot-tall stature in a six-foot world. The residency will culminate in a two-week season at Arts House in October.
Mishka’s residency aims to demystify autistic art practices. From March to May 2023, sixteen autistic and non-autistic artists will examine stim vocabularies to develop a sensory and tactile performance with large-scale brain puppets, as well as a film installation with projection.
The Warehouse Residency was co-devised by Arts House and six Deaf, Disabled and neurodiverse artists, with support from Arts Access Victoria, to ensure the program embraces self-determination, flexibility and risk taking, and enhances inclusion and participation. It extends a long history of Arts House programming and partnerships involving deaf and disabled artists, including Back to Back Theatre, Rawcus, Jodee Mundy Collaborations, Claire Cunningham and Chelle Destefano.
The next call out for The Warehouse Residency at Arts House will open in October 2022.
artshouse.com.au
