Though the art world is supposed to be inclusive, that isn’t the experience of many disabled creatives – and in a groundbreaking online exhibition at dis_place they have poured their frustrations into art
“I
had a lot of frustration about the performance of diversity, equality and inclusion,” says curator Nathalie Boobis. Feeling that the art world’s commitment to access for disabled people was often performative rather than manifesting a sincere commitment to change, Boobis decided to step away. But then came an opportunity to be the in-house curator for Disability Arts Online’s new exhibition space dis_place, and she felt this was finally her chance to highlight disabled experiences in art.
Her inaugural exhibition for dis_place is called I Need to Be More Than a Lesson You Learned. Featuring the work of nine artists and collectives working across several media, it explores the ways in which disabled artists have experienced inaccessibility within the art world and wider society.
Some of the pieces share how, even when disabled artists are commissioned in a display of inclusion, access is often still lacking. Christine Sun Kim’s charcoal and oil pastel drawings, such as Degrees of Deaf Rage, vividly demonstrate her anger at superficial or inadequate access, with drawings accompanied by phrases including “Curators who think it’s fair to split my salary fee with interpreters” and “Museums with zero deaf programming (and no deaf docents/educators)”.
