Image Description - Coll Metcalfe is on stage at the Disconsortia Cabaret performing a powerful signed piece of spoken word. A microphone is blurred in the forground and Coll is open mouthed in full flow with one arm outstretched in front of her.
Disconsortia - At The Table
Apparently there is a table. Some people know that they automatically have seats there - they don't hesitate to sit down, taking up their place. A place of power. Some other people are invited to the table, to sit there regularly and be part of the conversations, the planning, the decisions, and the privilege. And there are some people occasionally invited to sit at the table to talk about their specificity - it's regarded as 'different' from the core inhabitants of the table. There is another group of people, a majority of disabled people who have no idea where the table is, don't know what the table looks like or even if there is just one table. Maybe there are more?
Lockdown and the pandemic have higyhlighted a number of societal anomolies in equality, and who gets a place at the table is most definitely one of them. It is clear that the table, how people get a place, who holds power and how it is used require rigorous restructuring to break free from preserving an outdated status quo, ensuring that pre-existing codes around the status of some citizens are challenged and that no one is perceived as a lower status 'minority' with less to offer. Representatives reflecting the whole of society on an equal basis need to build a new table, a new system in art and culture.
If you haven't made sure that disabled artists and practitioners with essential input, experience and expertise are part of strategic and artistic decisions about a return to the arts then you are missing out, but also not capturing this moment to change things for the better.
At the Table is a strategic programme of work created by Disconsortia which is a disabled artist-led collective based in the North East of England. Through this project we seek to ensure that disabled artists have a voice in the rebuilding of the arts sector, whilst advocating that the future is accessible and champions better and increased opportunities for disabled artists to tell our stories.
At the Table's main aims are threefold - we will secure and develop Disconsortia as an organisation, we will ensure Disconsortia has a strageic role as a voice for disabled people in the arts, and we will create artistic opportunities for artists through a commissions programme.
We are delighted to announce 17 At The Table Commissions. Here are the disabled artists and practitioners involved.
Lockdown and the pandemic have higyhlighted a number of societal anomolies in equality, and who gets a place at the table is most definitely one of them. It is clear that the table, how people get a place, who holds power and how it is used require rigorous restructuring to break free from preserving an outdated status quo, ensuring that pre-existing codes around the status of some citizens are challenged and that no one is perceived as a lower status 'minority' with less to offer. Representatives reflecting the whole of society on an equal basis need to build a new table, a new system in art and culture.
If you haven't made sure that disabled artists and practitioners with essential input, experience and expertise are part of strategic and artistic decisions about a return to the arts then you are missing out, but also not capturing this moment to change things for the better.
At the Table is a strategic programme of work created by Disconsortia which is a disabled artist-led collective based in the North East of England. Through this project we seek to ensure that disabled artists have a voice in the rebuilding of the arts sector, whilst advocating that the future is accessible and champions better and increased opportunities for disabled artists to tell our stories.
At the Table's main aims are threefold - we will secure and develop Disconsortia as an organisation, we will ensure Disconsortia has a strageic role as a voice for disabled people in the arts, and we will create artistic opportunities for artists through a commissions programme.
We are delighted to announce 17 At The Table Commissions. Here are the disabled artists and practitioners involved.
Aidan Moesby
Words from the Margin Artist, writer and curator, Aidan Moesby will explore a mixture of text-based projections and a digital collage. Aidan is also part of the action planning group for Disconsortia as we consolidate and strengthen as an organisation and plot a route to returning safely beyond covid. 
gobscure
we may be slow, trees are slower - visual, text and audio exhibition Sound recording - us ranting in talk (but sound under) - that worst ever sectioning of ours b4 we got back to tyneside - all we wanted to do was watch the trees - so rant of wordsalad about the insanities and finding sanity wee exhibition - small pages of visualpoetry - drawn / written on old illustrated book - poetic truths we imagined back then asking what really matters - we may be slow but trees are slower. A combination of text and video/audio with an exhibition in digital form. gobscure is also part of the action planning team. 
Lady Kitt
Art Confined and Feral Futures An “Art Confined” toolkit sharing some thoughts and learning about the experiences of making socially engaged work in lockdown/with distance, experiences of some of the other folks working alongside and visuals of the physical work made together. The commission will support a publication in the form of a physical book/ pamphlet - a short video of for the disconsortia website showing each page - and a downloadable PDF / any other versions to make it accessible. 
Pauline Heath
Get Shirty Get Shirty is a protest art project which is wearable! It’s art and slogans of protest on tee shirts. This is a participatory commission which will result in an online exhibition of the t-shirts created, along with information about the story behind the tee shirt, and possibly a real world exhibition. Pauline is also part of the action planning team. 
Vici Wreford-Sinnott
Funny Ha-Ha At an age where there is nothing left to lose but my dignity, it's time to put that to the test! Funny Ha-Ha will be an R&D into just what is funny about being a 54 year old Northern disabled woman, with a mental health condition, clinging to the remains of the punk rock in her bones. The commission will conclude with a blog charting the development of a short filmed funny and potentially dignity defying performance. Vici is Creative Director of Disconsortia. |
Bekih Bowsher
The Empty Page This commission will focus on the very beginnings of creating something for a theatre like space. It will be a time to gather together mood and resources into one place, for blank page level of working, a potential theme of artist as self is emerging. A reflective journal about the process and possible filmed elements will be shared. 
Karen Sheader
Getting Closer to Home A longstanding member of the Disability Arts Movement, Karen started out in music as a singer songwriter, famously with punk outfit The Fugertivs. She is an award winning film director and is part of a team running Shoot Your Mouth Off Films in Hartlepool. Check out and subscribe to their youtube channel and join their 46,500 fans! This commission will be alsight departure from songriting to poetic form and will be an autobiographical narrative poem of Karen's life. Not all about her experience as a disabled person, but will look at how disability has altered the course of her life. 
Lisette Auton
Project Fear & Evolution – Writing/Righting the Missing How do I grow and evolve as an artist, if I know what it is when I begin, if I already know I can do it? How can I be bold and leap? An R&D for the beginnings of a workshop, or something which can provide a tool kit/space for others to safely and bravely fail. I will share a lyrical work in progress journal and supporting imagery/text to be decided as the project evolves. We are also delighted to announce that Lisette is our At The Table Assistant Producer. 
Sarah Crutwell
F*ckable A standalone podcast (and accompanying transcript) exploring disability and sex, with R&D work interviewing people, which will focus on personal stories and experiences of navigating sexuality as a disabled person. It will conclude with a spoken word poem inspired by the interviews, discussions, issues and attitudes raised within the episode |
Black Robin
Digital Disconsortia A founder member of Disconsortia and sometime mini-bus driver for national meetings, Black Robin is the digital artist, photographer and filmmaker who will be creating a platform from which Disconsortia can share it's work and the voices of the artists involved. His Arts Council funded project, On Whose Shoulders We Build, charts the Disability Arts Movement in the North East and compliments Disconsortia's work around visibility. 
Kev Howard
Prosthetascape A video and photographic exploration of the sculptural form of a range of prostheses. Building opn work undertaken during a recent MA, the commission will look into how the form changes in air and if submerged, creating fine art still images and possible movement. 
Paul James
Action Planning We are delighted that Paul James has taken a management commission to be part of the planning ahead for the collective. We are strengthening as an organisation to promote sustainability and we are entering into a research phase to better understand what new approches to involvement and leadership in the arts will look like for disabled artists, participants and audiences as we move through the rest of 2020 and into furhter unknowns for 2021. 
Simon McKeown
65,000 The idea for this mixed media piece is around food parcels from the government. I will 3D scan my last foodbox for posterity, and both print and audio record the list of contents and nutrition data that comes with it as a monologue. Then there a number of possibilities to explore, including text from letters and audio from calls from the government. The idea is to make a work, which flips the food parcel, a basic act of care, as against the actual lack of care exhibited by the government to us all. |
Coll Metcalfe
Visual Vernacular Video Coll Metcalfe is a spoken word artist, poet and actor. As a Deaf artist finding new ways to share her voice, Coll is going to research and share a piece of visual poetry using visual performance vernacular, thinking creatively about a range of elements exploring the theme of a Deaf voice at the table. And it will be video recorded to be able to put online. 
Kim McDermottroe
Story of a Sketchbook The idea for my commission is to develop my artist's sketch book and share it in a creative form. I'm looking at possibilities around which include ventuing into animation. I'm also interested in the background to creating a sketchbook and where the ideas come from, including artist techniques and characters. I will be ontroducing the subjet of autism into the work without it being the sole feature. A little film is evolving about the sketchbook which was started off the back of doing illustrations for a short film. It’s a bit of a sinister sketchbook. 
Paul Miller
The Pumpkin King This commission supports part of the development phase of a new animation film from the book The Pumpkin King by Paul Miller. Concept and illustration ideas, animation storyboard ideas and elements of the process of animation will be shared for exhibition online. 
Hello Little Lady
A Little Tension ‘A Little Tension’ looks at the often fraught symbiotic relationship between Dwarf People while interacting with society in the U.K. The multilayered audio/visual piece reflects the conflicts, prejudice and ignorance Dwarf people experience when attempting to navigate and interact with a society that pursues, objectifies and expects perfection. Using the lens of the social model of disability, artist, Hello Little Lady, examines these inherent tensions and mixed messages - not only in terms of the physical barriers Dwarf people experience, but also with public and private institutions that are positioned to provide ‘support’. The podcast talks about the themes the visual work represents, bringing a richness to the concept of the piece. |
Gallery of 17 image descriptions:
1. Aidan Moesby is smiling over his shoulder. He has white hair and is wearing a white patterned short and glasses.
2. Bekih Bowsher is looking up at the camera and has a red scarf in her long, light brown, wavy hair. She is wearing distinct turquoise and blue eyeshadow and red lipstick. She is standing in front of a wheelchair accessibility sign.
3. An outdoor shot of Black Robin who is seated, wearing sunglasses but still squinting whilst smiling at the sun. He is wearing a black tee shirt and jacket. Short dark spiky hair.
4. A portrait of Coll Metcalfe looking peaceful and happy smiling at the camera. She has long curly hair.
5. Gobscure is in costume and mask, holding pens and paper. They are standing outside wearing a Mary Wolstencraft hooped underskirt and an origami fox mask.
6. Karen Sheader is a vision in green - green background and green jumper. She is smiling at the camera and has very short hair.
7. Kev Howard in a stylish black and white photographic portrait, He wears a black shirt and looks wistful.
8. Kim McDermottroe smiling whilst holding up the head of a puppet tiger. She is wearing a black shirt and her har is blowing in the wind.
9.Lady Kitt is in drag king costume, wearing a black top hat at an angle, and a pink moustache and eyebrows. One eyebrow is raised much higher than the other.
10. Lisette Auton is smiling at the camera. She is holding her head at the side with her hands. She is wearing a brown patterned dress and looks very happy.
11. Paul James is looking directly at the camera and smiling warmly. He is wearing a checked shirt and a flat cap. He is sitting in front of a brick wall at Live Theatre.
12. Paul Miller is smiling directly into the camera. He is wearing a blue jumper and has short brown hair.
13. This a performance photo of Pauline Heath - she is standing with knees slightly bent, leaning forward with arms outstretched, directly engaing with an audience, whoe we can't see. Behind her is a washing line pegged with photographs.
14. Sarah Crutwell is performing on stage and performing into a microphone. Her hands are animated. Her hair is an asymetrical style, longer at one side than the other. She is wearing a tee shirt which says 'Feminist AF'.
15. Simon McKeown is in happy explosive creative mode. He is smiling and has his two arms outstretched in front of him.
16. Hello Little Lady is visible from her forehead up as she looks in a mirror in a ladies toilet. She has sunglasses on the top of her head.
17. Vici Wreford-Sinnott is smiling and looking upwards, off beyond the camera. She has blond spiky hair.
1. Aidan Moesby is smiling over his shoulder. He has white hair and is wearing a white patterned short and glasses.
2. Bekih Bowsher is looking up at the camera and has a red scarf in her long, light brown, wavy hair. She is wearing distinct turquoise and blue eyeshadow and red lipstick. She is standing in front of a wheelchair accessibility sign.
3. An outdoor shot of Black Robin who is seated, wearing sunglasses but still squinting whilst smiling at the sun. He is wearing a black tee shirt and jacket. Short dark spiky hair.
4. A portrait of Coll Metcalfe looking peaceful and happy smiling at the camera. She has long curly hair.
5. Gobscure is in costume and mask, holding pens and paper. They are standing outside wearing a Mary Wolstencraft hooped underskirt and an origami fox mask.
6. Karen Sheader is a vision in green - green background and green jumper. She is smiling at the camera and has very short hair.
7. Kev Howard in a stylish black and white photographic portrait, He wears a black shirt and looks wistful.
8. Kim McDermottroe smiling whilst holding up the head of a puppet tiger. She is wearing a black shirt and her har is blowing in the wind.
9.Lady Kitt is in drag king costume, wearing a black top hat at an angle, and a pink moustache and eyebrows. One eyebrow is raised much higher than the other.
10. Lisette Auton is smiling at the camera. She is holding her head at the side with her hands. She is wearing a brown patterned dress and looks very happy.
11. Paul James is looking directly at the camera and smiling warmly. He is wearing a checked shirt and a flat cap. He is sitting in front of a brick wall at Live Theatre.
12. Paul Miller is smiling directly into the camera. He is wearing a blue jumper and has short brown hair.
13. This a performance photo of Pauline Heath - she is standing with knees slightly bent, leaning forward with arms outstretched, directly engaing with an audience, whoe we can't see. Behind her is a washing line pegged with photographs.
14. Sarah Crutwell is performing on stage and performing into a microphone. Her hands are animated. Her hair is an asymetrical style, longer at one side than the other. She is wearing a tee shirt which says 'Feminist AF'.
15. Simon McKeown is in happy explosive creative mode. He is smiling and has his two arms outstretched in front of him.
16. Hello Little Lady is visible from her forehead up as she looks in a mirror in a ladies toilet. She has sunglasses on the top of her head.
17. Vici Wreford-Sinnott is smiling and looking upwards, off beyond the camera. She has blond spiky hair.
