Crucial Conversations for Disabled Artists - Collective Voices/Personal Labour

We are thrilled to announce that the incredible British theatre maker, comedian, television writer, performer and campaigner Jess Thom is a guest provocateur in our Crucial Conversations For Disabled Artists Series of discussions. For this disabled artist-only space, we've invited Jess to speak on the theme of  the power of collective voices in the disabled artist community and the personal labour, often in addition to our workload, involved in working in the arts. This conversation takes place online, is free to attend although you must book a place through Eventbrite and is on Monday 15 April 2024, 2.00-3.15pm. 

Today's conversation recognises the power of collective voices but wants to explore the personal labour we, as disabled people, put into this. For decades, much of sharing our voices was through direct activism or channelled through disabled people's development organisations. How do we get together, in the absence of meaningful resources and infrastructure to support us, and raise our voices when needed? There are so many examples in our history, in our today and in our tomorrows - but also need protection of time, energy and a shared load. Are there models we could develop in which we safeguard ourselves whilst still having an impact?

At this conversation we will have two provocations - one from Jess Thom and the other from acclaimed multi-disciplinary artist Ashokkumar D Mistry. There will also be group discussions allowing us to take away ingredients for our personal manifestos of hope.  We aim to use this time to avoid the spiral of negative 'knowns' and focus on ways forward, big and small. 

About Jess Thom
 
Writer, artist and part-time superhero, Jess Thom co-founded Touretteshero in 2010 as a creative response to her experience of living with Tourettes Syndrome. She campaigns for disability rights and social justice and is on a mission to change the world ‘one tic at a time.’
 
Jess was commissioned to write Biscuitland by Channel Four which was fully developed and screened in their 2022 Comedy Blaps season, which premieres new and original talent.

Jess has written in the mainstream and disability press including The Guardian, The Observer and Disability Now. In 2012 she published Welcome to Biscuit Land – A Year In the Life of Touretteshero, with a foreword by Stephen Fry.
 
Jess is a regular performer at Glastonbury, the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, DaDaFest, Unlimited Festival and Shambala. She made Broadcast from Biscuit Land as part of On Stage: Live from Television Centre for BBC4 in 2015. In 2018 her one-hour film Me, My Mouth and I was broadcast on BBC2 and went on to be screened in the USA, Russia, Chile, Switzerland and Canada.
 
In 2016 Jess took her award-winning stage show Backstage in Biscuit Land on an extensive national and international tour including the USA and Australia. In the same year she received a Wellcome Engagement Fellowship, became an Arts Council England Change Maker and received an honorary degree from the University of Wolverhampton. 
 
In 2017 Touretteshero hosted Adventures in Biscuit Land at Tate Modern as part of their Tate Exchange programme, and curated Brewing in the Basement at the Barbican Centre. She also débuted her critically acclaimed performance of Samuel Beckett’s short play Not I. In 2020 Jess took Not I to New York City as part of the Public Theater’s prestigious Under The Radar Festival where it received a glowing review in the New York Times.
 
In 2018 Jess took her stand-up show Stand Up, Sit Down, Roll Over to the USA and Europe, hosted Heroes of the Imagination at the Southbank’s Imagine Festival, and Brewing in Battersea at Battersea Arts Centre. The year ended with Hacks for the Future, a residential theatre project for disabled young creatives in the Highlands in association with National Theatre Scotland.  
 
In 2019, Touretteshero received Elevate funding from Arts Council England, a programme which aims to strengthen the resilience of diverse arts organisations. Jess deepened her advocacy work and hosted several facilitated conversations around access for senior managers or organisations such as the Barbican and Shakespeare’s Globe.
 
During the 2020 Coronavirus lockdown, Jess devised and delivered Digital Heroes of the Imagination with the National Youth Theatre and created a Pandemic Postcard for the Harbourfront Theatre in Toronto.
 
Jess has spoken widely in the media about her life with Tourettes, including on Woman’s Hour, This Morning, and Russell Howard's Good News. She has given a TEDx talk at the Royal Albert Hall and features in the Annalisa is Awkward documentary on BBC Radio4.
 
Find our more about Jess's work with Touretteshero here 


Booking for Crucial Conversations - Collective Voices/Personal Labour

Crucial Conversations are disabled only spaces - please do not book a space if you are not a disabled person. 
​Disabled artists can book for this event on Eventbrite here.
 https://www.eventbrite.com/e/845785285557?aff=oddtdtcreator​

Access 

All sessions have live captioning. Please book as soon as possible if you have access requirements and do tell us what you need in your booking form on Eventbrite. Thank you. 

You can find out more about other Crucial Conversations and provocateurs on our website here. ​Knowledge Action Change - LITTLE COG