back to postings list

Hello from Jamie Beddard

Posted by Jamie Beddard, Tuesday 25th May, 2010

Having recently had our Core Group introductory meeting, and begun to understand the magnitude and ambition of Accentuate, I am very excited by the prospects leading up to, and possible legacies beyond the Olympics. Disabled people in general, and disabled artists and athletes in particular will have a plethora of platforms over the next few years, and we must ensure they are best equipped to make the most of these opportunities. Unprecedented possibilities are emerging, and the playing-grounds and stages from which we have so long been marginalised and excluded, are slowly opening up; we will no longer ‘keep of the grass’!

How far the recent change of Government and associated priorities will disrupt our slow march to inclusion remains to be seen, and I fear initiatives such Accentuate will continue to be the exception, rather than the norm. We are, therefore, duty bound to make the most of the opportunities presented , and ensure our heads remain above the parapets. New voices, perspectives and talents should be the lifeblood of creativity and innovation, thereby placing those coming in from the shadows in the box seat for delivering important and relevant work.

As a theatre practitioner, I have been fortunate to work, both, in disability arts, and the ‘mainstream’, and the relationships and indices between the two sectors is a recurrent source of debate. Cracking the ‘mainstream’ is increasingly considered the height of ambition and testament to ‘making it’. Whilst seeking a broad audience for your work is right and proper, the mainstream does not necessarily confer validation, and often involves compromise. Integrity underpins good art, and where principles, concepts or access are subsumed by the need to gain lazy acceptance from ‘the great and the good’, the end result can be diluted and make little lasting impression. An inferiority complex is suggested, as the desperate quest to satisfy the tastes and value-systems of others, replaces the confidence and belief to maintain creativity integrity. Disabled people have been marginalised, and there is an understandable tendency to gratefully accept whatever crumbs fall our way. However, the sooner we realise what we have to offer, and our right to make this offer, the sooner we can stop ‘doffing our caps’, and boldly take our places at the top table.

How you position yourself can seem as important as the art you create. The two are inextricably linked, and identity is integral to the creative process. My disability is part of my make up and informs much of what I do. However, we all have innumerably facets that combine in unique, fluid and random ways which come together to constitute our sense of identity. There is undoubtedly a collective understanding of discrimination and exclusion amongst disabled people, but we need to recognize the differences that exist within our communities. If Accentuate can bring together these diverse and varied communities – not least, the traditionally divergent sporting and artistic sectors – both our commonalities and differences can be springboards for exciting collaborations and new relationships and visions.

Right, I’m banging on a bit, so I’ll take my leave! Suffice to say, I hope Accentuate in general, and Our View in particular, will open up debates old and new, and encourage conversations not previously held.

Comments

Tuesday 27th July, 2010

Colin Hambrook

Hi Jamie - you've summed things up very well... but perhaps the hardest thing we face is the lack of understanding of the discrimination and marginalisation disabled artists have to rub up against in the 'mainstream'. Cameron recently alluded to the belief that everyone on DLA is a scrounger. Even within the diversity department at ACE there is a reluctance within many of the groups to recognise disability as a discriminatory factor - hence it taking decibel 8 years before any disabled performers were included in the showcase.

Add a comment

Comments are moderated, and will not appear immediately.

Your e-mail address will not be revealed to the public.
HTML is forbidden, but line-breaks will be retained.
This can be a URL of an image or a YouTube, MySpaceTV or a Flickr page (we'll handle the media embedding from there!)
This is to prevent automatic submissions.

© Copyright 2024 Screen South · copyright statement

Site by Surface Impression