3 - 9 May 2001
Issue No.532
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Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 3 - 9 May 2001 Issue No.532 |
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Plain talk
I always find pleasure in reading Circa art magazine which is "concerned with Irish and International Visual Culture." Apart from introducing me to the state of the arts in Ireland -- its editorial office is in Dublin though it is printed in Belfast -- this beautifully produced magazine always broaches some novel topics.
One article that attracted my attention in the latest issue is "Arts and Disability" by Peter Thomas. While the article is about the situation in Ireland, the information within constitutes a blue print for other countries. We know that there is now an Olympiad for the disabled, but, I must admit that I never knew that there were organisations specifically concerned with the artistic activities of the disabled.
Here in Egypt we have replaced the word disabled with the phrase "people with special needs." But I am not going to discuss semantics here. I want simply to present Ireland's experience in this humane field.
The article starts by saying that for many years it was the accepted fact that painting, wood carving and basket weaving, among others, "were the ideal ways for a person with a disability to relax and exercise." Indeed, they could even be therapeutic.
For some time people thought that those with a disability were unable to create and to express themselves in any public way. Disabled people found the gates of creativity were firmly closed to them. But in Ireland, according to this article, through perseverance and a bloody-minded determination people with disabilities "pushed the gates, and the pressure did open them." Disabled individuals started showing the public what they could do.
It was in 1993 that organisations dealing with art and disability began to form and the National Arts and Disability Centre was established. When it came to funding a question was raised: "Is a disabled person creating a piece of sculpture worthy of arts funding?" Another common question was whether a person with a disability was participating in the arts as a disabled artist or an artist who has a disability.
The writer gives the example of Lorraine Galligher, an artist who has successfully exhibited her work over the last few years. She has a disability, says the writer, but is she a disabled artist. Well this is what Lorraine has to say: "I'm an artist and I don't have a label. Though I think other people would like to give me a label because I have done work around being disabled. When you do that type of stuff, people bring up this idea -- Lorraine that's terrible, you will be known as a disabled artist."
Lorraine is very proud of her identity and is not ashamed to say "I am disabled."
"It actually is a central part of my identity because it has been my identity since I was born. If I am making some art work about disability, then it is obvious that I am a disabled person."
Nor does it bother her if someone describes her work as that of a disabled person. What she is afraid of is that "if someone labels my work as disabled art it could mean for some people that the work is substandard and that's what gets me going."
After a great deal of discussion and haggling, the Arts Council reacted by developing a separate section for the disabled. Despite the fact that it has a tiny budget, it was still a positive sign that arts and disability were being taken seriously enough to fund.
Apart from the art side, Lorraine has something to say which is both revealing and heart breaking.
"People don't realise that you have sex the same as everyone else, you may get married, have children, get a job, drive a car, have marital problems. You have the same things going on like everyone else and some people think that if you are disabled you are a condition."
Well, I know I might have stirred up different feelings. But I regard this as a message, a noble message, and I hope someone will start where I am now ending.
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