CRIPtic is my baby – but it’s not just mine. It was built as a community project. If I had to estimate the number of people who’ve been involved with it, it would be in the three figures comfortably, and that’s not including audiences. Three years ago I must have been writing the first funding application for the first project – our Barbican showcase – and it must have been then that my now-partner suggested the name. I loved that name from the off, but I’d never thought of the arts, or of organisation-building, as a career. I wanted to…
Category: Reflections
Prioritising Health: Lessons Learned
This week’s blog is a short one – to make sure I’m prioritising health. Last week, I took some time to focus on my creative work and for family reasons. I don’t normally take leave, and I found it incredibly difficult. I was still working a bit, and I was often very anxious when not working, because I felt like I should be. Sometimes, I struggle to treat my creative work as work. Because I enjoy it, I see it as less important, rather than remembering that it’s the only part of my work that only I can do. I…
Building Networks: Lessons Learned
We went into CRIPtic 2021 without a very wide network. We certainly had quite a few contacts and offers of support. A lot of our work centred around the few networks we had, which were London-centric, and didn’t reflect the diversity of the disabled community. We were very lucky to receive support from people associated with those networks, but we really had to reach out and focus on building networks beyond the people we knew. We finished it with a far bigger network than we started, and a clearer idea of what we needed to do next to further diversify…
Workload Management: Lessons Learned
As part of the process of assessing quality and success in our projects, we’re writing a series of blog posts exploring some of the key learnings from our 2021 development programme and showcase. This allows us to reflect on our experiences, our achievements, identify areas for growth, and (hopefully) be of use to other projects considering carrying out similar plans. This week we’re looking at workload management. The Workload: CRIPtic 2021 CRIPtic 2021 was an enormous project. We supported 5 artists through an 8 month development programme, hosted 7 workshops (with 58 attendees), organised 6 months of mentoring, 6 one…
Access Needs: Lessons Learned
To assess the quality and success in our projects, we’re writing a series of blog posts exploring some of the key learnings from CRIPtic 2021. We want to reflect on our experiences and what we’ve achieved, identify areas for our own growth, and (hopefully) be of use to other projects carrying out similar plans. Out first learning is around access needs. CRIPtic is a deaf and disabled-led organisation. With that comes a recognition that everyone involved has their own access requirements for engaging with the project. Everyone faces different impairment-related limitations and societal barriers that will impact them during parts…
This week at the CRIPtic 1:1s
This week our Artistic Director Jamie Hale hosted the first of the CRIPtic 1:1 bookable slots. We were thrilled to be joined by a fantastic and wide range of creatives, and loved having the opportunity to discuss their ideas and offer advice. Without giving anything away, here are some of Jamie’s reflections on what they discussed: ACE Applications Several people were working on Arts Council applications, and wanted to discuss how apply effectively. We talked about Investment Principles and how to apply them to work, and a few concrete things you can do to demonstrate in your application that you’re…
The Disablism of Age Barriers in the Arts
At their heart, most age barriers in the arts are disableist. They create barriers that prevent disabled people having equity of access to opportunities. Their assumption that age is representative of life-stage, career-stage, or the point of development someone is at ignores the different experiences of disabled people. Age is sometimes relevant. Sometimes we need to use age barriers in the arts as a proxy to redress a specific underrepresentation, or encourage specific groups. This might include awards for people who started their practice later in life, or to encourage teenagers to consider creative industries, but these are a minority.…
CRIPtic Pit Party, Barbican Stories, & Institutional Racism
CRIPtic Pit Party and Barbican Stories – A statement CRIPtic Pit Party 2021 – a showcase of d/Deaf and disabled artists, is taking place in the Pit at the Barbican in Autumn 2021 – a time when the Barbican is also grappling with institutional racism. My decision to continue to present the work at the Barbican was a complex one, and this statement is written to explain it. The release of Barbican Stories, and the accounts within it, made it clear that many people have experienced institutional racism within the Barbican. The work to heal wounds caused by this and…
Front Row: Theatres re-opening & online work
Last week, I (Jamie) was on Front Row. This was to discuss the reopening of theatres and who that leaves behind. There, I was able to emphasise that the closing down of opportunities for people to see shows online was going to affect far more than just disabled people.
It’s pretty gutting to slowly see shows and opportunities and possibilities disappearing, but I don’t think things are completely bleak. While theatres stream fewer shows online than at the ‘height of the pandemic’, there is definitely more than there was before the pandemic. Furthermore, the skills, knowledge, and equipment still exist.
Online theatre is an access issue for lots of groups. This includes geographically dispersed people, people with parenting and caring responsibilities, people who cannot sit through a whole show, and people who cannot afford live theatre. Losing it is something we need to unite to fight against:
To hear me on Front Row, click here [link] – 17:26-19:22 , and there is a transcript below:
