Deaf and Disabled Communities

Since early 2023 Project Arts Centre has been working with Deaf artist Lianne Quigley to look at ways of expanding opportunities for Deaf artists and audiences.

Project Arts Centre, in partnership with Dublin Theatre of the Deaf, were awarded the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission Grant to carry out a big piece of work in 2024.

If you’d like to get involved or keep up to date with the work we’re doing, contact cathy@projectartscentre.ie

Here are some of the initiatives we implemented as part of our project.

ISL Translation: 

• We now have ISL translations of key static pages on our website that give general information about the building, access provision and our organization.
• We also include ISL translations on all Open Calls on social media and the website. 
• Our Comms team also liaise with ISL interpreters before accessible performances to produce short ISL promotional videos 

Engagement and networking: 

• Interpreters were made available for meetings to take place with a range of artists working at Project. Lianne Quigley later collaborated with Laura Murphy, Philip Connaughton and Eoin Winning through a residency onsite.
• These meetings are not just for the Deaf community, they are a sharing of expertise, of artistic approaches, of conceptual ideas and of languages and cultures. 
• ISL interpreters were also made available to artists during social hours so that networking was prioritised. 

Schools Residency programme: 

• As part of our 2024 schools residency programme we invited 4 artists (Favour Odusola, Jessie Thompson, Matt Szcserek and Lianne Quigley) over 6 weeks, to lead movement and dance collaborative workshops in Holy Family School for the Deaf at Deaf Village Ireland. There was particular interest in street dance and in the kind of movement practices that all young people like to get involved in. 
• The students were also invited to come and visit us here, where they did a full tour of the building and received a gallery talk from the Director of Disrupt Festival – Alan James Burns. 

Awareness film and social media campaign 

• It was really important to the community that we used this opportunity to promote the use of sign language and disseminate information and best practice. We’ve completed a short film with members of the community which looks at the entry points into arts practice, as well as career highlights, and discusses some of the barriers. 
• During ISL awareness week our Comms department ran a social media campaign highlighting ISL. 

Symposium Event

• On July 19th 2024 Project Arts Centre hosted a Symposium event which brought together members from Dublin Fringe Festival, Music & Health Ireland, ADI, Disrupt Disability Arts Festival, RTE, Arts Council Ireland, Dublin Theatre of the Deaf, The Deaf Village Ireland, Holy Family School for the Deaf, IHREC and The Irish Deaf Society, to share learning and working practices around engaging with Deaf artists, audiences and communities. Emerging from these discussions. 

Training

• Our whole staff did Deaf awareness training and found it really beneficial to understand the perspective of the community a bit more. Most recently, our Front of House, Box Office, Comms and Project Potential teams have all done basic sign language training. We’re all loving it!

The aim of the project is to establish a meaningful partnership between Project Arts Centre and the Deaf community; to raise visibility and awareness, and encourage crucial dialogue around the barriers for Deaf people engaging in the arts and cultural sector; to promote new ideas and create practical change through training, artistic support, ongoing engagement with the wider Deaf community and the presentation of ambitious new work by and for Deaf artists and audiences. 

To Make A Mark was an exhibition of digital work curated by Run of the Mill and Project Arts Centre, highlighting the extensive work created by inclusive arts organisations around Ireland.

The Cube hosted film, documentary and photography work from Run of the Mill, Speckled Egg, Blue Teapot, Tallaght Community Arts – doubleTAKE Studio and Aideen Barry in collaboration with artists from Western Care’s Scannan Technologies and Ridgepool Training Centre.

The programme focused on a different work each evening. Audiences were invited to pop into the Cube, before making their way to the Space Upstairs for Making A Mark.

To Make A Mark ran from the 4 – 7 May, 2022. The full programme is detailed below.

Wednesday 4 May, 4pm–7.15pm
Run of the Mill + Arcade Film presents: Quarantine, Outside History & Vulnerable
Speckled Egg presents: Tasky 1-4
Read more about the films here.

Thursday 5 May, 4pm–7.15pm
Run of the Mill + Arcade Film presents: Quarantine, Outside History & Vulnerable
Blue Teapot Theatre Company presents: My Light Will Blind You
Read more about the films here.

Friday 6 May, 4pm–7.15pm
Run of the Mill + Arcade Film presents: Quarantine, Outside History & Vulnerable
doubleTAKE – Tallaght Community Arts presents: Crust & We’re Still Here
Read more about the films here.

Saturday 7 May, 12pm–7.15pm
Run of the Mill + Arcade Film presents: Quarantine, Outside History & Vulnerable
Aideen Barry in collaboration with artists from Western Care’s Scannan Technologies and Ridgepool Training Centre presents: Silent Moves
Read more about the films here.

Wednesday 4 – Friday 6 May, 4pm–7.15pm & Saturday  7 May12pm–7:15pm – Photography Exhibition
An exhibition of images captured in the final stages of a 16-week expressive movement workshop programme and collaboration between Enda Moran and the ladies and gentlemen from St. John of God’s Day Service, Maynooth, Co. Kildare. Over the course of the 16 weeks, the group explored concepts of Identity and Individuality through Movement, Circus and Print. The project was made possible by Pathways Day Programme, GAA Maynooth and funded by ‘The parents and friends association’, of St. John of God Kildare Services.

Credits

Director Enda Moran
Images Hayley Stuart
Print Artist Anne McDonnell
Work experience Photography Conor Melinn