:: DaDa - Disability and Deaf Arts

DaDa is a rather creative and innovative disability arts organization located in the North West that was formerly known as, 'NWDAF.' The organization continues to remain at the cutting edge of Disability and Deaf Arts from not only its base in Liverpool, but throughout the northwest region of England.

DaDa is also known on an international basis and has been presenting Disability arts projects since it was founded as, 'Arts Integrated Merseyside,' or AIM in the year 1984. The organization become the first to be disability-controlled as an Arts Forum when it broke away from, 'Shape,' in 1986. Eventually, DaDa set as the North West Disability Arts Forum (NWDAF) in 1990.

DaDa works with a number of arts agencies and organizations that are concerned with the promotion of equal access for people with disabilities from audience development to arts training and programming. The most important thing to DaDa is the grassroots work it does, something it considers to be at its very hearty. DaDa engages directly with Disabled and Deaf artists and communities in order to ensure every aspect of delivery is reflective of the needs and desires of Disabled and Deaf people.

DaDa's goal is to remain accessible and culturally relevant at all times. The organization concentrates their work in areas that include:

• Access
• Development
• Events & Festival
• Young Peoples Access to the Arts

Cultural relevancy is highly important to DaDa, as well as the delivery of programming activities that engage people from every age group and background. Their programs are planned on a yearly basis and include the following efforts.

Disability Equality and the Visual Arts Research

Arts Council England's three Northern regions, North East, North West, and Yorkshire, commissioned DaDa Disability and Deaf Arts to pursue a four month research and development program. The goal of the research was to both articulate and raise awareness of the talents, skills, and practices of visual artists who experience forms of disabilities and are deaf. The goal of the research was also to enable greater understanding and appreciation of the range of creativity and work people with disabilities bring to the arts. The research was to embed the practice of disability equality into the work practices of the visual arts sector.

Young DaDa - Workshops for Young People

Young DaDa gives young people between the ages of thirteen and nineteen opportunities to participate in various workshops. The Inclusion Film is presented between September and December. It gives young people the chance to get involved in making a short film about barriers young people with disabilities and deaf people might face in attending youth projects.

The Rene' Magritte Workshop is presented on the 9th of October. Tate Liverpool and DaDa run a one day workshop for young people between the ages of thirteen and nineteen years of age. The workshop gives them the opportunity to visit a leading arts venue, as well as to work with a professional artist.

DaDa also has a Script Writing Workshop on Tuesday, October 25th. Foundation for Art and Creative Technology (FACT) and DaDa give people between the ages of thirteen and nineteen the opportunity to participate in a one day workshop in script writing.

DaDa's, 'Another Perspective'

DaDa ran a visual arts project between February and March of 2011 involving thirteen deaf and disabled people who were between the ages of thirteen and nineteen. DaDa collaborated with FACT and Tate Liverpool in the effort. The series of ten workshops were led by artists Roz Hyde and Alex Harrison and were based on work from the, 'A Sense of Perspective,' exhibition at Tate Liverpool.

Alex Harrison led the workshops that produced an animation which used collages of pictures the participants took illustrating examples of a visual sense of perspective. The collages were used in a, 'stop motion animation,' where the images moved just a tiny fraction in each frame.

DaDaFest International 2012

DaDaFest is the United Kingdom's Disability and Deaf Arts festival. It brings together artists from around the world to present the best in Disability and Deaf Arts. DaDaFest International in the year 2010 drew an audience of nearly 80,000 people to a great variety of exhibitions and events.

DaDaFest International is currently being planned and the planning is well underway. It will be based in leading arts venues across Liverpool. DaDaFest 2012 will reach out with events occurring across the United Kingdom and will include debates, broadcasts, and online events. DaDaFest International will take place between July 13th and the 2nd of September of 2012.

Planning is now underway for DaDaFest International 2012. It will be based in leading arts venues across Liverpool, reaching out with events happening across the UK as well as broadcasts, debates and much more online.

DaDaFest 2012 will examine how disability affects everyone's lives. The festival will focus on the following:

It will examine how disability affects the lives of us all, with a focus on:

People, Technology, and Politics: The festival will examine the exchanges that happen between people and technology in the broader context of disability politics.

Fluid Bodies: Looking at how our bodies are neither stable nor unchanging through our lives, but change depending on age and a number of additional situations.

Shifting Identities: Exploration of how our sense of who we are is bound together with our bodies.

The festival both celebrates and inspires talent and excellence in disability and deaf arts and is an important festival in the arts calendar for people who are interested in new perspectives, examining the things that shape our identity in a world that is ever-changing, or are simply seeking entertainment.

DaDa - Disability and Deaf Arts - www.dadahello.com