What We Do
Since 2018, we have been working on performances by and for disabled people.
Our Mission
To make art by and for disabled people. We want to destabilise the non disabled norm, by making art that is as radical as our bodies are. We create work that authentically expresses disabled perspectives on an often inaccessible world.
We are particularly interested in finding ways to support and work with artists who have a difficult time leaving the house, using livestreaming and telepresence technologies. Our first step towards this goal is The Radical Body Network, our facebook community, which you can learn more about here.
How we can support disabled artists:
By networking. We regularly provide funding and commission briefs to our radical body network - because networking isn’t always accessible, but we think it should be.
Through bespoke mentoring. We can help with advice if there is something you would like to achieve or an application you would like to go for.
By working together! We are always on the lookout for performance opportunities, and artists to collaborate with.
By making our events more accessible. We are currently working on developing livestreaming technology that can stream disabled artists into venues from their own home.
How do we define disability?
At Radical Body we follow the social model of disability. We believe that people who live with long term health conditions or impairments are disabled by the barriers created by an inaccessible society. When those barriers are removed, disabled people are capable of all kinds of amazing things.
We founded Radical Body because there are lots of access barriers that disabled people face when trying to build a career in the arts. Our team of disabled artists have first hand experience of those barriers, and we are committed to tearing them down. We want to create a world where all disabled performers have the chance to make their voices heard.
Our team prefer to use the term “disabled person” when talking about disability. But we understand that language is complicated, and that not everybody is comfortable describing themselves as disabled. Regardless of how you prefer to describe yourself, Radical Body are here to help.