Disabled Dreams and Utopias
-We dream of a future in which disabled artists, art workers, and practitioners are present in equal measure to all other invited contributors and where disability is not treated as an exception, but as an integral and valued part of artistic life.
-We dream of art institutions that employ significantly more disabled people at every level, recognising disability as a source of knowledge, creativity, leadership and an ethic of how to be together as people (disabled and not yet disabled). In this future, accessibility is not an occasional project or temporary initiative, but a long-term commitment embedded in the structure, culture, and everyday practices of institutions.
-We dream of institutions that understand that budgets are always expressions of priorities, and that accessibility, inclusion, and care are funded accordingly. A future where the people who work within institutions are not separated from them, but are recognised as part of the living ecosystem of the museum – shaping its values, experiences, and communities.
-We dream of cultural spaces where beauty, pleasure, sound, architecture, and sensory experience are deeply interconnected. Where architecture is conceived as a composition of experiences, and where artworks can be encountered through multiple senses and modes of perception.
-We dream of greater openness in processes of translation, interpretation, and access. A future where there are many ways to relate to beauty, many pathways into an artwork, and many forms of participation.
-We dream of reducing the distance between visitor and creator, audience and institution. A future in which cultural spaces foster exchange rather than hierarchy, and where people feel invited into meaningful relationships with art and with one another.
-We dream of a fuller understanding of sensory experience, of the wholeness of perception and how engaging multiple senses can deepen connection, understanding, and presence.
-We dream of truly free access: where disabled visitors and their assistants can participate without financial barriers, and where accessibility is understood as a collective public good.
-We dream of cultural institutions that cultivate agency, freedom, and negotiation. Spaces where visitors are empowered to shape their own experiences rather than follow predetermined paths. Spaces that feel genuinely public, open, and shared.
-Most of all, we dream of unlearning the idea that art institutions belong only to a select few. We imagine a future where art spaces are experienced as common spaces – places of collective ownership, belonging, curiosity, and possibility for everyone.
Access and Continuity
“As a person born with a physical disability that constantly consumes energy, I am confronted daily with accessibility barriers and frictions, both within and beyond my work as a dancer and my flex job as a contemporary arts conveyer. I also observe and experience, at close hand, the slowness and obstacles that often hinders a development of institutional accessibility. If we want accessibility initiatives and CSR efforts to have a lasting impact, they must be continuously and economically prioritised. They should be critically evaluated and further developed across departments, with relevant partners, and in response to evolving legislative frameworks. Only through such an ongoing commitment can we move beyond symbolic gestures and meaningfully share knowledge, experiences, and practices in a visionary way. From there, we all have the possibility to learn, to ground our work in lived experience, and ultimately, to grow and bloom.”
-Personal contribution by Cath Borch Jensen
Creative Accessibility (Falling in Love Through Access)
The approach to accessibility is evolving rapidly across the arts. Increasingly, artists, curators, and art institutions are exploring ways to embed access into the creative process rather than treating it as an add-on or legal requirement. This approach, often described as creative accessibility, goes beyond compliance checklists by using diverse access needs as a source of artistic inspiration and innovation. Building on the principles of universal design, it integrates features such as captions, audio description, sign language, tactile experiences, and sensory adaptations into the artistic concept itself. Access becomes part of the storytelling, enriching the work for all audiences while creating experiences that are more welcoming, engaging, and meaningful. Creative accessibility recognises that designing for difference often leads to stronger, more imaginative artistic outcomes.
Some Examples of Creative Accessibility:
Access as Co-Creation
Disabled artists, access consultants, and community members collaborate from the beginning of a project, ensuring accessibility shapes the creative process instead of being added at the end.
Integrated Audio Description
Instead of offering audio description as a separate service, descriptive language is woven into the work or performance through dialogue, narration, or sound design, making it part of the artistic experience for everyone.
Creative Captions and Closed Captions
Captions become a storytelling element by using colour, movement, typography, and placement to reflect emotion, rhythm, or character, rather than simply displaying spoken words.
Sensory-Conscious Exhibitions and Performances
Lighting, sound, audience movement, and social expectations are adapted to create a welcoming environment for neurodivergent audiences, families, and anyone who benefits from a more flexible experience.
Multi-Sensory Exhibitions
Artworks are experienced through sound, scent, touch, vibration, and interactive materials, inviting multiple ways of engaging rather than privileging vision alone.
Touch Tours and Tactile Design
Before or after an exhibition or performance, audiences can explore objects, textures, models, costumes, props by touch.
Sign Language as Artistic Expression
Rather than placing interpreters at the side of the stage, sign language is integrated into visual composition, choreography or performance.
What to Remember:
Access as Creativity
Accessibility is embedded into the artistic process, not added afterwards.
Better for Everyone
Creative access features enhance storytelling and enrich the audience experience for all.
Innovation Through Inclusion
Diverse access needs inspire new artistic ideas, methods, and ways of engaging with audiences.