User:Lor.ensō/SELF-(RE)DIRECTION/A-CANE-STICKYNOTE-NOTHERBODY/DIARY/ETC

Worksession: A Cane, Sticky Note, Another Body

Description of the week.

From 2 until 7 December 2024, I participated in Constants A cane, sticky notes, another body work session. In SI24, Martino Morandi suggested me to sign up for the week. As I am fully immersed into the subject of (in)access, (in)affordability and (dis)ability. This week purely spoke to me so I was glad to be selected.

Monday

Everybody was installed. Intro rounds were made of names and pronouns. Overviews were shared and emails given. We had some rooms in usage. The first main room was a Theater Space in which we were for 2 days. The second main room was on floor 1. We had a salon and also a soft space in the attic.

Dr Guislain

Tuesday

We had a presentation by Josefien Cornette about their works concerning ableism --> Cripping the Space, Engagement Arts. She presented a very intense work which were compressed interviews on ableist experiences in the arts. We listened to quite some of these Testimonies. There were some very relatable stories. Afterwards, she also presented privilege checklist and tools. Which seemed like some sort of manifesto in the shape of a checklist.

Checklist of what, as disabled, I can expect from institution

checklist of what, as non-disabled, should be aware of in the institution

One thing I asked at some point was based on

• Ik hoef bezoekers of personeel niet te onderrichten over structureel validisme. (I don't have to educate other people about structural valid-ism)

I was kind of agreeing with other things that were shared but at this point, I felt like: "Don't you want to bridge the gap of knowledge? Why?" The answer was that she meant that she doesn't have to be an expert in disability / accessibility practice without getting paid of it. (Which makes sense)

After that, it was time for lunch and we then resulted in a exhibition guided tour. I managed to talk with Josefien(still being a bit confused or rather overstimulated by her presentations).

After that, we went back into the main space and we had some open time to discuss things. Which was a weird feedback session. Because Josefien had to go and then we talked slightly behind their back.

The feedback that was shared in the room:

Inclusivity cannot be tackled via a list of bullet points DIsability and coloniality in the Belgian context? Belgium amputated congolese people if they did not comply with unrealistic production goals. Currently coloniality is doing this again Gaza sunbirds > Team of cyclists from Gaza brought attention to the fact that coloniality/Genocide creates disability.

And from this moment I kinda felt that the conversation went out of focus, at least for me. I don't want to invalidate the above mentioned topics. But I was there for the sake of disability / accessibility, whereas above mentioned examples were more going towards inclusivity, identity politics and geopolitics. Which are all very valid problems with a huge urge. But it dominated the rest of the week.

Wednesday

New day, new space, new talker: Loraine Furter.