ACCESS, MEANING-MAKING, AND DISABILITY IN CULTURAL PRACTICES
Disabled people continue to face barriers in cultural and public life — not only because of a narrow understanding of accessibility, but also because of the prevailing ways in which disabilities are understood and portrayed. Their own experiences, perspectives and forms of knowledge often remain marginalised within cultural institutions and public discourse. This PhD project examines three complementary dimensions of disabled artists’ cultural practices. Drawing on critical disability studies and theories of public pedagogy, it explores how disabled artists position themselves in radio interviews and how these positionings reproduce, negotiate, or challenge dominant disability discourses; what art-making means to disabled artists; and how they conceptualise access in the arts. Collectively, these studies contribute to broader debates on disability, access, participation, and representation in cultural contexts.
