2020 - 2024 | VUB PHD PROJECT

'Cripping Dialogues: Examining Arts Participation Through a Disability Lens' critically analyses the limited arts participation of people with disabilities within the Belgian arts sector, both as artists and audiences. This doctoral research, which includes various participant groups such as artists, support workers, and people with learning disabilities, employs a diverse range of qualitative research methodologies to examine - or 'crip' - the role of non-disabled arts practices through a disability lens. Through this approach, the dissertation arrives at three main conclusions. First, while disability is often embraced by non-disabled arts practitioners as an aesthetic value, this appreciation can undermine the actual inclusion of people with disabilities, particularly if the perspectives of disabled audiences remain unaddressed. Second, non-disabled practitioners often hold persistent assumptions about the arts participation of people with learning disabilities. These assumptions are shaped by perceptions of what constitutes ‘real’ – and often inaccessible – art. Finally, the findings call for a rethinking of conventional approaches to text and traditional perspectives on communication. This shift could both enhance the arts participation of individuals with (learning) disabilities and foster innovation within artistic practices.