Art as Advocacy. Exploring curatorial practice by learning disabled artists as

139 Pages·2017·0.94 MB·English

Art
 as
 Advocacy.

Exploring
 curatorial
 practice
 by
 learning
 disabled
 artists

as
 a
 site
 for
 self-­‐advocacy.

Jade
 French

The
 University
 of
 Leeds

School
 of
 Fine
 Art,
 History
 of
 Art
 and
 Cultural
 Studies

October
 2017

  1
The
 candidate
 confirms
 that
 the
 work
 submitted
 is
 her
 own
 and
 that
 appropriate
 credit
 has
 been

given
 where
 reference
 has
 been
 made
 to
 the
 work
 of
 others.

This
  copy
  has
  been
  supplied
  on
  the
  understanding
  that
  it
  is
  copyright
  material
  and
  that
  no

quotation
 from
 the
 thesis
 may
 be
 published
 without
 proper
 acknowledgement.

The
 right
 of
 Jade
 French
 to
 be
 identified
 as
 Author
 of
 this
 work
 has
 been
 asserted
 by
 her
 in

accordance
 with
 the
 Copyright,
 Designs
 and
 Patents
 Act
 1988.

©
 2017
 The
 University
 of
 Leeds
 and
 Jade
 French

  2
Acknowledgements

I
 would
 like
 to
 extend
 thanks
 to
 the
 many
 people
 who
 so
 generously
 contributed
 to,
 and
 supported

the
 work
 presented
 in
 this
 thesis.

Firstly,
 I
 would
 like
 to
 thank
 the
 curators
 -­‐
 Leah
 Jones,
 Hannah
 Bellass,
 Tony
 Caroll,
 Diana
 Disley
 and

Eddie
 Rauer,
 the
 artists
 -­‐
 James
 Harper,
 Mark
 Simmonds
 and
 Alaena
 Turner,
 and
 support
 -­‐
 Abi

Burrows
 and
 Donna
 Bellass,
 for
 their
 generous
 insight,
 hard
 work
 and
 unwavering
 commitment

during
 this
 project.
 They
 attended
 a
 year’s
 worth
 of
 weekly
 workshops
 with
 enthusiasm,
 and
 I
 really

could
 not
 have
 done
 this
 research
 without
 them.
 Their
 passion
 for
 both
 the
 arts
 and
 advocacy

remains
 a
 source
 of
 inspiration
 to
 me.

I
 would
 like
 to
 also
 thank
 my
 brilliant
 supervisory
 team
 -­‐
 Helen
 Graham,
 Mal
 Hampson,
 Bec
 Fearon

and
 Emma
 Rushton.
 My
 PhD
 has
 been
 a
 truly
 amazing
 experience
 and
 I
 believe
 this
 is
 mostly
 down

to
 the
 fantastic
 support
 I
 received.
 I
 thank
 them
 wholeheartedly
 for
 their
 generous
 time
 and

encouragement,
 and
 for
 also
 giving
 me
 so
 many
 wonderful
 opportunities
 along
 the
 way.
 Special

mention
 to
 Helen
 Graham
 for
 her
 tremendous
 academic
 support,
 from
 enabling
 me
 to
 pursue
 the

PhD
 scholarship
 to
 writing
 this
 thesis.
 Thank
 you,
 thank
 you,
 thank
 you.

Many
 thanks
 to
 the
 staff
 at
 all
 the
 partner
 organisations
 -­‐
 Halton
 Speak
 Out,
 Bluecoat,
 University
 of

Leeds
 -­‐
 who
 contributed
 time
 and
 welcomed
 me
 into
 their
 places
 of
 work.

This
 project
 would
 also
 not
 have
 been
 carried
 out
 without
 financial
 support.
 A
 big
 thank
 you
 to
 the

Arts
 and
 Humanities
 Research
 Council
 for
 selecting
 this
 project
 for
 scholarship,
 the
 Arts
 Council

England
  for
  contributing
  to
  the
  exhibitions
  costs,
  and
  the
  White
  Rose
  College
  of
  Arts
  and

Humanities
 who
 have
 personally
 supported
 me
 to
 attend
 a
 range
 of
 training
 and
 international

conferences
 to
 disseminate
 this
 work.
 I
 am
 so
 grateful
 for
 the
 experiences
 their
 contributions
 have

afforded
 me.

Finally,
 but
 by
 no
 means
 least,
 thank
 you
 to
 my
 family
 and
 friends.
 Melaneia
 -­‐
 thank
 you
 for
 the

many
 conversations
 and
 words
 of
 encouragement,
 Andy
 -­‐
 thanks
 for
 listening
 (and
 for
 the
 brews).

  3
Abstract

Over
 the
 past
 40
 years
 within
 the
 UK
 the
 concept
 of
 self-­‐advocacy
 has
 gained
 momentum
 by

enabling
 learning
 disabled
 people
 to
 speak
 out
 in
 order
 to
 affect
 change.
 In
 the
 same
 period,

inclusive
 approaches
 have
 been
 taken
 up
 both
 in
 research
 and
 in
 the
 arts,
 reflecting
 a
 growing

recognition
 of
 learning
 disabled
 people
 as
 researchers,
 artists,
 performers
 and
 communicators.
 Yet

curation
 has
 rarely
 been
 used
 as
 an
 inclusive
 practice
 and
 then
 principally
 in
 museums
 dealing
 with

history
 rather
 than
 in
 the
 context
 of
 art
 galleries.

Via
 a
 practice-­‐led
 research
 approach,
 Art
 as
 Advocacy
 addressed
 this
 gap
 by
 exploring
 the
 potential

for
 curatorial
 practice
 by
 learning
 disabled
 artists
 to
 act
 as
 a
 site
 for
 self-­‐advocacy.
 It
 brought

together
 members
 of
 self-­‐advocacy
 group
 Halton
 Speak
 Out
 and
 members
 of
 Bluecoat's
 inclusive

arts
  project
  Blue
  Room,
  to
  curate
  a
  visual
  arts
  exhibition
  titled
  Auto
  Agents.
  These
  curators

developed
 an
 exhibition
 theme,
 collaborated
 with
 artists,
 commissioned
 new
 artwork
 and
 designed

accessible
 interpretation
 for
 audiences.

Through
 curating
 Auto
 Agents,
 the
 purpose
 of
 this
 research
 has
 been
 to
 produce
 a
 rich
 account
 of

the
 ways
 in
 which
 curatorial
 and
 self-­‐advocacy
 practices
 intersect.
 This
 intersection,
 whereby
 tools

found
  in
  self-­‐advocacy
  were
  carried
  over
  into
  curatorship,
  provided
  new
  methodologies
  that

enabled
 curating
 to
 become
 an
 inclusive
 practice.
 This
 attention
 to
 process
 results
 not
 only
 in

curating
 becoming
 more
 usable
 by
 more
 people,
 but
 also
 more
 transparent
 and
 rigorous.
 By

achieving
 this,
 this
 research
 delineates
 to
 understanding
 the
 processes
 and
 practices
 by
 which
 our

cultural
 spaces
 can
 become
 democratised.

  4
Table
 of
 Contents

Introduction
 ................................................................................................................................
 8

Summary
 ...........................................................................................................................................
 10

Thesis
 Structure
 ................................................................................................................................
 11

Data
 Collection
 ..................................................................................................................................
 13

Ethical
 Approval
 and
 Informed
 Consent
 ..........................................................................................
 13

Project
 Website
 .................................................................................................................................
 15

The
 Cast
 ....................................................................................................................................
 16

Halton
 Speak
 Out
 ..............................................................................................................................
 16

Bluecoat
 ............................................................................................................................................
 16

Curator:
 Hannah
 Bellass
 ...................................................................................................................
 17

Curator:
 Tony
 Carrol
 .........................................................................................................................
 18

Curator:
 Diana
 Disley
 ........................................................................................................................
 18

Curator:
 Leah
 Jones
 ..........................................................................................................................
 18

Curator:
 Eddie
 Raurer
 .......................................................................................................................
 19

Artist:
 James
 Harper
 .........................................................................................................................
 19

Artist:
 Mark
 Simmonds
 .....................................................................................................................
 19

Artist:
 Alaena
 Turner
 .........................................................................................................................
 20

Support:
 Abi
 Burrows
 ........................................................................................................................
 20

Support:
 Donna
 Bellass
 .....................................................................................................................
 20

Act
 1:
 Prologue
 ..........................................................................................................................
 21

Setting
 the
 Scene:
 Inclusive
 Arts
 ......................................................................................................
 22

The
 Self-­‐Advocate
 .....................................................................................................................
 31

Citizens
 Not
 Victims
 ..........................................................................................................................
 31

‘Speaking
 Out’
 ...................................................................................................................................
 34

Autonomy…
 It’s
 Complicated
 ...........................................................................................................
 38

The
 Curator
 ...............................................................................................................................
 41

The
 ‘Autonomous’
 Curator?
 .............................................................................................................
 41

No
 Curator
 Is
 An
 Island
 .....................................................................................................................
 45

Curator
 as
 Commissioner
 .................................................................................................................
 48

Is
 Everybody
 a
 Curator?
 ....................................................................................................................
 49

Act
 2:
 So,
 What
 Is
 A
 Curator
 Anyway?
 .......................................................................................
 52

Visiting
 Galleries
 and
 Museums
 ........................................................................................................
 53

Reflecting
 On
 Visits
 Together
 ...........................................................................................................
 61

An
 Exhibition
 Theme
 Emerges
 ..........................................................................................................
 65

Act
 3:
 The
 Commissioners
 and
 The
 Commissioned
 .....................................................................
 73

  5
Building
 Networks
 .............................................................................................................................
 73

Selecting
 Artists
 .................................................................................................................................
 76

Developing
 the
 Commissions
 ...........................................................................................................
 83

Including
 Existing
 Artwork
 ................................................................................................................
 93

Act
 4:
 Auto
 Agents
 .....................................................................................................................
 96

That
 Goes
 There
 ................................................................................................................................
 96

Reimagining
 Interpretation
 ..............................................................................................................
 99

The
 Show
 Must
 Go
 On
 ....................................................................................................................
 103

James
 Harper:
 Meet
 at
 the
 Tree
 .....................................................................................................
 106

Mark
 Simmonds:
 Book
 ....................................................................................................................
 107

Alaena
 Turner:
 Secret
 Action
 Paintings
 ..........................................................................................
 108

Engagement
 Events
 ........................................................................................................................
 109

Auto
 Agents
 at
 The
 Brindley
 ...........................................................................................................
 113

Act
 5:
 Epilogue
 ........................................................................................................................
 115

Bibliography
 ............................................................................................................................
 118

Appendix
 .................................................................................................................................
 139

James
 Harper:
 Meet
 At
 The
 Tree
 ....................................................................................................
 139

Mark
 Simmonds:
 Book
 ....................................................................................................................
 139

Alaena
 Turner:
 Secret
 Action
 Paintings
 ..........................................................................................
 139

  6
List
 of
 Scenes

Act
 2:
 So,
 What
 Is
 A
 Curator
 Anyway?

 .......................................................................................
 52

Scene
 1:
 So,
 What
 Is
 A
 Curator
 Anyway?

 ........................................................................................
 52

Scene
 2:
 The
 Fella
 With
 The
 Scissors

 ...............................................................................................
 57

Scene
 3:
 It’s
 Fate!
 That
 Funny
 Word
 Again………………………………………………………………………………...
 67

Act
 3:
 The
 Commissioners
 and
 The
 Commissioned
 .....................................................................
 73

Scene
 1:
 What
 About
 Joe?

 ...............................................................................................................
 81

Scene
 2:
 But
 We
 Chose
 Him?
 ...........................................................................................................
 86

Scene
 3:
 It’s
 Complicated

 .................................................................................................................
 92

Act
 4:
 Auto
 Agents
 .....................................................................................................................
 96

Scene
 1:
 Curator
 to
 Curator
 ..............................................................................................................
 96

Scene
 2:
 Black
 Hat

 ..........................................................................................................................
 105

Scene
 3:
 The
 Elephant
 Man
 ............................................................................................................
 111

  7
Introduction

“I
 went
 from
 an
 artist
 who
 makes
 things
 to
 an
 artist
 who
 makes
 things
 happen”
 (Deller,
 2012).

I
 am
 an
 artist-­‐facilitator
 who
 has
 been
 running
 participatory
 and
 inclusive
 arts
 projects
 since
 2009.

During
 this
 time,
 I
 have
 worked
 almost
 exclusively
 alongside
 learning
 disabled
 people
 to
 explore
 the

intersections
 of
 art,
 disability
 and
 social
 change,
 often
 examining
 constructs
 of
 access,
 agency
 and

inclusion.
 My
 work
 has
 primarily
 taken
 the
 form
 of
 art
 exhibitions
 and
 workshop
 programmes
 but
 I

have
 also
 produced
 a
 number
 of
 collaborative
 book
 projects,
 films
 and
 zines.
 As
 this
 type
 of
 work

typically
 involves
 vast
 networks
 of
 people,
 places,
 organisations
 and
 institutions,
 it
 has
 a
 myriad
 of

possible
 labels.
 Whilst
 I
 choose
 to
 describe
 myself
 as
 an
 artist-­‐facilitator,
 this
 practice
 is
 also
 akin
 to

that
 of
 an
 inclusive
 artist,
 relational
 artist,
 community
 artist,
 collaborative
 artist,
 participatory
 artist

and
 socially-­‐engaged
 artist
 to
 name
 a
 few
 of
 the
 possible
 descriptors.

My
 label
 of
 choice
 ‘artist-­‐facilitator’
 is
 used
 to
 define
 an
 artist
 whose
 role
 requires
 them
 to
 enable

others,
 often
 acting
 as
 a
 mediator,
 translator,
 catalyst
 and
 synergist.
 At
 the
 core
 of
 this
 practice

artist-­‐facilitators
 use
 their
 own
 “knowledge
 and
 skills
 to
 facilitate
 and
 enable
 other’s
 creativity”

(Pringle,
 2011,
 p.
 37),
 often
 employing
 creative
 ways
 of
 looking
 at
 and
 engaging
 with
 art
 through
 a

process
  that
  is
  active,
  experiential
  and
  one
  that
  has
  the
  capacity
  to
  scaffold
  learning.
  When

effective,
 it
 is
 hoped
 that
 this
 learning
 is
 mutually
 beneficial
 and
 able
 to
 travel
 beyond
 ‘those
 in
 the

room’
 to
 stakeholders,
 and
 furthermore,
 out
 into
 the
 public
 realm.

For
 me,
 the
 journey
 to
 this
 PhD
 began
 staring
 into
 the
 window
 of
 a
 temp
 agency.
 I
 had
 moved
 to

London
 in
 2009
 after
 undertaking
 a
 photography
 degree.
 To
 support
 the
 many
 unpaid
 internships

at
 galleries
 and
 museums,
 I
 needed
 easy,
 flexible,
 paid
 work.
 Do
 you
 need
 flexible
 working
 hours?

Can
 you
 support
 someone
 with
 everyday
 tasks?
 Can
 you
 offer
 flexible
 approaches
 to
 support?
 Apply

Within.
 Not
 only
 was
 this
 my
 first
 job
 as
 a
 support
 worker,
 it
 was
 my
 first
 experience
 of
 learning

disabled
 people
 all
 together.
 Needless
 to
 say
 the
 job
 wasn’t
 easy,
 but
 it
 was
 unique
 and
 challenged

me
 creatively
 which
 spurred
 me
 to
 seek
 out
 more
 opportunities
 like
 it.
 A
 year
 or
 so
 later
 I
 began

working
 for
 a
 self-­‐advocacy
 organisation
 and
 was
 asked
 to
 run
 an
 art
 group,
 and
 so
 my
 two

seemingly
 separate
 lives
 collided;
 art
 and
 advocacy.

  8
Eager
 to
 simultaneously
 consolidate
 and
 unravel
 this
 practice
 in
 aim
 to
 think
 more
 critically
 about

my
 work,
 in
 2011
 I
 undertook
 an
 MA
 in
 Inclusive
 Arts
 Practice
 at
 the
 University
 of
 Brighton.
 During

my
 MA,
 which
 focused
 on
 collaboration
 and
 studio
 practices
 in
 the
 context
 of
 learning
 disability

arts,
  I
  discovered
  that
  there
  was
  little
  engagement
  with
  curatorial
  practices
  in
  inclusive
  arts

contexts
 and
 specifically,
 how
 to
 involve
 learning
 disabled
 people
 into
 this
 process.
 This
 concept

became
 my
 dissertation
 project
 for
 which
 I
 facilitated
 a
 group
 of
 learning
 disabled
 women
 from

Barnet
 Mencap
 to
 curate
 an
 exhibition
 in
 East
 London's
 Hoxton
 Arches,
 titled
 You
 Are
 Artists,
 I
 am

Curator
 (2013),
 laying
 the
 foundations
 for
 this
 PhD
 study.
 For
 my
 MA
 I
 focused
 on
 what
 practices

were
 required
 to
 enable
 this
 group
 to
 curate.
 But
 it
 quickly
 became
 apparent
 that
 there
 was

potential
  for
  this
  practice
  to
  speak
  to
  issues
  of
  self-­‐advocacy
  and
  potentially
  contribute
  new

approaches
 to
 curatorship.

After
 my
 MA
 I
 was
 keen
 to
 continue
 exploring
 this
 idea.
 After
 searching
 for
 funding
 models
 which

were
 able
 to
 support
 collaborative
 research,
 I
 came
 across
 the
 Arts
 and
 Humanities
 Research

Council’s
 Collaborative
 Doctoral
 Award
 (CDA)
 scheme
 which
 has
 been
 specifically
 designed
 to

support
 collaborations
 between
 universities
 and
 non-­‐academic
 organisations.
 I
 decided
 to
 instigate

an
 application
 and
 began
 by
 contacting
 a
 self-­‐advocacy
 group
 I
 had
 previously
 worked
 with
 called

Halton
 Speak
 Out.
 As
 well
 as
 fulfilling
 many
 of
 the
 usual
 roles
 of
 a
 traditional
 self-­‐advocacy
 group,

Halton
 Speak
 Out
 also
 runs
 an
 established
 performing
 arts
 group
 called
 Ella
 Together.
 Ella
 Together

has
 a
 clear
 agenda
 -­‐
 via
 public
 performances
 -­‐
 in
 using
 the
 arts
 to
 challenge
 perceptions
 of
 its

largely
 disabled
 cohort.
 This
 resonated
 strongly
 with
 my
 research
 interests
 and
 the
 organisation

remains
 keen
 to
 develop
 this
 strand
 of
 their
 practice.

However,
 as
 the
 focus
 of
 the
 project
 was
 curation,
 I
 was
 also
 keen
 to
 collaborate
 with
 a
 second

organisation
 to
 draw
 in
 additional
 expertise
 in
 Inclusive
 Arts
 and
 curatorial
 practice,
 ensuring
 the

broadest
 reach
 and
 impact
 for
 the
 exhibition
 and
 research.
 The
 second
 partner
 I
 approached
 was

Bluecoat,
 an
 iconic
 arts
 space
 in
 Liverpool.
 Bluecoat
 was
 approached
 not
 just
 because
 of
 its
 well-­‐
regarded
 art
 gallery
 and
 engagement
 programme
 but
 primarily
 because
 of
 Blue
 Room,
 an
 award

winning
 inclusive
 arts
 project
 for
 learning
 disabled
 people.
 Whilst
 the
 Blue
 Room
 members
 create
 a

breadth
 of
 art
 work,
 they
 had
 yet
 to
 engage
 with
 curatorial
 practices
 which
 presented
 a
 key
 area
 for

the
 groups
 development.

Helen
 Graham,
 Associate
 Professor
 in
 the
 School
 of
 Fine
 Art,
 History
 of
 Art
 and
 Cultural
 Studies
 at

  9
the
 University
 of
 Leeds
 took
 the
 lead
 in
 supervising
 along
 with
 Fine
 Art
 Lecturer
 Emma
 Rushton,
 and

drawing
 upon
 these
 partners’
 expertise
 resulted
 in
 a
 successful
 bid
 in
 March
 2014.

Summary

Over
 the
 past
 40
 years
 within
 the
 UK
 the
 concept
 of
 self-­‐advocacy
 has
 gained
 momentum
 by

enabling
 learning
 disabled
 people
 to
 speak
 out
 in
 order
 to
 affect
 change.
 In
 the
 same
 period,

inclusive
 approaches
 have
 been
 taken
 up
 both
 in
 research
 (Walmsley
 and
 Johnson,
 2003)
 and
 in
 the

arts,
 reflecting
 a
 growing
 recognition
 of
 learning
 disabled
 people
 as
 researchers,
 artists,
 performers

and
 communicators.
 Whilst
 this
 has
 resulted
 in
 a
 proliferation
 of
 work
 by
 learning
 disabled
 people

in
 the
 performing
 and
 visual
 arts
 (Fox
 and
 Macpherson,
 2015),
 curation
 has
 only
 rarely
 been

explored
 and
 then
 principally
 in
 museums
 dealing
 with
 history
 (Open
 University,
 2008;
 Museum
 of

Liverpool,
 2014;
 Access
 All
 Areas,
 2017)
 rather
 than
 in
 the
 context
 of
 art
 galleries.
 This
 gap
 in
 the

practice
 led
 me
 to
 develop
 this
 research;
 Art
 as
 Advocacy.
 Via
 a
 practice-­‐led
 approach,
 this
 research

explores
 the
 potential
 for
 curatorship
 by
 learning
 disabled
 artists
 to
 act
 as
 a
 site
 for
 self-­‐advocacy,

examining
 whether
 curating
 can
 be
 an
 effective
 way
 for
 this
 group
 to
 communicate
 collective

political
 concerns
 out
 into
 the
 public
 realm.

Importantly,
 Art
 as
 Advocacy
 is
 underpinned
 by
 collaborating
 with
 two
 organisations:
 Halton
 Speak

Out
 and
 Bluecoat.
 From
 these
 organisation’s
 memberships
 I
 recruited
 five
 learning
 disabled
 people

who
 had
 all
 applied
 to
 take
 on
 the
 role
 of
 a
 curator;
 Hannah
 Bellass
 and
 Leah
 Jones
 from
 Halton

Speak
  Out,
  and
  Tony
  Carroll,
  Diana
  Disley
  and
  Eddie
  Rauer
  from
  Bluecoat’s
  Blue
  Room.
  By

strategically
 recruiting
 the
 curators
 from
 both
 of
 these
 organisations,
 I
 was
 able
 to
 bring
 together

knowledge
 and
 skills
 in
 self-­‐advocacy
 into
 dialogue
 with
 knowledge
 and
 skills
 in
 artistic
 expression.

Once
 the
 research
 team
 was
 in
 place,
 myself
 plus
 two
 support
 workers
 met
 the
 curators
 weekly
 at

Bluecoat
 over
 the
 course
 of
 a
 year
 in
 order
 to
 curate
 an
 exhibition.

The
 result
 was
 Auto
 Agents,
 a
 visual
 arts
 exhibition
 which
 opened
 at
 Bluecoat
 on
 26th
 November

2016
 to
 15th
 January
 2017,
 and
 then
 went
 on
 to
 be
 displayed
 at
 The
 Brindley
 in
 Halton
 between
 4th

March
  and
  15th
  April
  2017.
  Significantly,
  both
  the
  participatory
  process
  of
  curating
  and
  the

exhibition
 theme
 itself
 came
 together
 to
 address
 an
 issue
 that
 is
 at
 the
 heart
 of
 advancing
 the
 rights

of
 learning
 disabled
 people;
 autonomy.
 Autonomy,
 or
 in
 the
 words
 of
 the
 curators
 “what
 it
 means

  10