Pajama Party Politics: Access through Solidarity
Pajama Party Politics: Access through Solidarity.
Presented by Sask Arts Alliance and Listen to Dis’
Who is this for? Everyone, access is not for the disabled only.
When and Where? December 8 | 6:30 pm | via Zoom (register below).
Join us on December 8th for a cultural conversation with Max Ferguson and Traci Foster on accessibility and accommodation. The discussion will focus on why it is important that we all, as artists and cultural workers, both independently and as part of organizations, do the work to catch up and keep up with the current understanding of access and accommodation with and for d/Deaf, mad, k/crip, chronically ill, sick, and disabled artists.
We need both local disabled and non-disabled folks to understand the current climate of disability in the arts and, of course, the universal need for access.
This event will kick off LTD’s and SAA’s Saskatchewan-based initiative – the creation of a living document on accessibility in the province that would support a broader understanding of access through the disability cultural lens.
Speakers
Max Ferguson (He/They) is an interdisciplinary artist, curator, and PhD Candidate at York University. A practicing artist since 1996, Max (formerly Sarah) received their BFA from the University of Regina in 2001. He acquired his MFA in Interdisciplinary Studies (Visual Art and Women’s and Gender Studies) in 2017. His artistic explorations involve queer sexualities, disability justice, madness, the body, transgender issues, surrealism, anti-colonial approaches to artmaking, and psychoanalysis. His work ranges from photography, performance, and digital-based works to paintstick, graphite, and digital collage. He is also a published poet, holds a degree in journalism, and has worked as a political, legal, military, and arts reporter.
Traci Foster is a disability artist and theatre maker who explores and develops her work with a focus on where awareness, intuition, and action intersect. She works with creation as care, and unapologetically seeks pleasure in all aspects of life, including art making.
Traci is the founder and executive| artistic| director of Listen to Dis’ Community Arts Organization and is an unrelenting advocate of disability culture. She loves art, especially the stuff that makes her laugh, cry, or squirm.
Artist Interruptions
Fatima Tun Nafisa is Bangladeshi-Canadian. She was born with Hearing loss. She is trilingual. She believes being able to speak and use sign language makes her feel comfortable in her daily interactions. She has been a member of the Deaf Crows Collective since its inception in 2016. She is an ASL poet and performing artist. Her ASL poem entitled “Never Saw” was created to tell a story from her personal childhood experience and the bond between a child and their mother or even parents. Her poem aims to educate audiences about the impact of hearing loss and her struggle to listen in hearing environments. As a Deaf artist, Fatima wants people to listen, understand and respect deaf or hard of hearing individuals and their struggles.
Nathan Coppen (he/him) is a Mad actor/musician/puppeteer/arts educator. He is a graduate of the University of Regina and the Globe Theatre Conservatory, and has performed on stages from BC to Ontario. He has worked with Wide Open Theatre, Globe Theatre,
Dancing Sky Theatre, Live Five, Souris Valley Theatre, the Saskatchewan Playwrights' Centre, among many others. He has also toured the Canadian Fringe Festival circuit, and was nominated for a SATAward for Original Composition (Balloonacy!, Wide Open
Theatre). His debut play, I Have No Idea, is a comedic and poignant look at the dysfunction of neurotypicality through the lens of ADHD. It runs at the Shumiatcher Theatre, Feb. 16 – 26th, as part of the 2022/23 season with On Cue Performance Hub.
