Through each of our Projects, we aim to expand access and outreach for disadvantaged, aging and multicultural communities, and for people with disability. Recent programs, devised in close consultation with academic and teaching specialists, leading disability services and community organisations have featured accessible tours, integrated with a range of imaginative, inspiring activities, opening new and unexpected connections with contemporary art.
The Room for Access Day, presented in partnership with Accessible Arts, was one of the highlights of the memorable 13 Rooms Project at Pier 2/3 in April 2013. Providing a uniquely tailored experience of this groundbreaking Project for artists with disabilities, Room for Access inspired lively conversation and debate. The event featured 13 Rooms artist Laura Lima with performers of her work; an intimate workshop, film screenings and a sparkling ‘In Conversation’ session presented by 13 Rooms performer Caroline Bowditch and ABC presenter, writer and disability advocate Stella Young.
In collaboration with Macquarie University Art Gallery specialists, a group of elderly people with dementia attended a guided tour of 13 Rooms, conducted by Kaldor Public Art Projects Educators. The tour group responded in surprising and moving ways, with our team receiving praise for their care and sensitivity in the event’s development and presentation.
For Project 28: Roman Ondák, our education team collaborated with Western Sydney-based disability services Sunnyfield and Beyond the Square to develop
a participatory dance and movement workshop for performers with a disability. The Change/Exchange workshop became the focus of a mini-documentary,
screened exclusively on UnBard TV.
It was an ambitious adventure to take these elderly people along to such cutting edge performance art – not knowing how they would relate to what they saw. But it was a rewarding and wonderful experience for all concerned, a delight to see how, at any age, art can move you… The Kaldor Projects concept of Access has been overwhelmingly embraced with this special visit. - Sara Smyth-King, Macquarie University Art Gallery
The participating group loved their experience with the work and enthusiastically continued to explore the concept though our dance and movement workshop. As a workshop facilitator, this was a fantastic opportunity to coordinate a program with contemporary art that is engaging, welcoming and accessible to the broader public. - Artist/workshop facilitator Liam Benson.