With this year’s theme ‘Radical Accessibility’ thanks to digital programming ensuring art is available to all to enjoy, the focus is on people who have been most acutely affected by Covid; people from Western Sydney; people living with disability; First Nations people; people from culturally diverse backgrounds; young people; and those experiencing financial hardship.
UTP Artistic Director Dr Jessica Olivieri says we can’t have art (and other experiences) only available to the healthy, those who can travel, those who can walk up the stairs to the theatre or those who can afford a ticket.
“Covid has taught us so many things, one of them is new ways to come together for the shared experiences that the arts can provide, not only online – because that is also not open to everyone.
“At UTP we are committed to presenting a hybrid program of work that promotes intersectional accessibility now and in the years to come.”
Kicking off this year’s initiatives is the Radical Accessibility essay series which is on offer now until July.
In partnership with Sydney Review of Books, this project features a series of commissioned essays from Western Sydney-based writers and asks uncomfortable questions.
Upcoming events include: The Bilingual Kids Arts Lab (working with young people from Arabic-speaking backgrounds); Rock, Paper, Snap, a photography experience on offer in the April school holidays; art-making workshops; 15 Cigarettes, a project that confronts cross-generational loneliness (worse than smoking 15 cigarettes); Blak Box – Precarities, a deep listening experience; M’ap Boulé, a narrative of a Haitian-Australian woman living on Gadigal Land; and The Quiet Discomfort, focussing on body politics and gender neutrality.
Find out more, visit utp.org.au.
Revolution making art accessible to all
AT the forefront of art and social change since 1979, Bankstown Arts Centre-based UTP (Urban Theatre Projects) is leading a revolution of art that is socially responsive, inclusive and that reflects the diverse nation we live in.