It is unthinkable that just a few years ago, these roles might have been portrayed by non-disabled artistes, or worse still, have their disabilities or characters erased entirely. And while there is still a long way to go before persons with disabilities (PWDs) are afforded the same opportunities as their non-disabled counterparts, progress has accelerated significantly.
Championing arts for all
Jul 10, 2023
, PORTFOLIO Magazine
In the 2021 superhero film Eternals, actress Lauren Ridloff played the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s first deaf superhero. Closer to home, young actor Timothy Lee landed the role to play a regular main cast character with a disability in Kin, Mediacorp’s 2018 long-form drama, after just one audition. These might look like your regular, run-of-the-mill casting, if not for two stark differences: One, both characters were played by actors with the actual disabilities; two, and perhaps more importantly, both characters were deliberately written as such.
Angela Tan, executive director of ART:DIS, a non-profit organization dedicated to creating learning and livelihood opportunities for persons with disabilities in the arts scene, is familiar with this. According to her, even just a decade ago, it was “uncommon” to see someone with a disability in the audience or as a visitor to a performance or exhibition. These days, she says, many cultural venues are staffed with an access team or coordinator to support the needs of visitors with disabilities, even less apparent conditions like autism.
She recalls working on the first edition of the Arts & Disability Forum in 2016, where she realized “we had very few disabled leaders that we could profile as key opinion leaders” – a glaring omission that stuck with her. “Singapore must have its own disabled arts leaders. More work needs to be done to nurture them – not only supporting them to be excellent at what they do, but also giving them exposure opportunities, raising their visibility, and building their confidence.” The ultimate goal: For these artists to be able to advocate for themselves and their community.
Changing the narrative
If awareness is the first step for disability representation to gain mainstream presence, then sustained and coordinated support within the ecosystem must be the catalyst to move disabled arts towards normalization. Here, ART:DIS plays a critical role as a connector, linking its artists up with “mainstream culture” – so that institutions in the arts scene can “better include, represent, and consider not just artists with disabilities, but PWDs in our cultural spaces and content”.
For Angela, joining ART:DIS to facilitate this movement was a natural progression following more than a decade working at the National Arts Council (NAC). “The mainstream narrative around disability or a PWD often speaks about these individuals from a place of deficit, constantly reminding us of what they do not have. Instead, it should highlight their unique strengths and perspectives that are different from non-disabled persons. The arts can help us uncover that and offer a space to connect both the disabled and non-disabled to experience the world together.”
An inclusive arts community for all
Over the last few years, Singapore has made significant strides in the inclusion of persons with disabilities – including that within the arts scene. In 2022, the Ministry of Social and Family Development laid out the Enabling Masterplan 2030, highlighting 29 recommendations to help shape the future of the disability landscape. Two focused on the arts sector and reiterated the need for enhanced accessibility for all arts and heritage activities and increased opportunities for persons with disabilities to be an integral part of the scene.
While there are already promising signs of changing mindsets, ART:DIS’ work is far from over. After all, real change only comes when these artists are included because of their abilities and not tokenism. “The reality is while there is an increasing number of PWDs enrolling in our local arts institutions, they continue to face barriers to gainful industry employment. They need additional scaffolding, including mentorships and access to networks that they had traditionally been excluded from,” said Angela.
“My vision for the work we do at ART:DIS is about facilitating ecosystem change and paradigm shifts in the way we see persons with disabilities – that their disabilities add to the way we perceive the world,” she added. “Whilst it is wonderful for a disabled person to be able to attend an arts event, it is another for them to see another disabled person on stage, reflecting the diversity of society that is made up of disabled and non-disabled persons. Culture should reflect society, and disabled individuals are very much part of our social fabric.”