Artistic Policy

Together! 2012 CIC’s Artistic Policy is underpinned by the UN Convention on the Rights of Disabled People, and in particular by Article 30. Article 30 gives disabled people the right to participate in the arts on equal terms, both as artists and as audience members, as well as to organize and participate in our own cultural activities. We celebrate the creativity in everyone, as well as showcasing disabled-led work of international excellence, and encourage and value freedom of expression. When commissioning Disabled artists, we prioritise emerging artists, and mid-career artists who are developing new work. We are also interested in work that highlights the intersectional experiences of Disabled people, and our events programme includes activities for LGBT+ History Month, International Women’s Day, LGBT+ Pride Month and Black History Month. Since 2020 we have been focussing on the home as a place to create and engage with the arts, which has particular relevance for Disabled people, carers and people who are geographically isolated from cultural venues.

We also draw on the artistic heritage of the London Borough of Newham, including the late Joan Littlewood’s philosophy of bringing art into the community that reflects the community’s lived experiences in addition to introducing new art forms. We value the experiences of all of our participants and audience members; the time and energy that they have expended to participate in our activities; and their reactions and responses to our work, whatever their access requirements, impairment label or educational level. We work to achieve greater inclusion of disabled people and carers within society and broader cultural change through the arts.

Excellence

  • Disability Arts is an international art movement in its own right, and is inclusive of all art forms. Disability Arts offers new perspectives on the world, as well as reflecting the lived experiences of disabled people and showcasing Disability Culture.
  • We provide learning and showcasing opportunities for locally based, emerging, and nationally and internationally known disabled artists, and empower them to progress and develop their careers.
  • We provide opportunities for both disabled and non-disabled audience members to enjoy and engage actively with high quality disabled-led arts activities.

Inclusion

  • Together! 2012 CIC offers a free year-round programme of disabled-led arts activities that aim to be fully inclusive in every sense.
  • We work to remove barriers to engaging in the arts including financial, environmental and attitudinal barriers.
  • We include people with physical and sensory impairments, people with learning difficulties, people with mental health difficulties and people with long-term health conditions within our work.
  • Some activities are targeted at disabled people and their companions – unpaid carers and other companions are welcome to participate on equal terms. This work is aimed at redressing the opportunities that are being denied participants elsewhere.
  • Together! 2012 CIC events, exhibitions, screenings and performances are open to everyone. Activities taking place before 7pm are generally suitable for family audiences.
  • In 2012 the London Borough of Newham had the lowest arts engagement rate in the UK – Together! 2012 CIC is working to increase engagement by disabled and non-disabled people alike as part of the Paralympic cultural Legacy.

Resilience and sustainability

  • Together! 2012 CIC is a social enterprise, not a charity. We create employment for disabled people and enable disabled artists to develop their work, as well as generating funds via consultancy work to subsidise our free offer.
  • We aim to provide the participants in our targeted activities with the skills, ‘cultural literacy’ and experiences necessary to access the arts more widely, as well as with improved confidence and self-esteem.
  • Together! 2012 CIC has been awarded ‘Community of Health’ status by Newham Clinical Commissioning Group for “outstanding services in improving the health and well-being of local residents”. We have also been awarded East London Community Champion for Outstanding Contribution to Community Cohesion, East London Community Champion for Outstanding Initiative in the Arts, and Newham Green Business of the Year.

Diversity and skills

  • Together! 2012 CIC is rooted in the London Borough of Newham, which is the most culturally diverse community in the world. Newham was also the main Paralympic Host Borough role in 2012, bringing together people from all over the world to compete in peace. We are proud of this unique heritage, and celebrate it in our work.
  • We reflect the lived experiences of disabled people from different impairment groups within the performances, events and exhibitions that we programme.
  • We use informal but structured differentiated learning techniques to enable participants in our Club-based activities to develop a range of artistic and creative skills.
  • Many participants in our Pop-Up Poetry Club have commented on the gains they have made in literacy, creative writing and public speaking skills.
  • Together! 2012 CIC offers a range of volunteer opportunities to both disabled and non-disabled people.
  • Together! 2012 CIC encourages workers and volunteers to engage with free employment training opportunities.
  • Together! 2012 CIC employs an Apprentice and a trainee Assistant Artistic Director to support Disabled people’s career opportunities in the arts.

Children and young people

  • Together! 2012 CIC runs an additional programme for children and young people (young people are also included in our wider work).
  • Together! 2012 CIC focuses our work with 0-16 year olds on disabled children and their families who for whatever reason find it hard to access the arts through the educational system.
  • Together! 2012 CIC delivers an Arts Award programme, supporting young people to gain nationally recognized arts qualifications.
  • Together! 2012 CIC is exploring what services young people aged 16-25 year olds would like us to provide, in response to demand from young people and their families.

MONITORING AND REVIEW

This Policy is monitored on an ongoing basis and reviewed annually by the directors to ensure that it remains fit for purpose, and is updated as necessary.

Reviewed and updated 17/4/2024.