The Last Avant-Garde?: Disability Arts and (rethinking) mobility

A panel discussion about art, disability, and the role of aesthetic experimentation.

Participants: Eddie Paterson (University of Melbourne), Bree Hadley (QUT), Janice Florence (Weave Theatre), Yumi Umiumare (Butoh Caberet), and Lachlan MacDowall (University of Melbourne).

Taking as its starting point a remark by Turner Prize nominee Yinka Shonibare that disability arts is ‘the last avant garde’, this panel focuses on the role of aesthetic experimentation in disability arts and the possible rethinking of the relationship between avant-garde aesthetic strategies and inclusive arts.

Points of connection between the avant-garde and disability arts include a rejection of traditional aesthetic forms, the development of aesthetic strategies appropriate to non-normative bodies, politics and populations, and the implications of these ideas for the conference themes.

This panel is intended as a facilitated discussion involving researchers and artists undertaking work in this area. The panel will begin with some brief provocations reflecting on the implication of Shonibare’s comment, and on their own research and creative practices.