Accentuate

Our View is a group of deaf and disabled people who sit at the heart of Accentuate ensuring the views and contributions of disabled people inform every level of the programme. Accentuate works right across the spectrum of arts, sports, film, heritage and tourism. This is both a strength and a challenge; how can people with different perspectives, and from different disciplines be united under an Accentuate banner?

Until now there has been limited in-depth discussion or analysis around the differences and commonalities between the disability arts and sports sectors. Each sector has negotiated their own path, their own way of working and their own place in society.

The Our View Blog on the Accentuate website has been an invaluable resource in reflecting these perspectives and has created a space to enable the continuation and development of ideas and understanding. Whilst different approaches to disability have come sharply into focus, there are clearly opportunities to learn from one another, and many examples of shared aims and objectives.

Therefore Accentuate has asked the Our View Core Group to lead this debate and produce a new publication exploring what motivates and inspires both athletes and artists.  All members of the Core Group have had extremely important roles within the writing and making of this document.  There will be two “forewords”, one written by Jamie Beddard, from an arts perspective and one by Kristina Veasey written from a sports perspective.  Kristina and Jamie have interviewed a variety of people in the early, mid and later stages of their careers to help ensure a variety of voices are heard within this publication.  There will also be a visual map for a timeline signifying the key dates in the history of the disability arts and sports sectors.  This timeline will be illustrated by artist Jon Adams.  The context of the disability arts sector will be given by writer, illustrator and editor of DAO, Colin Hambrook.  Sarah Playforth has the tricky job of editing this publication into something that we hope will be appealing to a variety of audiences.

Accentuate is very excited about this piece of work, because as far as we know, nothing like this has been produced before and this sort of debate is exactly what we hope to encourage and then capture, to ensure we create a legacy from this cross sector approach.  We will be launching this publication at our event at the Houses of Parliament of 8^th June.