National AccessAbility Week, celebrated annually in Canada, serves as a reminder of the importance of inclusivity and accessibility for persons with disabilities.
“For the National Arts Centre, this is a time to reflect on how to best create a space where everyone can engage with and enjoy the arts,” said Christopher Deacon, President and CEO of the NAC. “It’s an opportunity to deepen our understanding of issues around accessibility, celebrate the achievements of artists living with disabilities and advocate for a more inclusive society. There is still a lot that needs to be done but we will get there by working with our partners. I encourage everyone to read the NAC’s Accessibility Policy and 2022-2025 Accessibility Plan to learn more about how the NAC will achieve requirements under the Accessible Canada Act.”
Journey Through Colours
To mark National AccessAbility Week, the NAC will be featuring on the Kipnes Lantern a series of specially commissioned works titled My Journey Through Colours by award-winning Deaf visual artist Peter Owusu-Ansah. The colourful works by the Ghanaian-born Toronto artist explore themes of connection and belonging.
Initiatives
The NAC is always looking at supporting initiatives that promote greater accessibility in the arts.
For example, the NAC was pleased to host the Dance and Disability Digital Network dance residency project in April. The initiative, led by Propeller Dance and its co-artistic director Shara Weaver and artists from across the country, was created in response to an urgent need to develop technologies that consider the needs of artists with disabilities.
For its part, the National Creation Fund is placing accessibility at the heart of its investment process for all submissions, including engaging disabled curators. It has also funded of projects led by disabled artists, such as Intangible Adorations Caravan (Tangled Arts) and Antigone (Sick + Twisted) and others.
Feedback
We would love to hear from you about how we can make the NAC more accessible. What are we doing well? What could we do better? We invite you to send your comments to accessibility@nac-cna.ca or fill out the following feedback form.
