A Position Paper on the state of Arts & Disability in Europe
Europe Beyond Access - of which IETM is a proud dissemination partner - alongside the European Arts & Disability Cluster, the European voice of artists and cultural workers with disabilities, has recently released A Position Paper on the state of Arts & Disability in Europe.
As a membership network spanning 24 European countries, the European Arts & Disability Cluster believes that there are fundamental inequalities in the European cultural sector which prevent equal access to the arts for people with disabilities as artists, as cultural workers and as audiences.
The Position Paper, entitled 'How the European Union can and must act to reduce discrimination against artists, cultural workers and audiences with disabilities' calls on the European Union, through its various institutions, to recognise the current marginalisation of people with disabilities and to urgently implement change.
The Position Paper calls for the new European Union Cultural Compass to position cultural rights at its heart. The Cultural Compass must ensure that European Citizens with disabilities are able to participate in culture as audiences, as artists and as cultural workers.
In addition, the Position Paper:
- Identifies the legal obligations on the European Union and its Member States to support the right to participate in cultural life of citizens with disabilities.
- Warns against grouping the cultural rights of people with disabilities only within discourses on Arts & Health and the Working Conditions of Artists.
- Encourages a structured dialogue between European Union institutions and artists and cultural workers with disabilities, as we are almost always absent from the European cultural networks on which the EU relies.
- Makes clear and achievable recommendations to be implemented in both the current and the next Creative Europe programmes of the EU.
