‘Inclusive Arts: Exploring Disability Arts in Bangladesh’ held
Promoting an inclusive society, a two-day seminar, titled Inclusive Arts: Exploring Disability Arts in Bangladesh was held at Six Seasons Hotel, recently. The event was hosted by the British Council, in partnership with Dhaka Theatre and Institute of Informatics and Development (IID). It marked the launch of the three-year capacity development project, Disability Arts: Redefining Empowerment (DARE).
The event was inaugurated by Dr Md Abu Hena Mostafa Kamal, Secretary, Ministry of Cultural Affairs. Khadiza Nazneen, Deputy Secretary, Ministry of Social Welfare, Vashkar Bhattacharjee, Programme Manager and Head of YPSA’s Information, Communication, Technology & Resource Centre on Disabilities (IRCD), Tom Miscioscia, Country Director, British Council Bangladesh (BCB) and Andrew Newton, Deputy Director, BCB, were also in attendance, among others.
Day 1 of the consultation included discussions around the status quo of the Arts sector, Disability sector and Disability Arts sector of Bangladesh. With the aim to identify solution-driven approaches for the disability community, the program facilitated four brainstorming sessions on policy implications, infrastructural support, communication and awareness and financing, which generated specific recommendations on the topics that can be utilized while working in the disability and art sectors in the country.
The second day consisted of the presentation with findings from the previous day and policy discussion in the form of ‘Policy Breakfast’. The policy breakfast opened with exploring the ideas of disability and disability arts from a conceptual standpoint. It focused on the point that any form of art, whether created by persons with disabilities or nondisabled people, should be considered as pure art. This was followed by discussion among the participants regarding the audience with disabilities, whether the focus should be put on the artists or audience with disabilities to facilitate inclusion.
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