By Ibrahim Arimurti Rashad, Editor and Translator, based on a writing by Jogja Disability Arts

28 July 2025 - 19:14

Share this
Representatives and facilitators from Jogja Disability Arts and DaDaFest pose for a photo together in Yogyakarta workshop, 2024.
Image description: Representatives and facilitators from Jogja Disability Arts and DaDaFest pose for a photo together in Yogyakarta workshop, 2024.

Jogja Disability Arts and DaDaFest initiated PRISM, a two-country research and dissemination project on disability arts.

Disability arts play an important role in expressing unique values and stories. Not only for appreciating, disability art opens avenues of understanding, a platform for expression, and inclusive empowerment for artists with disabilities. Welcoming this spirit,  Jogja Disability Arts  (JDA, Indonesia) and DaDaFest (UK) initiated the PRISM: Understanding The Spectrum of Meaning in Disability Arts Collaborations.

By applying the Participatory Action Research method, PRISM seeks to examine the meaning and power of arts collaboration for artists with disabilities. The project is divided into several phases, namely workshops, seminars and exhibitions, with a total duration of approximately ten months. In each phase, JDA and DaDaFest sought to create a safe space for participating artists to reflect, create meaning, and share experiences with other participants in order to articulate their identities.

Promoting Equality for People with Disabilities through Art

Both JDA and DaDaFest (also called DaDa) have similar visions in providing equal space for creative practitioners with disabilities. Established in 2020, JDA seeks to open full participation and opportunities for people with disabilities in the field of arts and culture at the national and international levels. JDA opens up more meaningful participation of disabled artists by shaping the social situation in an equal and inclusive art ecosystem in Indonesia.

JDA’s regular programmes include the annual Suluh Sumurup Festival, which showcases artworks from disabled artists in Indonesia and raises public awareness of them, and the Jogja Disability Arts Biennale, which showcases artworks from national and international disabled artists to contribute to the global disability arts campaign. To date, JDA has been involved in various collaborative activities with national and international artists, both with and without disabilities.

Similar to JDA, DaDaFest also seeks to reach out to international networks. Founded in 1984, DaDaFest was one of the first disabled-led arts organisations in the UK and is a key part of the campaign for greater equality and access for disabled artists across the arts sector.

DaDaFest is also a biennial arts festival that nurtures and supports many disabled artists from the UK, beyond and internationally. DaDaFEst continues its mission of social justice, campaigning for change and exploring new ways to enable disabled artists to create work that is challenging, entertaining and powerful.

Understanding Diverse Perspectives of Artists with Disabilities

To explore the personal stories and experiences of disabled artists, JDA and DaDaFest organised Body Mapping workshops in Yogyakarta in May 2024 and in Liverpool in September 2024. Through simple guiding questions, participants including deaf, hard of hearing and blind artists were invited to explore, reflect and illustrate their experiences and aspirations. The workshop was facilitated by Triarani Utami, Nano Warsono, Rachel Rogers and Ngozi Ugochukwu.

Through these drawings, initiators and fellow people with disabilities were able to understand each artist's personal perspective and articulation. Both JDA and DaDaFest consider that this activity serves as a bridge and intervention to enhance learning, reflective processes, engagement and more meaningful participation.

Presenting Artists with Disabilities’ Work to the Public

In order to distribute the works and make the experiences of people with disabilities more visible to the public, the project also exhibited the results of Body Mapping in three different events, namely Suluh Sumurup Art Festival 2024, Warna-Warna exhibition (2024), and Akar Rasa Setara exhibition at Equalitera Art Space (2024). The featured works include those of Edi Priyanto, I Made Jery Juliawan, Salsatul Hidayah, Sukri Budi Dharma, Winda Karunadhita, Wiji Astuti, and Zakka Nurul Giffani Hadi.

In addition to the exhibition, the project also held talks, namely a mini-seminar with the Centre for Performing Arts and Visual Arts Studies (PSPR UGM) at Gadjah Mada University, an art talk at Suluh Sumurup Art Festival 2024, a talk at Bluecoat, Liverpool, and a presentation and talk at Dia.Lo.Gue, Jakarta.

Participants of the Body Mapping workshop in Yogyakarta facilitated by PRISM, 2024.
Image description: Participants of the Body Mapping workshop in Yogyakarta facilitated by PRISM, 2024.
Participants of the Body Mapping workshop in Liverpool facilitated by PRISM, 2024.
Image description: Participants of the Body Mapping workshop in Liverpool facilitated by PRISM, 2024.
PRISM attended a mini seminar in collaboration with PSPR UGM, Yogyakarta, in 2024
Image description: PRISM attended a mini seminar in collaboration with PSPR UGM, Yogyakarta, in 2024.
Works by Body Mapping participating artists on display at Equalitera Artspace, 2024.
Image description: Works by Body Mapping participating artists on display at Equalitera Artspace, 2024.

Art as Identity and Space for Togetherness

From the workshops, talks and exhibitions, the project learnt that art activities can reveal the individually felt and shared identities of people with disabilities among artists.

These art projects can also provide opportunities for artists with disabilities to express themselves, bridge appreciation, increase empathy, and challenge mainstream representations or stereotypes about disability.

The Role of Collaboration in Disability Arts 

Collaboration is an important aspect of PRISM. Considering that most artists with disabilities work and create in isolated, individualised and inaccessible spaces, collaboration can open up opportunities for access, improved skills and knowledge, collaborative learning, and other processes where each artist can articulate their feelings and ideas.

Meaningful disability arts collaboration also requires a carefully designed process that establishes trust, a safe space for genuine interaction, and encourages artists to be part of decision-making at various stages of the collaboration. This includes managing expectations of the outcome of the collaborative process, as well as the commitment required from all parties to achieve it.

Moreover, this project involved two countries where the history and appreciation of art and disability are different. Given the contrasting situations, JDA assumed that “unlike in the UK where Disability Arts is developed within a strong historical context, and from what we understand, has a strong aspect of activism in it, the development of Disability Arts in Indonesia is still relatively new".

JDA believes that disability art offers a powerful means to advocate and address those challenges, with its leniency, adaptivity and ability to spark imagination and experience, that enables to nurture empathy and solidarity, as the underlying value if we want to create a sustainable impact.”

Future Opportunities

The PRISM project has opened up new opportunities for collaboration. A series of new activities have been implemented and will be implemented in 2025. In December 2024, PRISM participated in a presentation and workshop at The British Council's Breaking Barriers event in Jakarta. 

In March 2025, PRISM participated in an online talk as part of the 40th anniversary celebration of DaDaFest, where JDA and DaDa were also exploring the possibility of a mural art project in Liverpool as part of this event. Then in October 2025, PRISM will exhibit at the Jogja International Disability Arts Biennale #3. 

In addition, PRISM also seeks to initiate further research and develop new formats and media to disseminate research results. This shows that the distribution of knowledge and work is an important part of spreading understanding and appreciation for disability arts.
Read our latest stories