The Power of Disability Arts

Over the months of May and June 2020, I spent so much time alluring myself into disability arts. During that time, people mostly looked at me as an artist. I wrote a fair bit of music during the pandemic, and see myself performing more songs as a singer/songwriter in the future.

In the past, I’ve spent time learning about and writing poetry, written music, and also wrote the first draft of a young adult novel I plan to release in the 2020s.

But what are ‘disability arts’?

Well, their levels of quality can certainly match the standards of any other kinds of artwork. People who view it are impressed by examples of the most popular disability arts online. However, I also consider disability arts to have the potential to be a useful source of great power. Arts always send out a message. What’s created is something interesting that relates to the thoughts within the designer’s mind. People can send out many messages with the use of disability arts that attract the attention of others.

Artistically expressing disability rights

If a person’s main focus with their arts is disability rights, then the work they create can send messages out about the human rights disabled people deserve. This artwork could be a painting of an inspiring disability rights activist. It could be music written about the struggles that disabled people face in society. It could be a book written about disabled people expressing their greatest abilities and overcoming obstacles in life.

Another example moves back to February 2020, when attending an exhibition at the Arts House in Wakefield. It featured items relating to Reasonable Adjustment, also known as RAD. This was a strong political movement group that endeavoured in the UK between 1988 and 1993. It involved a lot of protesting to gain better human rights for disabled people. However, it explained that in somewhat unusual ways it’s as if nothing ever happened at all. As the gallery stopped showing, Justin Edgar made an excellent short documentary for people to view on location.

Some arts argue. Some arts don’t.

That doesn’t mean I discredit disabled artists who choose not to speak about disability rights within their artwork. Society has played a significant part in affecting the lives of disabled people. Disabled artists are people, and deserve equal human rights to live the lives they enjoy. The work they feel suited to is the work they should be doing.

However, I have a huge passion for improving the lives of disabled people. Arts that look to address and overcome the issues we face in society will always gain my attention more than others. As mentioned, I love writing music and want to perform live more in the future. Writing literature is also an interest, and I see myself as an artist that will speak out about our issues. We need to deal with them as soon as possible.