Meeting Place, Canberra

Attending Meeting Place - Australia’s annual forum for arts, culture and disability - has been an incredible experience. I got to speak on two panels talking about my solo show Happy-Go-Wrong and my life as a performer/theatre-maker living with chronic illness, as well as run a very special workshop as part of the Crip The Stage program, curated by powerhouse performer and disability activist, Hanna Cormick. Of course, I also met and networked with loads of other extraordinary artists and arts workers from all around Australia, and attended many other panels, workshops, exhibitions and events.

It was particularly poignant spending International Day of People with Disability running a workshop on Performative Metaphor as a tool to make visible the invisible: Let’s Get Visible using Performative Metaphor. All the participants gave of themselves generously and threw themselves into play with my reams of brown paper from my show Happy-Go-Wrong. Together, we invented some powerful metaphors for some of our deepest inner secrets around our varying disability experiences. It was super messy fun!

On the final evening, I was lucky to attend the inaugural National Arts and Disability Awards by Australia Council at the National Gallery of Australia.

I am grateful to Arts Access Australia for awarding me a Travel Grant which enabled me to attend and I hope to attend more Meeting Places in the future.

The Deep Dive Artists' Lab

Today I was honoured to participate in a compelling Artists' Lab run by Arts Centre Melbourne called The Deep Dive which delved into neurodiversity in art, particularly performance. We learnt and dissected the art, arts practices and creative processes of some of Australia's leading neurodiverse artists and allies. It was wonderfully hands-on and got me challenging the assumptions which conventional artistic expression makes, as well as reflecting on my own work. I connected with some incredible artists and companies who I look forward to collaborating with in the future.

Frantic Assembly Workshop

Today, I participated in an awesome Movement Uncovered workshop, run by Frantic Assembly/Arts Centre Melbourne at Dancehouse. It was really great learning the physical exercises and techniques employed by the Frantic Assembly company. They're out at the moment touring The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, which I loved. I learnt how to fly just like Christopher and really clicked with movement director Delphine Gaborit who gave me a lovely compliment at the end of the workshop on my performance style. This was the first time in a very long time that I moved my body again and it felt so joyous.

Me flying at the Frantic Assembly workshop! (Photo: Joshua Cowie)