Teaching Artist Asia Project

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This project was funded by, and was developed in response to, the ITAC Partnership Project funding strand 2020 - 2022. It was coordinated by Teaching Artist Jeffrey Tan (Singapore).

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Project Overview:
After reviewing proposals from our post-ITAC5 open call, we are delighted to announce we have selected Jeffrey Tan's Teaching Artists Asia project to receive funding.
With partners, Jeffrey will explore inclusive practice efforts and collaborate with the disabilities community across Asia.
Teaching Artists Asia seeks to document, advocate, and connect teaching artists working in this sector, primarily in Singapore, Australia, Korea, Cambodia, Malaysia, and Indonesia.

The project intends to:
- host a series of online sessions exploring how teaching artists in Asia uniquely approach this work -
- begin an online directory for those interested in this growing field of arts in inclusive environments -
- and collectively draft a Disability Arts Charter for those working in Asia -


The findings will be shared at the ITAC6 conference in 2022.

To realize this project, Jeffrey invited a diverse and expansive range of viewpoints.
He sought Teaching Artists (primarily from Singapore, Australia, Korea, Cambodia, Malaysia, and Indonesia) to contribute in the following capacities:
- working group members (voluntary) -
- advisory team members (voluntary) -
- speakers (paid) -

Summary of the Six Monthly Chats

The project consisted of a series of 6 monthly informal chats, aptly named, "Ways of Working Chat Series". The online chats were held on every last Monday of each month, starting in May 2021. The themes emerged from each responding to the needs of the group.

The structure of each chat started with a round of five minutes, three slides, self-introduction by self-nominated TA. It was a great way to get to know the TAs, their context, motivations and practice.

We saw the gathering of Teaching Artists, Educators, Arts Organisations, Government Agencies and any Arts/Cultural workers working with disabled communities in Asia join us.  We also partnered with Equal Dreams to provide Speech to Text interpretation for all six chats. 

Mon 31 May 2021, 7 pm to 8.30 pm Singapore time

Inclusive Arts Practice in Asia, Chat #1: Community Understandings of Inclusive Arts Practice in Asia

Facilitated by Jeffrey Tan

Mon 28th June 2021, 7pm to 8.30pm Singapore time

Inclusive Arts Practice in Asia, Chat #2: The Politics of Identity

Historical, geographical and philosophical perspectives of arts and disability, disability rights and inclusive arts.
Facilitated by Amos Manlangit

Mon 26th July 2021, 7pm to 8.30pm Singapore time

Inclusive Arts Practice in Asia, Chat #3: What you wished you knew earlier?

Needs and gaps of Inclusive Arts planning from the perspectives of disabled artists
Facilitated by Lim Lee Lee, Lily Goh and Jaspreet Sekhon

Mon 30th August 2021, 7pm to 8.30pm Singapore time

Inclusive Arts Practice in Asia, Chat #4: Dignity of Risks - navigating the creativity complexities in support structures.

A dialogue between Alecia Neo, Unseen Art Initiatives and Kari Seeley, No Strings Attached Theatre of Disability and you

Mon 27th September 2021, 7pm to 8.30pm Singapore time

Inclusive Arts Practice in Asia, Chat #5: Measuring Impact

How should we document and articulate impact?  And for what purpose?

Mon 29 November, 7 pm to 8.30 pm Singapore time

Inclusive Arts Practice in Asia, Chat #6: Teaching Artist Asia Directory

What should it look like?
Ways of Working – Inclusive Arts Practice guide
Discoveries and learnings from the Monthly Chats
What’s next?

Way of Working checklist to begin inclusivity in your work.

Inclusivity I-N-S-P-I-R-E-S

Inclusivity - How can everyone access the arts?
Needs – What do the collaborators and participants need?
Space – Are there equal opportunities to be heard?
Patience – Can we be patient, stay open to different perspectives and pace of working?
Innovation – How can we have space for innovation in our inclusivity approaches?
Respect – How can we grant respect for all who have taken time to be present?
Evaluation – How can we improve the arts experience?
Start – How can we plan for inclusivity from the beginning?

We are delighted to be supporting this work and look forward to sharing more details with you soon.

Don't forget, you can follow along on our social media channels for updates.

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