This training consists of dialogue, embodied movement, non-visual mapping, creative writing, exercising non-visual senses, and sign and banner making.

Open Access is a conceptual framework for accessibility developed by Carmen Papalia in response to institutional failures that he experienced as a recipient of disability support services. Rather than providing a “policy,” Open Access offers guidelines for person-to-person agreements for mutual care.

Besides seeking an unlearning of visual primacy, the goals of this training include establishing a new context for accessibility in a landscape of restrictive programs and prescriptive regimes. It presents an opportunity to reconsider accessibility and public engagement of cultural institutions, and think through a relational accessibility program that evolves with the cultures of the publics that they serve. Participants engage in modeling trust and mutual care, inspiring a broad reframing of the ways institutions engage those at the margins.

When put into practice, Open Access problematizes the typical roles of institutionalized care by encouraging participants to collectively envision a space that suits their needs, and then to share accountability toward that vision and organize accessibility from the grassroots.

When: 22-26 October 2019 (Tuesday-Saturday)
Tuesday from 14–18 hrs, Wednesday-Friday 15-18 hrs followed on weekdays by dinner from 18–19 hrs and preceded on Saturday by lunch from 13–14 hrs in the Basic Activist Kitchen.
On Saturday 26 October 2019, 13-18 hrs, the training culminates in a public program that is part of the training (and free for training participants), but also open to the general public (with a separate ticket).[i]


Participation: This is a five-day training. It is possible to join on individual days, although attending the training in its entirety is encouraged.
Language: English