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Further Afield 2023
Thoughtful discussions exploring art and disability in rural spaces.
Further Afield is a series of free online events presented as a conversation between Chesterfield artist Bella Milroy and a guest speaker. It explores disabled artistic practices within rural settings and examines how creative networks can work together to make the arts more accessible to everyone.
Background
In 2022, Bella Milroy, in partnership with Level Centre, hosted a number of interviews with disabled artists based in rural locations across the country. These interviews were hosted as live events, and are still available on the Further Afield Archive page.
Bella Milroy has secured additional funding to continue the Further Afield project in collaboration with us here at Level.
Current project
This next iteration of the project will begin in 2023, consisting of:
- Interviews with disabled artists who are rurally based, as well as disabled artists whose work has a history in rural settings and context
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Research into rurally based disabled creative practices
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Further cataloguing of disabled artists
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Development of resources to support better working practices for disabled artists, with a particular focus on those who are rurally based
All events will have captioning and will be available on the LEVEL website and YouTube with edited audio versions available on Soundcloud and Spotify.
In addition to the live events, the scope of the project extends to include creating a catalogue of rurally based disabled creatives and developing additional resources to support the working practices for disabled artists. These resources will be available on this web page as the project develops.
More information about the discussions and dates to be announced.
Bella Milroy
Bella Milroy is an artist and writer who lives in her hometown of Chesterfield, Derbyshire. She works responsively through mediums of sculpture, drawing, photography, text, writing and curating. She makes work about making work (and being disabled) and not being able to make work (and being disabled). This process-based practice is fundamental to her as a disabled artist. She is continually motivated by concepts of public and private spaces and where the sick and/or disabled body exists within them, themes which emerge throughout much of her work.
She is passionate about contributing to the cataloguing of disabled artists, as well as advocating for better, more accessible and enjoyable working experiences for disabled artists across the industry. Examples of this are found in many of her curatorial projects such as Soft Sanctuary (2019-2021), Mob-Shop (2021), and Further Afield (forthcoming 2023). She was an Artistic Associate at Level Centre from 2020-2023.
“I am delighted to receive funding for this next iteration of Further Afield, and it’s wonderful to be partnering again with Level on this. The first conversations we had last year were so inspiring, and really highlighted the need for more research to capture the experiences of rurally based disabled artists, and the brilliant and important work they make. I am so excited to be able to continue this research, work with amazing disabled artists, promote their work and learn about ways of making and producing art that aren’t always offered the space or recognition that it deserves.
Huge thanks to all the team at Level in supporting the project, with special thanks to Kerry Andrews for all her time and energy in helping bring this next phase of the project to life. I’m really looking forward to getting started!”
Further Afield is supported by:
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