Kristina McMullin Sean Lee Curating Access: Vital Cultural Aesthetics
Michelle Peek Photography. Courtesy of Bodies in Translation: Activist Art, Technology & Access to Life
As part of the project Interrogating Access: Resources for Artists and Organisations
A transcription of the presentation is available in PDF-A
Join Sean Lee and Kristina McMullin of Tangled Art + Disability, Canada’s first Disability Art gallery with a fully disability-identified staff, in a presentation on the emergence and swell of the Deaf and Disability Arts sector in Canada, and what it looks like to not only curate disability arts, but to develop the cultural aesthetics of access.
They will discuss ‘cripping’ arts and culture, a natural extension to the disability rights movement, which has disrupted mainstream narratives surrounding experiences of Deafness, Madness and Disability. This includes a brief overview of disability arts in Canada, current and future approaches to accessible curation, inclusive approaches to marketing, and communication as a tool for building community.
Michelle Peek Photography. Courtesy of Bodies in Translation: Activist Art, Technology & Access to Life
Kristina McMullin is a designer and communicator who works from a human-centered approach—all of her processes and end products are created with the primary goal of anticipating community needs and wants. She has designed, promoted, and produced deliverables, events, and exhibitions through her work at Tangled Art + Disability. As an advocate for Disability Arts, Kristina has served as a presenter and panelist within Toronto’s arts and culture sector to speak about access and inclusion best practices, and delivered keynote speeches across North America. With a Bachelor of design degree from Ryerson University, digital marketing and user experience design certificates from Brainstation, and training in audio description and relaxed performance, Kristina’s dedication to continuous improvement gives life to her passion for access and inclusion.
Sean Lee is part of a new generation of artists, curators, and arts leaders bringing fresh perspectives to the contemporary art field through an intersectional disability arts praxis. His methodology reframes embodied difference as a distinct resource that resists aesthetic ideals. Orienting towards a “crip horizon,” Sean leads with disability in his curation for its transformative possibilities. Sean is the Director of Programming at Tangled Art + Disability. Previous to this role, he was Tangled’s inaugural Curator in Residence (2016) as well as Tangled’s Gallery Manager (2017). In addition, Sean is an independent lecturer and holds a B.A. in Arts Management and Studio from the University of Toronto. He currently sits on the board of the8Fest, Creative Users Projects and is a member of the Ontario Art Council’s Deaf and Disability Advisory Group.
A transcription of the presentation is available in PDF-A
