Dunedin to celebrate diversity

8 July 2010
The arts are a strong focus of the 2010 Celebrate Diversity Week, to be held in Dunedin in September. Now in its fifth year, the week of events showcases and celebrates the achievements of members of Otago’s disabled community and profiles the challenges they face.

Overseen by a steering committee of representatives from the disability sectors, the week includes drama, storytelling, dance and an exhibition of visual arts. There are also sporting and business-related events.
 
There is also an increasing focus on young people, says organiser David Howard. This year’s celebration from 13 to 19 September coincides with Roald Dahl Day on 13 September, so representatives of the disabled community will work with the Dunedin Public Library’s storyteller to perform an excerpt from a Roald Dahl play for primary school audiences. The theme for a Wearable and Wheelable Arts Show will tie in with the play.

A Butterfly Dance Workshop will be led by FUBAR integrated dance group founder Hahna Briggs, dancer, choreographer and former Paralympian Jenny Newstead, and Anna Rugis, who writes songs and musicals with environmental themes for children.

The Acting Up Company is combining with IDEA Services to stage a variety performance based on the participants’ thoughts and experiences.

Throughout the week, Studio 2 artists will exhibit their work at a central city mall. Other art-related events will include a sensory journey into the world of visual impairment, presented by Caroline Plummer Community Dance Fellow Suzanne Cowan, and Diversity Dance in association with Volunteering Otago.

Challenging conceptions

David says he has tried to put together a programme that “delivers on the educational requirements of the steering committee, at the same time appealing to the general public even as it challenges conceptions of what is possible for a disabled person. We’re trying to induce in the audiences a state of mind that lets prejudices fall back and eyes open.”

Celebrate Diversity Week receives seed funding from Dunedin City Council, and in the past has also been supported by a range of charitable trusts and businesses.

David is surprised other centres have not picked up the model and run with it.

“It works because we’ve been able to duplicate it. By developing alliances with multiple stakeholders, Celebrate Diversity Week has lifted the profile of the disabled community.

“It has provided creative leadership that has seen internationally regarded arts practitioners of mixed ability present workshops and performances that speak to disability.”