It feels important at the start of this research project to set out my terms, so I want to start with the title of my DYCP application, “Radical Accessibility”.

I first was introduced to this phrase in an online workshop in late 2021, led by the Canadian artist Carmen Papalia. Carmen’s website explains that his work “uses organizing strategies and improvisation to address his access to public space, the art institution, and visual culture”. Carmen interrogates the idea of accessibility as it is typically conceived in mainstream institutions, highlighting structural power dynamics and asking what it means to have ‘access’ to those, and to be ‘included’ within them (and by whom).

In the workshop, Carmen described “radical accessibility” in part as a measure of disabled people’s agency to define the terms of their own care, needs and safety in a space. He also talked about how much of what ‘accessibility’ means in the mainstream is about compliance with procedures and law, which he characterised as “ground floor” access - the bare minimum.

When I use the term ‘Radical Accessibility’ I am imagining a future of access that goes well beyond this bare minimum. To help me articulate this future, I have been reading and reflecting on some concepts that I have found in the work of several disabled artists & activists: Mia Mingus, Kevin Gotkin, and Artistic Director of Graeae Theatre, Jenny Sealey.

In her online blog Leaving Evidence, Mia Mingus coined the term “Access Intimacy”, which she describes as “that elusive, hard to describe feeling when someone else “gets” your access needs. The kind of eerie comfort that your disabled self feels with someone on a purely access level. Sometimes it can happen with complete strangers, disabled or not, or sometimes it can be built over years. It could also be the way your body relaxes and opens up with someone when all your access needs are being met. It is not dependent on someone having a political understanding of disability, ableism or access. Some of the people I have experienced the deepest access intimacy with (especially able bodied people) have had no education or exposure to a political understanding of disability.” She also explains what Access Intimacy is not:

“Access intimacy is not just the action of access or “helping” someone. We have all experienced access that has left us feeling like a burden, violated or just plain shitty. Many of us have experienced obligatory access where there is no intimacy, just a stoic counting down of the seconds until it is over. This is not access intimacy.“

I was struck by the depth and poignancy of the relational, emotional, and social dimensions of access intimacy. Mia seems to be describing a space (or a relationship) where she feels able to bring, and be, her whole self. To me this is a beautiful aspiration both as a person and as a professional.

Jenny Sealey’s work on the “Aesthetics of Access” in the world of performance and theatre is really thought-provoking for my work in the visual arts. The aesthetics of access is described by journalist Paul Cockburn as “essentially, the ways in which accessibility concerns are not simply last-minute add-ons but actually influence and shape the work in wonderful, unexpected ways”. I am eager to explore this principle when working with artists in order to make their work more accessible in more imaginative and integrated ways.

Kevin Gotkin’s concept of Access Magic is another fascinating framework when considering more radical conceptions of access. Kevin explains that he likes to frame access as magic “because it feels like the opposite of regulatory compliance, which is such a dominant way of conceptualizing accessibility. Even seemingly declarative language around access, like the word “accommodation,” is constraining what is truly possible when we think of the artful dimensions of access. so access magic is the stuff that you can only do with others, only with the specific forms of collaboration we discover at the parties. it is knowing and doing more than any individual can do.”

Lisa Prentice, a former artist and practising bodyworker who is passionate about health justice and community approaches to access, healing, and repair, explains the appeal of this framework:

“I was so excited…because of the way the word magic immediately suggests the emotional and joyful dimensions of access practice to me. Building capacity and collective responsibility for creating and engaging space with care and intention feels aligned too with an idea of magic. I also love that magic suggests the possibility of the transformation of material conditions in an instant. It pushes the idea of “access” completely out of the sphere of retrofits and adaptation.”

The concept of Access Magic was introduced as part of an online event, “Remote Access: Witches & Glitches”, a crip nightlife event curated and designed by a team at the Critical Design Lab that included artist Kevin Gotkin. The event was supported by a number of (disabled) individuals who were in the event space to help monitor the gathering and to look for ways to help enhance access. Kevin coined the term “Access Doula”, to describe this role. Traditionally the term “Doula” refers to an assistant who provides non-medical support during and after significant health-related transitional experiences (such as birth & death). Kevin explains how expansive the role of the Access Doula can be:

“I think for me, Access Doulas are folks who can be present in the space and aware of needs as they arise. I think that is the trickiest part, where folks can tell us their needs ahead of time, but no one really KNOWS how they would feel in a space until they are actually in the space. And circumstances change all the time, with our bodyminds, with other folks in the space, with certain environmental factors. I think the Access Doula is someone who understands this fluidity of access-making and is dedicated to ensuring that when needs arise, they are available to listen and be present to try and meet them.” I would love to imagine a future where such a role becomes more the norm in arts spaces.

I am holding on to these three concepts of “Access Intimacy”, “Access Aesthetics” and “Access Magic” as ways of framing what I think Radical Access could and should be.