Re-Storying Disability through the Arts: Providing a Counterpoint to Mainstream Narratives

Abstract

The arts can counter powerful cultural narratives that regulate the lives and bodies of disabled people. But, the performing arts practices that disabled people typically participate in are themselves enmeshed within such problematic narratives. As a result they can play a role in reproducing stigmatised identities and inequitable social relations. In some international contexts, conflicting narratives of disability have meant that the relationship between different areas of arts practice has been either non-existent or fraught with tensions. In this paper, we suggest that the performing arts can contribute significantly to the vision and aspirations articulated in New Zealand’s Disability Strategy if different areas of practice find common ground on which to engage in dialogue and work in coalition. This paper is a reflective report on Re-storying Disability Through the Arts, an event that aimed to provide a space for productive conversation between students, researchers, artists, educators and practitioners with different involvements or interests in disability arts (broadly conceived). It begins with a story that introduces some of the tensions this event evoked. This is followed by a critical commentary that unpacks these tensions, examining the three examples of community-based arts practice that were presented. In each instance we identify the ways in which these different forms of performance engage in a strategy of re-storying disability. The paper concludes by identifying some of the key issues that arose in the discussion that ended Re-storying Disability and from our reflection on the event. These include pressing structural issues and questions for consideration by those involved in disability arts in Aotearoa New Zealand.