This is a summary of Arts House’s Disability Inclusion Action Plan 2023 – 2028 narrated by Kath Duncan.

This plan is available in alternative formats on the Arts House website: www.artshouse.com.au

Arts House Disability Inclusion Action Plan 2023 - 2028

Equity—Builder

Step out of the time shallows and into the deep-water memory of Boonwurrung Country.

Experiencing this artwork -
Listen on your personal device with headphones in a quiet place.

About this work -
Developed in collaboration with Boonwurrung Elder N’arwee’t Carolyn Briggs, Watershed is an essay and audio recording that delves into the deep history of Melbourne’s waterways.

This is not the first time this land has faced a climate crisis, and Watershed is an illuminating exploration of the resilience of Country and the meaning of change. From continental drift to the natural flooding of Nairm/Port Phillip Bay, explore the deep time perspective of Indigenous climate memory.

Boonwurrung words and history from ‘The Journey Cycles of the Boonwurrung’ by N’arwee’t Carolyn Briggs. Permission to share and discuss Boonwurrung cultural heritage granted by N’arwee’t Carolyn Briggs.

Artistic Credits -
Audio performed by Cass Lynch and N’arweet Carolyn Briggs
Writer – Cass Lynch
Water Story Custodian and Guiding Boonwurrung Elder – N’arwee’t Carolyn Briggs
Sound Design – Theo McMahon
Voice-over recording – Mei Swan Lim

Commissioned by Arts House for Refuge 2021 

Supported by – 
Arts House is a key program of the City of Melbourne, and supported by the Australia Council for the Arts.

Image - 
By Sarah Rowbottam

Watershed by Cass Lynch

Vaka 9 Folau: The Arrival (2:36)

Sound Selector/Mixer Lucreccia Quintanilla
Concept and Fāiva: Latai Taumoepeau 
Composition and Sound: Nina Buchanan

Vaka 9 Folau: The Arrival

Vaka 5: The Refinery (0.36)

Contains loud static noises that might be uncomfortable for some people.
Concept and Fāiva: Latai Taumoepeau 
Composition and Sound: Nina Buchanan

Vaka 5: The Refinery

Fonua INTRO: Begin|Go

Arts House’s new Disability-led residency and commissioning program focuses on experimental projects presented at North Melbourne Town Hall.

The Warehouse Residency centres and celebrates D/deaf, Disabled, neurodiverse and chronically ill artists, curators, collectives and their collaborating allies. 

EOIs for the 2022 program close Thursday 14 October, 5pm.
For more information visit www.artshouse.com.au

The Warehouse Residency EOI Call Out

Makeshift Publics EOI Call Out

CultureLAB EOI Call Out

(sensory stim brain): When you touch the textured representation of my MRI, my brain representation touches you through the nerves in your fingers.

A papier mache top-down MRI scan of a brain, approximately 2M high by 1M wide. A bright textured artwork, with elements of glitter and other shiny surprises that pick up the light. 

The under layer is white. 

On it are raised contours that reflect the shapes captured when the brain was scanned. It is as though we have a birds eye view of the top of the brain. 

These contours are abundant as they twist around the canvas, a near symmetry on both sides. The brain looks tactile, with many touchable items placed on top of the multicolour palette. Some colours include cream, teal, pastel blue, deep vibrant oranges, with the occasional flickers of brown, yellow, red and gold. 

On top of the orange paint, there are circular cut outs of gold sparkly material. 
On top of the red paint there is velvet looking material that has hypnotic squares within squares within squares. 

Layered on to the raised sections of the contour ridges are strips of various fabrics. Many of these have tactile elements: 
shaggy bath mat like material, fake fur, fabric that is glittery, ridged, bristly, furry, and soft plastic spiky materials. 

Placed amongst the fabrics are touchable items like:
fake banksia flowers, marbles, rocks, bright glitter strewn pom poms, various beads. 

Around the edges of the brain is black trimming that has silver peaked beads sewn in and looks like a studded belt. About a third of the way up on both sides of the edge of the brain are half a dozen fake sunflowers. 

When looked at from a few metres away, the patterning from the scan makes the work look like a maze.

sensory stim brain: audio description

(Questionnaire): “I’m not testing your responses, it’s only because I’m not a qualified neurologist and it hasn’t been passed by an ethics board” - and the other barriers between us… I made a game where I secretly test people’s global abstract reasoning. Although it’s not so secret because I have no filter and I tell everyone that’s what I’m doing.”
---
I want to invite you to imagine what it’s like to have your neurology examined, and share the most beautiful part of being tested - which is deepening your understanding of your own psyche, and creating vocabulary for your own perceptivity.

The recent Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability found Australia is in breach of its international obligations, committing “grave and systemic human rights violations for people with disability.” Other reports indicate a power imbalance created by the current top-down NDIS approach to autism. I’ve made this questionnaire artwork to include myself in the conversation, so my voice becomes part of the narrative.

I want to bring awareness to the history of testing and experimenting on the autistic community. And ask whether or not Australia’s history of testing minorities has been good for people in those groups (for example, the White Australia Policy).

Sometimes my community ask me why I think something is ableist. Then I ask them to imagine what it would be like if someone did the same thing to a person of colour or a trans person 20 years ago, and to sub in the disabled identity. 90% of the time, this is all people need to understand my perspective, and why it’s important we have difficult conversations that raise awareness for people that experience marginalisation or identify with having a disability.

I’ve had five support coordinators who have been through NDIS training and didn’t know the meaning of the word ableism. I know the meaning, the person scribing for me knows the meaning. If you don’t know the meaning, just ask someone to explain it for you. It’s nice to learn new words.

Sometimes there’s something really beautiful that comes out of not being able to do something. Sometimes, from oppression, we understand the true meaning of freedom. Sometimes, when you go without, you get to have a special relationship with the void. I don’t believe there is a ‘better’ or a ‘worse’ way to be human. I don’t believe smarter is ‘better’. I don’t believe being verbal is ‘better’. I don’t believe being more functional, or happier, is ever ‘better’.

In my questionnaire, and when I test people, it’s outside right and wrong, and all answers are unconditionally valid: they’re descriptions, like different colours, or different songs. However you were born, in whatever kind of body, and whatever kind of brain, I unconditionally respect you.

Well done for reading or listening to this whole thing, and thanks for coming to my show!

Concept & Artwork: Mishka

Questionnaire: artist statement

Focus Area 5: Venue

Focus Area 3: Creative Program

Focus Area 2: Learning and Training

Focus Area 1: Culture and Employment

Monitoring and Feedback

Acknowledgement of Country and Introduction

Equity Builder Track 4

Equity Builder Track 3

Equity Builder Track 2

Equity Builder Track 1

ನಿರೀಕ್ಷಣೆ nireekshane (‘the act of seeing’) showcases a range of traditional and expanded image-making practices from South Asia and the diaspora.

Curated by Vishal Kumaraswamy as part of PHOTO 2024.

Image: Millenia of Oppression, 2016, Arun Vijai Mathavan

8. Studio 1 – Urban Mountains By Arun Vijai Mathavan

3. Entering Studio 1

1. Arts House & Exhibition Introduction – Audio Describer Nilgun Guven

ಒಡಲಾಳ Odalala (‘from the depths of one’s being’) brings together Australian and international artists to examine histories of caste, migration, gender and sexuality through contemporary expression.  

Curated by Vishal Kumaraswamy.

Image: Caste-pital, durational performance 9.30 hours, 2017, Haus der Kunst Munich, Photo by Marion Vogel, Courtesy of the artist and Haus der Kunst

6. Elyas Alavi

3. Osheen Siva

1. Arts House & Exhibition Intro - Audio Describer Rachel Edward

Expressions of Interest (EOI) submissions for CultureLAB residencies between July 2025 and June 2026 will open Wednesday 18 September and close Wednesday 23 October.

More information can be found here:
www.artshouse.com.au/artist-opportunities/culturelab/

Arts House CultureLAB 25.26

to the divine we return (portability of ritual ii) - Shareeka Helaluddin

towards unfoldment and reciprocity (portability of ritual ii) - Shareeka Helaluddin

This audio clip speaks to the need for community, the importance of the next generation, and learning from the past in order to move forward.

2. Moving forward & the need for community

This audio clip conveys the inspirations behind the bush-dyeing practice for the women, with details of how banners created reflect the intimate and community strength of Blak women, and how exhibition has become a way to display the courage and power of Blak women’s stories.

4. Safety of the group

This clip speaks to how the Black Women’s Healing program supported women in healing trauma relationally, releasing shame through the work, and the “sistahood” built within the space.

8. Connections, bond and country

This audio clip conveys dialogue between the women from the Blak Women’s Healing program speaking about how Country continues to reveal itself and thrive. Safety of the group  
This audio clip speaks of how the Blak Women’s Healing program formed a safe space to connect, and the importance of place in coming together as Aboriginal women

3. Reconnecting to country

This clip conveys “The ripple effect of lateral love”, the importance of having self- love, and standing strong together as Aboriginal people.

10. Learnings and reconnection to family

This audio clip conveys reflections about bush dyeing as an arts and cultural practice, and how Bush dyeing has become a reclaiming, healing and collective process.

5. Unapologetically me and us, Blak strong women

This audio clip conveys the connections and bonds made through the Blak Women’s Healing program, and importance of Aboriginal women’s connections.

1. This mob means a lot to me..

This audio clip reflects Dr Paola Balla’s first experiences of bush dyeing as a creative practice, and how it has become a collective process that enables connections to Country and community collaboration.

6. Bush dyeing as practice and methodology

This clip speaks to the importance of sharing and connecting to other women in the Blak Women’s Healing program, and how it’s enabled the creation of a warm dynamic that fosters love, support and solidarity.

7. Bush dyeing and research

Arts House CultureLAB 2026-2027

Arts House The Warehouse Residency 2026-2027

From Luke George and Collaborators 'Erotic Dance' this sound score is one half of a duet between dancer (Luke George) and sound artist (Nick Roux).   Exploring the sensuality of form, it summons an experience of art that is primitive and seductive, intimate and visceral. 

This Work was presented by Arts House as part of The Festival of Live Art, March 2-5 2016

Created and performed live using an assortment of guitar effects pedals, a Gibson ES135 guitar resonated by an Ebow, two hand built sine wave oscillators, a microphone, a snare drum and all fed through two guitar amplifiers.

Arts House Listening Program

Erotic Dance - Sound Score

wāni (Tales of an Afronaut) and Tania Cañas (Art & Action) - long version

How can art, actions and interventions create sites of resistance within colonial and institutionalised arts settings?

Hosted by Tania Cañas, an all-female panel including Sethembile Msezane, Odette Kelada and Mariaa Randall, explores the intersecting roles of race, gender and class in the lives of First Nations Women and Women of Colour navigating the arts sector.

In particular, discussion will focus on how First Nations Women and Women of Colour can use their arts practice to challenge systemic racism and oppression within the arts, including the whiteness of institutions; strengthening these knowledges to find better ways to work together.

Art & Action: Displacing Whiteness in the Arts Panel Discussion

Supper Club: Place & Displacement is a facilitated exploration of our overlapping relationships to place.

Wurundjeri elder Joy Murphy Wandin, urban planner Timmah Ball and natural history expert Gary Presland each frame their view of place through Indigenous culture, our natural environment and the ways that we design new spaces and transform place. Supper Clubbers can then grab a plate and join in hosted discussions examining wider concepts of place and displacement – ranging from homelessness, migration and ageing to space travel and the internet – designed to draw upon the expertise and experiences of all present.

Facilitated by human ecologist and artist Asha Bee Abraham (Invisible Cities) and purveyor of participatory art forms Dan Koop (The Stream/The Boat/The Shore/The Bridge), entry includes  a delicious meal by Tamil Feasts.

Supper Club Place and Displacement

Two artists got on a cargo ship and retraced one of the routes of the Transatlantic Slave Triangle – from the UK to Ghana to Jamaica, and back. Their memories, their questions and their grief took them along the bottom of the Atlantic and through the realm of an imaginary past. It was a long journey backwards, in order to go forwards.

This show is what they brought back.

salt. is about grief, ancestry, home, forgetting and colonialism. It’s about where colonial history exists in the everyday, the politics of grief, and what happens inside Selina’s head whenever someone asks ‘Where are you from?’ and won’t take Birmingham or her mum’s uterus for an answer. It’s about being part of a diaspora.

salt. creates a space for us to talk about all of these things, to see where we fit and to think about the changing and healing that is still to come

salt. by Selina Thompson Q&A

Arts House is Melbourne’s home for contemporary performance.

With a year-round program of dance, theatre, music, sound, new technologies and community projects, Arts House is one of the major forces shaping Melbourne’s cultural and social landscape. We cultivate diverse new audiences for independent artists’ ambitious new work, and we build relationships at both local and international levels.

This is a house where change happens. From the crisis of extinction to the rapid transformations of technology, we know that the futures of humanity and art are entwined. We want to be hopeful.

As part of Melbourne’s cultural landscape, Arts House expresses the deep forces that shape that terrain. Our programming pays respect to Traditional Owners and the land on which our work takes place, and reflects Australia’s ongoing history of migration and displacement.

Arts House also seeks to ask questions about power: who has the power to speak, and what is the power of listening? We explore new ways of distributing curatorial power, and commit to an artistic vision that is transparent and connected.

Arts House

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