Programme de l’événement en français | Information om programmet på svenska

Following the success of the collaborative Crossing the Line Festival in 2017, Compagnie de l’Oiseau Mouche (France), Mind the Gap (UK), Moomsteatern (Sweden) have been sharing practice about their work with artists with Learning Disabilities and/or Autism.

The partners all share a passion and commitment to providing learning disabled and/or autistic artists with the support and opportunities to operate as respected artists. This is either as a performer or contributor to their own companies’ work, and/or as independent artists.

We have been working together to better understand the working methods, teaching and facilitation techniques, and support structures that each company employs in order to create incredible art and upskill artists.

Funded by ERASMUS+, this three year-long project called OGMIUS has seen some interesting outcomes, and presented some new challenges as we’ve worked during the Covid pandemic! We’re keen to share some of our learning with a wider audience through a digital event on Friday 18th June.

Aimed at performance venues, artists, theatre companies and arts professionals from around the world, we have a jam packed day of FREE practical workshops, seminars and talks with something to suit everyone.

The day will also feature a premiere of our collaborative new work in progress. Created through the project’s Textlab artists’ residency, this aims to create a performance that breaks down the language barriers faced by the three companies.

Schedule of the day

Please note, some sessions overlap. You can choose which sessions you want to attend when registering for the event. All sessions will take place on Zoom with some additional content available on YouTube. All times below are Central European Time. If you are joining the event from the UK, the times displayed below will be one hour earlier.

Central European Time (CET) 10am to 6pm; British Summer Time (BST) 9am to 5pm

10:00 - 10:30: Introduction - An Introduction to the Ogmius project and the day.

10:30 - 11:45: Textlab - Premiering the result of our collaborative Zoom performance from our Textlab process, a behind the scenes-film and a talk with director Harald Leander and the three actors involved.

11:45 - 12:00: BREAK

12:00 - 13:15: Face to Face Artist Residencies - Actors, support workers and translators share and reflect on experiences from two workshop residencies focusing on Movement and Music.

12:00 - 13:00: Creative Doodle Book - Practical Workshop (limited availability) - For anyone who wants to be creative for an hour – no prior arts experience needed, and suitable for anyone with or without a disability. Using a few pages from the Creative Doodle Book, facilitator Vicky will lead by example and encourage participants to explore and enjoy their creativity. You will need some paper, something to draw with and a small object to draw. Full workshop details will be sent out to those who have booked to participate.

13:15 - 14:30: LUNCH

14:30 - 14:45 Welcome back

14:45 - 16:00: Support Workers - Exploring how important, and how different, support is in all three organisations.

14:45 - 15:45: A guide to self reflection for learning disabled artists (limited availability) - Aimed at learning disabled and/or autistic artists and those who collaborate, work alongside and support. This workshop explores an evaluation method called Photo Elicitation and reflections from Artists who have used is as part of their artistic practice. Participants will need something to take photos with (this can be a phone), a piece of paper and something to draw with.

16:00 - 16:15: BREAK

16:15 - 17:15: Performance Academy - A discussion led by Mind the Gap Academy Director, Charli Ward and Professor Matthew Reason (York St John University) about formalising high-level learning disabled and/or autistic artist training and different types of assessment.

16:15 - 17:15: Colour Full (limited availability) - Mind the Gap Artist JoAnne Haines will lead a playful, expressive, and maybe a little messy creative workshop! Suitable for people of all ages, with and without disabilities and no previous arts experience necessary. Colour Full is a sensory, hands-on workshop that combines music and movement with art materials and paper to make visual art in your own room. Full workshop details, including what you will need to take part, will be sent out to those who have book to participate.

17:15 - 18:00: Conclusion