The presence of women with disabilities in public spaces is most often overlooked and blotted out, due to commonly held patriarchal stereotypes of femininity.
There are no safe and accessible spaces where they are not judged for who they are, how they look, how they move or what they say. Instead of staying in spaces where their autonomy and boundaries are respected, they "inhabit" places where they are expected to be obedient, passive and dependent. All this makes it very difficult for women with disabilities to reclaim the space that belongs to all people, regardless of their level of disability or gender. One would like to shout: "Move on!", but shouting does not become a woman, let alone a woman with a disability. It's time to change that!
About the laboratory:
"Move on! Performative transformation of (in)accessible spaces” is an inclusive laboratory for working with the body. Our work will aim to question and transform the mostly inaccessible spaces occupied by the normative part of society.
In a three-day workshop, based on body work, together we will develop methods to occupy public space and look for ways to challenge the norm.
We will not be substituting the state and institutions in building an accessible and safe environment, as it is their duty. Instead, we will try to define it in our own way. We will focus on the environment in which we live. Attentive to individual needs and in a climate of mutual care, we will decide with (in)action and using our voice how to transform the inaccessible space. We will expand, change and, if necessary, demolish it.
Within the laboratory we will try to find answers to the following questions:
- How can I occupy a space that is inaccessible to me, where I am unwanted or where I am not present?
- How can I control but also relinquish this control in space?
- How do I want to be (un)seen in space?
- How do I create space in harmony with myself and others?
During the three meetings we will work on the awareness of the places in the body that empower us and make us heard and seen in different spaces. We will use exercises to work with the body (improvisation, authentic movement - i.e. following the impulse and wisdom of the body), breath and voice; we will move in different spaces (inside the building and, weather permitting, also outside) using the site-specific method, we will work with props. Together we will develop a safe space for the exchange of experiences and dialogue on different ways of self-expression.
The laboratory will be concluded with a performative action prepared by the participants and open to the public.
Schedule:
20.02.2022, 4–7 pm workshop
21.02.2022, 9 am–6 pm workshop (2–3 lunch break)
22.02.2022, 9 am–12 noon workshop (12-1 pm lunch break), 4 pm reaching out for the public
For whom?
A group of up to ten women and persons assigned to the female sex at birth, regardless of fitness level and age, may participate in the laboratory.
The laboratory is planned as a complete whole and therefore it is not possible to attend only part of it.
Participation in the movement laboratory is free of charge. The organisers provide lunch and refreshments during the breaks.
About the moderator:
Katarzyna Żeglicka (she/her) – genderqueer and crip activist, performer and culture animator; certified coach in self-defence and assertiveness for women and girls – WenDo; student of Theatre Pedagogy in the Institute of Polish Culture in Warsaw. Graduate of the Stage Choreography Course under the guidance of Iwona Olszowska and the Polish-American Freedom Foundation School for Leaders. In 2020 she received a scholarship from the Krakow "Resilient Culture" programme. Participant of the Winter Artist Exchange Ponderosa residency in Germany. Participant of the Artistic Residency Program 2022 in Zamek Culture Centre in Poznań. She gained her qualifications by participating in workshops and laboratories in Poland, Sweden, Holland and Italy. Her etude "Resonance of Contrast" was awarded in the Europe Beyond Access competition. She has been working with people experiencing discrimination and violence in Poland and abroad for 20 years, conducting workshops and consultations. She cooperates with cultural institutions, universities and non-governmental organisations. A member of the Article 6 collective, which works for women with disabilities. Author of broadcasts Shouting Space (Przestrzeń Krzyku) in Radio Kapitał.