I went to Jo Verrent’s Projecting into the Future: Representation & Interpretation of Disability in the Visual Artst last Friday – yes I am slow again but I needed to recover from the whole experience and then prepare to go to Manchester for the Equality 2025 Public Meeting. One thing that I have to get used to is to learn to conserve my energy when I take jaunts on the train…its getting harder and harder for me to bounce back.. I went because I wanted to experience some Disability art, to see the Light Night and Simon McKeown’s Motion Disabled. And to meet up with some friends – Peter and Carol from the days when I used to live in Chapeltown.
Anyway, according to Paul Darke’s blog on the event, I’ve missed quite a bit! I miscalcalculated the time I needed to get there and then the train was delayed. I was not a happy bunny having missed lunch and then found myself waiting on a drafty platform in Birmingham waiting for the train. I was there to hear some of the artists express themselves about their art and thier motivations. I felt somewhat deflated by the fact that it was not a numerous nor as diverse as I would expect from a city like Leeds. I understand that art is very personal and certainly people use art for all sorts apart from creating something out of personal experience. One of the presenters reminded me of classes for art therapy – her talk was peppered by remarks that she found beauty in the art of these disabled people pursuing art as part of community art and how they were happy to be there. There seems to be a lack of what I consider to be an awareness of disability culture but hey, what do I know?
Later that evening was Leeds City council’s Light Night where we would go as a group to see Simon’s work projected onto to the side of Leeds City Technology College Building. However I nearly missed it…
I went to the Radisson to check in and found that I could not really access the shower inspite of being allocated the accessible room with the roll in shower.
Never mind and then I found that while I brought my wheelchair charger, I had not replaced the adaptor on it since Strasbourg and a conversation with the hotel made it clear to me that I would not be able to go very far if I want to make it home the next day.The staff at the hotel was very accomodating and offered to go out and buy me the correct US adaptor because they did not have adaptors other than European ones. (my charger is a compact dual voltage charger)
This is always the bugbear as a disabled traveller – to remember to charge and bring the charger! and all the associated paraphernalia! So I missed the reception (at Carriageworks, Millenium Sq) by being at the hotel and when I did get there, the group had already set off and I didn’t know where they had gone.
So this intrepid wheelchair traveler went looking for some food. I saw the Spice Quarter Buffet in Millenium Sq I fancied that so I meandered there only to be frustrasted by not finding the access to get upstairs – no signage. Someone told me to gain access from the lift in Carriageworks but when I got to the basement I was still baffled at how to get upstairs..finally I asked someone at the bar and he asked me to wait while he clear the lift and path leading to it. It took him at lest 20 mins and when I did get up there, I was dismayed by the question if I had booked because the restaurant was full! They offered a table apart from the restaurant – I suspect it is a waiting space – and was given waiter service, the food was scrumptious!
Replete and happy, I was wandering in the Square looking at various exhibits when I saw Jo waving at me and she showed me where Simon’s work was – not far away and went with some of the others to have tea at the tea caravan ( 2 ladies from Chapel Allerton) and then to stronger drinks back at the hotel.
All in all it was a good day and slept till midday the next day to have lunch with Carol and Peter at Red Chili – a lovely Chinese restaurant within a stone’s throw away and caught an earlier train home because my meetings with 2 others did not materialise.
