This Saturday, 31 artists will disrupt 30 museums across the UK with surreal interventions intended to honour the 102nd anniversary of the First International Dada Exhibition, staged in Berlin in 1920.
All the artists taking part identify as d/Deaf, disabled or neurodivergent. The event has been organised by DASH, a disabled-led visual arts charity based in London, and funded £125,000 ($152,000) through the Ampersand Foundation Award.
“We Are Invisible We Are Visible” was first concocted in 2020 as a response to the question of what the Dada movement would have been like if it had emerged during lockdown. Reviving the spirit of Dada aims to challenge assumptions about disabled people and explore ideas around accessibility, communication, and representation.
The works planned are primarily performances, dance, and nonsensical happenings, and the venues taking part include Tate’s four locations in London, Liverpool, and St Ives, Turner Contemporary in Margate, the Hepworth Wakefield, the Arnolfini in Bristol, the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art in Gateshead, Manchester Art Gallery, Ikon Gallery in Birmingham and Modern Art Oxford.
“We Are Invisible We Are Visible” takes place on July 2, 2022. Below, see more preview images of works by the participating artists.
Tony Heaton, Great Britain From A Wheelchair (1995). Photo: Paul Kenny. Heaton will perform at the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead.
Andrea Mindel, Mea Culpa (2021). Photo: Vic Lentaigne. Mindel will perform at Towner Eastbourne.
Aaron Williamson, Invisible Man. Photo: courtesy of DASH. Williamson will perform at Ikon Gallery, Birmingham.
Aaron Williamson, Hiding in 3D. Photo: courtesy of DASH. Williamson will perform at Ikon Gallery, Birmingham.
Bel Pye, Cocoon. Photo: courtesy of DASH. Pye will perform at the Centre for Contemporary Art Derry~Londonderry.
Anahita Harding, Are You Comfortable Yet?. Photo: courtesy of DASH. Harding will perform at Tate Modern, London.
Nicola Woodham, Buffer performance detail at Cafe Oto, London, in 2021. Photo: courtesy of DASH. Woodham will perform at the Harris, Preston.