Liberty Festival 2022

10am - 6pm (The Albany Red Room) - Film Screening: Conversations with Carers, Yoga for the Feet

These two films will be screened throughout the day. There are 7 million carers in the UK. Some work on the frontline of social care, others are unpaid carers for family members that need support because of health conditions, age or disability. Their stories have in turn inspired 5 dance pieces on film performed by disabled and non-disabled artists, some of who are also carers. Conversations with Carers connects care, compassion and creativity by giving voice and artistic expression to carers through 5 different stories. Each story begins with the words of a carer and interprets themes connected with caring.

11am - 6pm (The Albany Studio) - GONG Giving by Agata Kik and Tim Byford

A durational performance exploring practices of giving and care through the gong’s resonance, sound, movement, touch and gesture. The performance is based on attentiveness to the present moment to create a safe space of retreat and hospitality.

6pm – 8pm (Giffin Square) – Heart n Soul by Too Hot for Candy, Sam Castell-Ward and Choir

An evening of music by Heart n Soul artists. Too Hot for Candy from 6 to 6:40pm, Sam Castell-Ward from 6:45 to 7:25pm, Choir from 7:30 to 8pm.

8:15pm - 8:35pm (Giffin Square) – Stand-up Comedy by Touretteshero

Jess Thom is a writer, performer, artist and part time superhero. Jess has Tourette syndrome and co-founded Touretteshero in 2010 as a creative response to her experience of living with the condition. Jess has written in the mainstream and disability press including The Guardian, The Observer and Disability Now. In 2012, she published her first book ‘Welcome to Biscuit Land – A Year in the Life of Touretteshero’, with a foreword by Stephen Fry.

11am – 1pm (The Albany Theatre and Livestream) – Work in Progress Sharing by Vijay Patel and Stephen Bailey

Vijay and Jaiden Patel present ‘Brotherly, Otherly, Disorderly’ a live art/theatre show by two autistic siblings, an access rider in the form of a neurodivergent pop concert. It’s a joyous and celebratory theatrical toolkit for supporting themselves and each other; while navigating the barriers they face within a neurotypical world. B.O.D is a love letter to sibling care and neurodivergent solidarity, a theatrical access rider and a dream of a better world. Stephen Bailey will present his findings from his Liberty Research Grant project LIFEdream on behalf of ASYLUM. LIFEdream is a repurposing of the ‘classic’ play of Pedro Calderon de la Barca. Reinvisaging the narrative of prophecy as a commentary on the institutionalisation of the neurodivergent and those with perceived learning disabilities, the piece merges social criticism and magic realism in its performance. Stephen will talk through the findings with some footage and discuss the themes and intentions of the ongoing work.

12pm – 5pm (The Albany Red Room) – Journey to a Better World by Touretteshero

Touretteshero invites disabled and non-disabled astronauts of all ages to join them on board the Starship Biscuit on its journey through time and space. What should a world post-COVID look like? In creative encounters, conversations, and interactive experiences, we will plan a future that includes all bodies, minds, and experiences. Everyone is welcome to help shape our journey to a better world.

12pm – 8pm (The Music Room) – Here/Not Here by Bim Ajadi

Here/Not Here is an immersive and site-specific performance exploring Krump dance, Visual Vernacular (a visual signed poetry), and street football trickery. Each of these visual and physical languages provides a different way of communicating for both deaf and hearing performers and audience. Performances at 12, 2:30, 5, and 7pm each lasting a duration of 45 minutes. Workshop at 10:30 to 11:15am. Discussion at 3:30 to 4:15pm. Audiences are required to move around different rooms.

2pm – 4pm (Goldsmiths CCA) – Multi-sensory Happening by Ambient Jam Collective

The magical, funny, profound, and healing Ambient Jam Collective invite you to join them at Goldsmiths Centre for Contemporary Art (CCA). Expect the unexpected with an immersive multi-sensory happening by a vibrant community of differently abled people and artists. Ambient Jam improvisations are playful, mindful, surreal, and sometimes wondrously messy, conjuring sensory ways of being that benefit us all. Enjoy an unfolding evolving landscape where you can hang out and just be, or join in and improvise with us, or a bit of both.

2pm – 5pm (Lewisham Shopping Centre, Unit 17) – A Manifesto for 2.8 Million Minds

Young Londoners invite you to join them for the public launch of ‘A Manifesto for 2.8 Million Minds’ – an Action Plan for young people, mental health and art and a network event to get involved. Public launch will be at 2pm, when young people from Haringey and Tower Hamlets with artists Becky Warnock, Simon Tomlinson, Tyreis Holder, Yomi Sode and more share through a series of performances and provocations.

6pm – 7:30pm (The Albany Theatre and Livestream) – DRAG SYNDROME

Drag Syndrome is a ground-breaking, internationally acclaimed drag collective featuring highly addictive drag Queens and Kings with Down syndrome. They are fierce, versatile, hard-working, professional artists who know how to put on a spectacular show and are committed to honing their craft.

9pm – 10pm (St Margaret Church) – salt:dispersed by Selina Thompson

A journey to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. In February 2016, 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 figurative realm of an imaginary past. It was a long journey backwards, in order to go forwards. This show is what they brought back. With the original stage show salt, performed as part of the British Council Showcase 2017, salt: dispersed is artist Selina Thompson's film adaptation of her award winning show about grief, Black British identity and colonialism in a powerful and intimate screen experience.

TBC (Deptford Lounge) – Free Movement Lab by Spare Tyre

Spare Tyre invites a small group of deaf/disabled, learning disabled and non-disabled artists to collaborate on a work in progress in response to the title Freedom of Movement. Spare Tyre brings its blend of creative anarchy and support to a safe creative space starting from the point of inclusion. In these days of identity, individual definition and collective action, what does it mean to move freely as yourself and together as a movement?

12pm – 2:30pm (The Albany Red Room) – Creating an Access Rider by Vijay Patel

Vijay Patel and his younger brother Jayden deliver a workshop on creating an access rider. This workshop will allow young people and adults (particularly neurodivergent) to develop tools in figuring out what their support needs are and how to ask for them. There will be activities and live music from Vijay and Jayden. The workshop is for young people (aged 12-19), undergraduate students, parents/teachers/educators and live art audiences.

2:30pm – 3:10pm (The Albany Theatre and Digital Adaptation) – 111: Joel Brown and Eve Mutso

111 is a powerful duet between two exceptional dancers - Joel Brown (Candoco Dance Company) and Eve Mutso (former Principal Dancer of Scottish Ballet) as they explore their different strengths and vulnerabilities. 111 is the number of vertebrae Joel and Eve have between them... hypothetically. Eve moves like she has a hundred, Joel's spine is fused and he jokes he only has 11. Tour available at 2:15pm.

3pm - 3:30pm and 5 – 5:40pm (Giffin Square) – Leave the Light on for Me by Mind the Gap

In the not-too-distant future, when eco rules are in force, two sisters work hard to keep their carbon footprint under control. When the Planet Inspectors arrive to see how they're getting on, everything is going well until one mistake means they could be evicted... The sisters now have two options: pay up to offset their carbon footprint or successfully complete a series of eco challenges. Will the sisters get to stay or will they face eviction? Leave the Light on for Me is a joyous and rebellious outdoor performance that explores climate change and justice from a fresh perspective.

4pm – 4:40pm (The Albany Theatre) – Object Performance by Kat Hawkins

Object Permanence is a solo dance presentation by Kat Hawkins' that asks questions about the time it takes to do things. Building a landscape of cripness, Kat takes us intimately into the relationship between the disabled body and assistive devices, revealing a world of joy, companionship and sensuality. Working with different physicalities, Kat reframes the relationship to their assistive devices, bringing care, aggression and ecstasy into movement.

6:30pm – 7:15pm (The Albany Theatre and Livestream) – Who Plays Who? by Stephen Bailey

Who Plays Who is a satirical performance piece exploring why cripping up gets you plaudits and acclaim but being disabled gets you unemployment. Three intrepid performers try to navigate the casting industry to win their spots in Oscar Winning roles - The Theory of Everything, The Scent of a Woman, Million Dollar Baby and The Shape of Water. But when they get there they have to ask themselves - are these our stories? What does disability mean to you, the audience? Can they justify dehumanising themselves into narratives or pity and hardship on screen to be successful in real life?

TBC (Deptford Lounge) – Free Movement Lab by Spare Tyre

Spare Tyre invites a small group of deaf/disabled, learning disabled and non-disabled artists to collaborate on a work in progress in response to the title Freedom of Movement. Spare Tyre brings its blend of creative anarchy and support to a safe creative space starting from the point of inclusion. In these days of identity, individual definition and collective action, what does it mean to move freely as yourself and together as a movement?

New Commission by Yinka Shonibare (Deptford High Street)

A brand new artwork on the pavement of Deptford High Street, by internationally renowned artist Yinka Shonibare CBE. Shonibare CBE is an interdisciplinary artist, who makes work exploring cultural identity. His work uses citations of Western art history and literature to question the validity of contemporary cultural and national identities within the context of globalization.

Sanctuary Café by David Johnson (Deptford Market Yard)

Sit and have a drink with Stella! David Johnson's life-sized 3D print depicts well-known Lewisham based community worker, Stella Headley. Artist David Johnson‘s life-sized sculpture of Stella Headley is shown drinking, eating and engaged in conversation. The other seats around the table are empty and visitors are warmly invited to sit with Stella to enjoy refreshments and a conversation. By doing so the boundary between the art and the audience becomes blurred; the monumental statue has climbed down from its lofty, inaccessible plinth.

[Captioning Lewisham] by Nina Thomas (Deptford High Street)

A series of sound captions placed in public spaces. Follow the trail to explore and uncover the local history of Lewisham. Traditionally, captioning is used to communicate the audio of film, TV or live events as written text on a screen or monitor. It is often used by deaf and hard of hearing people, and the text conveys sounds that a deaf person might not hear. These sound captions by Nina Thomas will form a map and discovery trail for visitors to explore, making unseen, forgotten or overlooked histories visible.

Mixed Reality Hub curated by DYSPLA (Deptford Lounge)

Digital art and Virtual Reality (VR) work by renowned disabled and neurodivergent artists, curated by DYSPLA.

Award-winning arts studio DYSPLA produces work by neurodivergent story makers. They are conducting research into the ‘Neurodivergent Aesthetic’. In this collection, you can experience the work of several artists working with immersive technology including film, Virtual Reality (VR) and Augemented Reality (AR). Artists: Lindsey Seers, D-Fuse, Jason Wilsher-Mills, George Jasper Stone, Natalia Skobeeva, Lennie Varvarides, Kazimir Bielecki

Who We Are curated by Precious Akindele and Morgan Henny Shaw (in partnership with Deptford X at Lewisham Arthouse)

An exhibition of multimedia artworks by London-based D/deaf and disabled artists that explore conceptually, abstractly or literally ideas at the intersection or art, disability and inclusion. Curated by Precious Akindele, Morgan and Henny Shaw. A panel of Lewisham-based young people. The artworks were selected through an open call. Exhibiting ariss: David Bassadone, Susanna Dye, Ashley Knight, Yangdzom Lama, Serafina Mbasogo, Chris Pavlakis, Jameisha Prescod, Derek Williams

Mapping In Lewisham by Local Senses Collective (Deptford)

Join a one-hour walk and explore how the local environment is shaped by sound, smell and terrain. Led by Local Senses, a collective of people with varying degrees of sight. Via ulterior sensory phenomena, Local Senses Collective will inspire you to communicate with the local environment beyond the visual. To start, they ask you to join them in a period of reflective contemplation. This could be by participating in a meditation, or by listening to a song inspired by the local environment and the experiences the group have shared in that place.

A live deaf hip hop music drama, exploring the relationship between British Sign Language, Krump dance, football and Visual Vernacular – the choreographic and more poetic version of sign. HERE/NOT HERE will explore themes of gentrification and the pressure on urban spaces; how easy it is for people to divide into ‘silos’ and, conversely, how we can find ways to work together. A mysterious, surprising and enticing succession of experiences, with lighting, use of smell and sound. We have already discussed this with aroma specialists. This will give an intense experience for hearing, deaf and visually impaired audience members.

Bim Ajadi is a London based independent filmmaker who is passionate about telling stories.
2020 saw the release of HERE/NOT HERE, an acclaimed crossover hip-hop drama film, commissioned by British Sign Language Broadcasting Trust which has been shown at many festivals including Bolton, London Short Film Festival and Dances With Films/Los Angeles and broadcast on Film4. Other recent credits include Oh Toni! a short comedy for BBC Studios/BBC3. He is currently directing a documentary series about the Tokyo Paralympics and is in pre-production on a new short drama to be filmed this autumn.

Trio is a new piece of dance theatre, combining choreography, projected captioning and live audio description. Three dancers share their space with access languages which gradually infiltrate the performance. Trio explores power, the idea of the neutral voice and what happens when access languages are given creative agency. Trio is conceived by director Bagshaw, with a team of extraordinary collaborators.

Rachel Bagshaw is a stage director, currently Associate director at the Unicorn Theatre for whom her most recent work was digital project Let Loose, a collaboration with English National Ballet. Other productions there include The Bee in Me and Aesop’s Fables. Other Past work includes the critically acclaimed The Shape of the Pain, Augmented (UK tour), Midnight Movie (Royal Court) and Resonance at the Still Point of Change (Southbank Centre). Upcoming productions include A Dead Body in Taos written by David Farr, produced by Fuel.
She works extensively with creative access, making a number of productions which push the limits of the languages. Rachel also works as a coach and mentor for a range of organisations, specifically with disabled artists.

LIFE/dream is an early stage exploration of repurposing and reclaiming traditional stories to respond to the lived experience of persons with a perceived learning disability. Using Pedro Calderón de la Barc's 17th century play Life is a Dream as a source, this process will explore refashioning classic texts using accessible devising processes producing scenes of a work in progress and further material on best practice for incorporating this practice across the performing arts.

ASYLUM is a new community interest company focused on platforming and empowering neurodivergent voices in the performing arts. ASYLUM is led by artistic director Stephen Bailey, a neurodivergent and disabled director and theatre maker. Trained at LAMDA, he has since worked across Europe and for Graeae, Hampstead, the Royal Court and National Theatre in the UK. He was resident director for Chichester Festival Theatre and currently staff director for Witness for the Prosecution in the West End and the National Theatre. Key works include Invisible Condition, the Offie nominated Little Echoes, Yoga for the Feet, Access Platform and How to Make a Cup of Tea for Graeae's Crips Without Constraints series.

Respira-Trees will make the toxic air that may surround us visible, with trees in Lewisham glowing as air pollution levels change. The installation uses advanced air pollution sensors, micro-controllers, and advanced programming to process real-time data, which will then be transposed to colour-variable LEDs and light up real trees. Workshops with residents will teach people how to use sensors and a bespoke online platform will bring Respira-Tress digitally across the world.

D-Fuse is a disabled-led company of audio-visual innovators working across a range of media and artforms. Founded in the mid-1990s by neurodiverse artist Mike Faulkner, D-Fuse’s output encompasses immersive installations, film, animation, experimental documentary, live A/V performances, and VR/XR. Recognised as pioneers of VJ-ing, D-Fuse has embraced new technologies to engage audiences with social and environmental issues through individual stories and relatable narratives.

A real working outdoor café with life-sized concrete cast human figures seated at café tables apparently drinking and eating. The figures will represent the diversity of Lewisham and visitors will be invited to sit among the statues to eat, drink and socialise.

David Johnson is a UK based, totally blind artist, an unashamedly blind artist rather than an artist who is blind. His art practice uses a wide range of materials and processes including concrete, plaster, found objects and sonics. He produces a wide range of cast objects, 3D print objects, assemblages and installations all of which provoke, challenge and upset beholder expectations. Pieces range from the monumental to the hand-held and often involve familiar, everyday objects and references.

The Great North Wood was an ancient oak woodland stretching across Lewisham between the Thames and Croydon, it was the lungs of London. GHOSTWOOD is an Immersive, sensory, Layered Reality Experience bringing the wood to life again in our contemporary urban landscape with VR, music, soundscape, song, performance and poetry, to raise awareness and inspire preservation and love of nature not only for its own sake but for our survival and mental health.

Teresa Howard is a playwright, librettist, lyricist with a background as a performer in devised physical theatre. She’s working on SIGNALS for radio, and a musical about the fossilist Mary Anning with composer Steven Edis. Their musical adaptation of Dodie Smith’s I CAPTURE THE CASTLE toured the UK and POSSESSED (Camden People’s Theatre), is to have an immersive production at the Frogmore Paper Mill next year. She’s written libretti for two opera’s for composer Sun Keting: NEW GENUS and ONE CUP OF MILK (Royal Academy of Music), and UNSUNG, a commission for Conrad Sclar. She’s part of the Cross-Art team KARAOKE SOUNDSCAPE, developed for Denmark’s TRAVERS and collaborated on THE MERMAID OF DOKK1 (Aarhus, Denmark).

The Local Senses group, (some of whom live locally and have fond memories of Lewisham, whilst for others it will be like ‘entering a different country’), will select and focus in on an area of the borough. Through a series of focused walks, these areas will be mapped through tactile card forms and sensory reflections designed to capture the smell, sound, and terrain we encounter. Subsequent workshops will focus on developing responses to the environment that distil these reflections, establishing a sense of place that attends to the ethics and responsibility that occupying space entails.

The Local Senses collective was formed in 2017 from a series of self-initiated creative workshops. Over the last four years the group has acquired new members, meeting regularly to nurture a sense of community through peer-learning, shared experience and collective discovery. In 2019, they began collaboratively developing strategies for exploring and navigating outdoor space around the Royal National Institute of Blind People.Local Senses Collective are Benjamin Jenner, Colin Palgrave, Geoff Clark, Leonie Abrahamson, Lesley Palgrave, Lizzie Nichols, Nathan Bather, Natanya Mark and Rikki Jodelko.

Traditionally, captioning is used to communicate audio from film, TV or live events into written text on a screen or monitor. [Captioning Lewisham] will make invisible experiences visible, working with the local community and displaying captions of real or imagined experiences of Lewisham across public spaces in a walking trail.

Nina Thomas a visual artist, using the mediums of video, photography, artist publication and installation. She is interested in stories/histories which might be overlooked or underexplored. Much of her recent work has focused on her experience of becoming deaf and subsequently seeking to understand deaf histories and experiences. Nina has exhibited at venues such as Tate Exchange, St. Margaret’s House, LUX (online) and HeART in Chatham.
Nina is passionate about captioning and access to the arts for deaf and hard of hearing people. She is also a founding member of The Film Bunch (a deaf and hard of hearing film organisation) and trustee at Stagetext (who provide captioning and live subtitling services to theatres and other arts venues).