The OtherAbilities

An artistic proposition that challenges our perception of ‘dis’-ability

Did you know that you can ‘hear’ through your body? Listen to the sounds of braille letters? Feel someone’s smile in the palm of your hand? The OtherAbilities presents the innovative works of artists, musicians, designers and scientists challenging our perception of ‘dis’-ability. A three day program with an exhibition, performances, talks and a workshop.

As human beings, our culture regulates us both in the ways we think as well as in the ways we perceive and connect to our reality. It is only when we encounter those individuals with sensing abilities different than our own, like visually impaired people or the hard of hearing, that the illusion of uniformity becomes challenged. The plasticity of our bodies creates incredible answers to sensory challenges and it is the richness of those solutions that The OtherAbilities will be focusing on.

The OtherAbilities is conceived as a three-day festival. It will bring together art and science professionals who create objects and situations that enable people to share experiences and activities whether or not they share the same physical abilities. We hope to signal the possibility for a paradigm shift from disability to otherability. By merging art and technology we are exploring the possibility of creating cultural events and artifacts that are not specifically meant for disabled or non-disabled audiences, but from which no body is excluded.

Participating artists, musicians, designers, scientists and scholars include: Andrea van Beek, David Bobier, Simon Dogger, Gershon Dublon, Marleen Hartjes, Anja Hertenberger, Adi Hollander & Claudio F Baroni, Wendy Jacob, Rebecca Kleinberger, MAZE Ensemble, Marlon Miguel, Alessandro Perini, Colin Riley, David Smeulders and Jules Sturm.

The OtherAbilities is organized under the direction of artist Adi Hollander and art historian Eva Fotiadi (PhD). The follow-up workshop is organized in collaboration with Waag ‘Technology & Society’ and STEIM Studio for electro-instrumental music.