New Commissioning Opportunity for Disabled Artists

BBC Arts Culture in Quarantine - New Commissioning Strand to Support Disabled Artists.

To mark the 25th anniversary of the Disability Discrimination Act, BBC Arts, Arts Council England, Arts Council of Northern Ireland, Arts Council of Wales and Creative Scotland have launched a new Culture in Quarantine commissioning round to celebrate the work of disabled, D/deaf and neurodiverse artists.

Ten established disabled artists will be commissioned from across England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales to create new video or audio works to be published on BBC platforms in 2021.

Context
November 2020 marks the 25th anniversary of the UK’s landmark Disability Discrimination Act becoming law. However, this milestone comes in the context of Covid-19 and the unique and unprecedented additional challenges it poses for disabled people.

As a consequence, many disabled artists face exceptional challenges in maintaining their artistic practice including shielding, loss of income and becoming invisible in wider society – issues highlighted by the recently formed UK Disability Arts Alliance’s campaign #WeShallNotBeRemoved.

Summary
It is in this context that BBC Arts, Arts Council England, Arts Council of Northern Ireland, Arts Council of Wales and Creative Scotland have launched the new Culture in Quarantine fund to commission ten new artworks from artists who identify as being disabled, D/deaf or neurodiverse.

We want to hear from the full diversity of exceptional and established disabled artists, working in any discipline across the four nations. Proposals should be for video or audio content. There is no specific editorial brief: projects can – but do not have to – creatively respond to the disabled experience of living through the pandemic.

The commissions will be published in 2021 on BBC platforms, with the aim of reaching audiences across the UK and worldwide.

This new commissioning round follows the success of the 25 Culture in Quarantine commissions selected in April 2020. To date, those projects have achieved over 8 million views across BBC and social platforms.

The new Culture in Quarantine programme is being managed by The Space in partnership with Unlimited. You can apply via our online system, using the links below. In the application form, we ask for a brief overview of your idea and how it could be made, an estimated budget and information about your previous work.

Access support is available for applications including alternative formats and funding for access support, within the limits of our overall programme budget.

The deadline for applications is noon, Tuesday 12 January 2021.
We expect to select projects by 26 February 2021 and all projects must be delivered to the BBC by the end of June 2021.

For more information and for details of how to apply visit the website below.

For more information visit https://www.thespace.org/resource/new-commissioning-opportunity-disabled-artists