DaDa Fest 2010

Poetry, installations, lectures, puppets, dance, song, video: Susan Bennett reviews Liverpool's celebration of Deaf and disability arts

The Bluecoat was a hectic venue for many happenings. Its Hub was always bustling, in and outside, in spite of, or maybe because of the cold. Prowling poets lurked waiting to tempt you with their best.

For those with leisure to browse the fringes were exhibitions such as Tom Shakespeare’s haunting images: Incarnate, The Nightmare and the Vulnerability of Embodiment, a purple Pope accompanied by two sides of beef. Situated on the busy first floor landing of the Bluecoat they were both powerful and compulsive.

And there was more than entertainment at the Bluecoat. A series of lectures entitled The Dark Behind My Eyelids were challenging and surprising. For who could forget the work of Hansel Bauman of Gallaudet University in America which attempts to use the visual instinct of Deaf and disabled people in architecture and urban planning?

And you think you are normal? Fully normal rather than abnormal? Completely abnormal? Well, the presentation by curator Ine Gevers of the Niet Normaal Dutch exhibition made you think again.

Moving on to the World Museum, where the Oska Bright Film Festival was taking place, you could see a feast of short videos produced and performed by disabled people. Day and Night by Dance Delight was a beautifully filmed sequence of inset clips, set to music in stylised settings across an urban park. Shoot Your Mouth Off had it all: gunslingers, blood and King Fu fighting, to an ominous bell which sounded just as the hero was being told “Playtime’s over”… and the “To be continued…” caption rolled.

On the next floor of the World Museum was a remarkable exhibition of photos taken by Deaf and disabled young people from Liverpool, average age 15. Emma Clarke’s shot of a furling flag against the skyline was as crisp and clear as the ice outside and Jack Spencer’s jokey photo of a cartoon on a mug captured the city’s famous sense of humour exactly.

Deaf children too had great fun at the Grimstones puppet theatre. The story Hatched showed the fascination of books, family love and fantasy. Told with giant tomes, gothic marionettes and sign language, the puppeteers, Asphyxia and August, managed to be both in and out of the action at the same time. This was no mean feat when you consider all the wires they were holding! The fairy tale unfolds before you with intricate precision and going by the rapt faces of the audience, it was a treat for parents as much as children.

The Young Dada Awards in the second week were the culmination of a lot of hard work by school groups and organisations across Merseyside. With boundless energy, the stage at the Contemporary Urban Centre was a feast of sparkles, glitter, hand clicking, percussion, dancing and voice. Catchy songs had us all clapping along and swaying in time to the beat. The only pity was that there weren’t more awards to hand out as every performer deserved an accolade.

On the penultimate night of DaDaFest came the chance to attend a preview of I fall to pieces, Kaite O’Reilly’s work for the 2012 London Olympiad. The consummate performance of Julie McNamara did more than complete justice to the power of Kaite’s words. Inspired by interviews and interactions with Deaf and disabled people across the UK, the dramatic monologue explored the issues and challenges of mental health.

Finally, on 3 December 2010, it was the International Day of Persons with Disabilities and DaDaFest celebrated with VSA, The International Organisation on Arts and Disability, based in Washington, DC. 17 countries held an international screening of artist Simon Mckeown’s Motion Disabled to raise awareness about disability rights.

Also shown at Liverpool’s Bluecoat throughout the festival, Motion Disabled is a 3D digital animation video which originally featured 14 disabled actors. It focused on a new work with Claire Cunningham, an internationally acclaimed disabled dancer, which was recently on the BBC’s Culture Show.

So, a thrilling DaDaFest International 2010 to celebrate its tenth successful year!