Arts bodies face closure

By Nuala Calvi

Two of England’s leading disability arts agencies face closure following sweeping cuts to cultural organisations across the country.

The National Disability Arts Forum (NDAF) and London Disability Arts Forum (LDAF), which have promoted and supported disabled artists for two decades, are among almost 200 bodies facing complete or partial withdrawal of funds under Arts Council England (ACE) proposals.

Others include north London venue Jacksons Lane and theatre and dance companies Salamanda Tandem, London Bubble, Kaos and Corali.

Disabled artists say the loss of NDAF and LDAF will have a “devastating effect” on their ability to work and promote themselves and could spell the end of LDAF’s London International Disability Film Festival, and the magazine Art Disability Culture.

Actor and writer Mat Fraser, who received vital LDAF work, training and mentoring early in his career, said: “Disability arts forums were set up because the government recognised there was a desperate need for them. Taking them away is a brutally simple message: you can’t have your own artistic community anymore.”

LDAF has been told its £131,000 grant is earmarked to be scrapped because it lacks ambition to grow and has failed to become a “strategic player” in supporting disabled artists.

Business development director Peter Kinkead said he would be appealing under ACE procedures, and added: “We have re-launched our film festival and doubled its size, we’ve revamped our magazine and increased our advertising more than tenfold, and we were planning a major disability arts festival in London next year.”

NDAF was set to lose a £90,000 annual grant and was due to close on 31 January. Its director, Geof Armstrong, said ACE regarded it as being too insular.

“We’ve not been very good at being outward-looking, but our aim was always to raise awareness amongst our own community about their rights and entitlements,” he said.

ACE says cuts to its client list will ensure that those granted funds receive adequate support. Three-quarters will receive increases at or above inflation.

An ACE spokesman denied there had been a shift away from disability arts. He said: “Under current proposals,
in 2010/11 we will be investing £878,882 in disabled-led, regularly funded organisations, an increase of 27.9 per cent overall.

This includes a proposed 10 per cent increase in funding for North West Disability Arts Forum.

“The number of regularly funded organisations ACE defines as disabled-led will potentially increase by one, to seven.”