DARE workshop in Sylhet ©

British Council

DARE (Disability Arts: Redefining Empowerment), the British Council's flagship disability arts project from 2019 to 2024, aimed to build understanding and confidence amongst the disability and the arts sector in Bangladesh. It also aimed to dispel the social stigma associated with disability and build an accessible bridge between the arts, disability, and society. The project focused on developing the capacity of artists and persons with disabilities through a series of training and capacity development programmes in partnership with Dhaka Theatre, artists and arts organisations from Bangladesh and the UK. 

DARE was launched at the end of 2019 in partnership with Dhaka Theatre and the Institute of Informatics and Development (IID).  The launching event in December 2019, titled 'Inclusive Arts: Exploring Disability Arts in Bangladesh', featured effective dialogue in the discourse and representatives from different sectors with over a hundred people from government and non-government organisations, corporate entities, and key figures from the arts and disability sector. 

We worked on eight divisional cities in Bangladesh where both artists with disabilities and artists from local theatre organisations participated together to get a better idea about how to work on disability theatre to create a sustainable platform on disability arts. Through this five-year project, we aimed to bring the arts and the disability communities together to build their confidence, develop their creative skills, and connect with the wider society positively. 

We culminated our ten-year journey of empowering disability arts in Bangladesh through DARE by organising the International Disability Art Festival 2024. Learn more about this inclusive festival here: International Disability Art Festival 2024

More on Inclusive Arts: Exploring Disability Arts in Bangladesh

DARE workshop in Rajshahi ©

British Council

“It takes a two-and-a-half-hour train journey to come here from Pabna, which is a bit difficult, but I want to come here because we do not get these kind of workshops for us. The workshop is different, and I think that it will be helpful for the people like us to be taken seriously in the society” – said Azizul Islam, a physically-challenged artist who travelled a long way to attend the workshop that took place in Rajshahi.

“We never knew how to work with the people with disabilities before in theatre. It is amazing to see how they are participating and working with us side by side. This has been an eye-opener for me!” –Samir Pallab, a theatre artist working on the theatre arena of Sylhet for almost a decade exclaimed. “We now got an idea on the requirement of working with them and looking forward for the next workshop here.”

DARE Online Tutorials:

In response to Covid-19, we took a portion of our workshop online. Produced under DARE (Disability Arts: Redefining Empowerment) project of the British Council, this tutorial series on 'Inclusive Theatre' is aimed to focus on how to work in disability theatre to ensure inclusive theatre practice.

More on DARE Online Tutorials

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