©

British Council

A high-level consultation on the ‘Inclusive Arts: Exploring Disability Arts in Bangladesh’ was held on the 11 and 12 December 2019 in Dhaka. The event was hosted by the British Council in partnership with Dhaka Theatre and Institute of Informatics and Development (IID).

This meeting brought together relevant stakeholders from disability and arts sectors and create a contextual platform, that can be utilised to dispel the social stigma associated with disability, and build an accessible bridge between arts, disability and society.

On 11 December 2019, there were discussions and brainstorming sessions around the status quo of Arts sector, Disability Sector and Disability Arts sector of Bangladesh. After a day’s worth of brainstorming sessions and discussions, on 12 December 2019, we had a presentation of our findings from the previous day and proceed with a policy discussion on the future of the Disability Arts sector in Bangladesh. This policy discussion/session helped contribute to the British Council’s plans for Disability Arts work seeking to integrate the often-overlooked artists with disabilities, explore their artistic abilities, and tap into an unexplored arts sector of our country.

The objective of this consultation was to explore the challenges and opportunities of Disability Arts in Bangladesh, which is also a part of the British Council’s new initiative Disability Arts: Redefining Empowerment (DARE).

Our work in Disability Arts

DARE is a three-year project that will be aimed at building understanding and confidence amongst the disability and arts sector in Bangladesh and bring them together to bridge the gap between the disability sector and wider society. The project will develop the capacity of artists and persons with disability through a series of training and capacity development programs in eight divisional cities of Bangladesh, in partnership with UK artists and arts organisations.

To find out more about our previous work in Disability Arts, please click here.