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For us our art is really media
and that's television media, and radio primarily
though we have done some web sites as well
and I think for us to
develop and sustain it I think
well I mean the big obvious one is funding
I think in terms of development like
we're very community based at the moment
and I think that's very important
but I think it would very very good
to see if people with disabilities were
represented a lot more in the commercial media
funding is needed, but it's about changing
perceptions of what people with disabilities
are actually capable of and
changing perceptions, and the only way
you can really do that is
is by getting into the main stream
and yelling and screaming and making noise
but, I mean the difficulty I suppose we have is
that people that funding bodies don't
actually regard disability and the arts as important
I think that one thing that we really need
for people with disabilities
I mean this isn't just in Victoria
this would be across the country
but, is training and how to produce
media, and how to take on leadership rolls
in media, because one thing that we really
try to do a lot is have people with disabilities
in all rolls, we don't want there to be
we want people to be able to
have that training and have those skills
as directors and producers, hosts,
camera people and all of it
and I think at the moment in the main stream
there's not a lot of access with people with a disabilities
in those courses, like in TAFE and university
and the training that you need and I think
we provide that in a way that is accessible
and I think that's actually something 'cause I think
what your talking about where people
see disability as, you know,
something that needs to be fixed
it's actually, it's becoming an older way of thinking
but I think there is still,
I mean, a perfect example is Kevin Rudd
actually patting someone on the head
when he finishes talking to them
and like this is seen as
Like, yeah people .. thanks Phin, (laugh)
I mean that's a very good example of this
because it shows that,
you know, there's an attitude in the community
and probably among a lot of people who
do provide funding for this sort of thing
that they sort of see people with disabilities
as people need help and people who
need to be fixed and ..
disability in the art is kind of seen as a therapy
as a way of, as a form of expression
as a way of being able to overcome the
challenges we face
and I think, really
- It's really condescending - It's A, that's is a very condescending
way of looking at things
but also it really doesn't do the disability
world justice because there's so much
great culture out there that people
a lot of the times, just don't have access too
and the commercial media really
shapes what we believe is normal
what we believe we should be
and I think, I mean this is true for
people with disabilities, it's true, I mean
I'm sort of a feminist so the way that women
are represented in the media
is very pragmatic as well
but I think you know, pacifically for
people with disabilities, there's just a
real lack of representation or there's
a representation as victims and that
really, like that's something that's
really really not good because, that's how people
with disabilities who don't have exposure
to other forms of media, that's how they
will start to see themselves
in order to, and I think this is a key point
in order to get funding, you need to
adhere to what a funding body
- perceives disability and arts - as what needs to be done
to be, and if you, you have to
walk on egg shells I suppose about
what disability actually is in order to
get funding, and that really problematic
If you are trying to yell and scream and say
'here we are guys, this is really
what disability is'
and I don't really know, I guess I don't
really know what the answer to is to be able to
change the perception because we still seem
to have ingrained in us this notion of
you know, if you've got a disability
therefor you need to be looked after
in some way shape or form
and you know what, even with,
if you look at the National Disability
Insurance Scheme, is called
'Disability Care' now, you know,
that is not a particularly good reflection
of what disability is. And if it's supposed
to be a great transformational reform as
people are saying well then, its
not really transforming attitudes
and if you look at that in an arts context
well surly artists should be allowed and
have platforms like we hopefully do at 'Grit Media'
to say 'Hey this is, the way you're looking
at disability is, you're looking at it
through the wrong eye's and the wrong prism
here's a different prism by which you can
look at the same thing
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