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I'm here tonight in my capacity as patron of DaDa, and, I began to wonder
what does it mean to be a patron?
And, the first dictionary in English most people know about is, Dr. Johnson's of 1755
You knew that, didn't you?
Well actually it wasn't the first one, there were dictionaries before Johnson
but Johnson had a particular sort of way with words and so I thought I'd look at what he said a patron was
And he says it's one who countenances support, or protects, so supports or protects
And then he says, commonly a wretch, who supports with indolence, and is paid with flattery
Which I thought was wonderful! So, that's what a patron does
and, Ruth would never pay with flattery, but she gave me a glass of champagne, which is far better
we'll refer to disability rights- I'd just like to say a few things about that, because from the late 1960's onwards
disabled people were fighting for rights, the ability to have access, to have respect, to have legal support
without begging for it, without being patronised, and the build up of rights was very slow
Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act, of 1970
In 1979, the first report was published calling for civil rights legislation for disabled people
It took till 1995 to get the substantial legislation through the house, and another ten years to improve it
And then along came the current government, or the last one and said, we'll have the equality act
which weakened many of the duties, and we've seen what the current government's doing which is not entirely encouraging
But the one thing which has happened in that time, is, arts venues now have to take account of the needs of disabled people
I remember when we were campaigning for audio descriptions on films and on television and were told it was technically impossible
and if it was possible, no-one would want it
signing or erm, putting titles over stage plays so deaf people could enjoy it
we were told would disturb the other customers
And what we find out when we do it -- the other customers are absolutely delighted
I was at, one of the opera places in London, and I was delighted because I couldn't speak Italian anyway
and the announcements were in English, so I knew what was going on
So, we have advantages, we're building on a solid base, but we need to protect what we've won, and to go further
And in trying to articulate the voice of disabled people, this can be done in many ways
It can be done in committee rooms
it can be done in corridors, it can be done by demos
But one of the most effective ways is to change people's views
people's attitudes -- and this is where the arts are so powerful
And what's happened in disability arts over the last 30 years, is disabled people have found a way of expressing ourselves
of putting forward our point of view of the world, in a way in which non-disabled people are beginning to understand
And I think some of the images of disability, some of the projects which you will participate in during this festival
actually does change perceptions
And we've come a long, long way from when disability arts was a
disabled group in a day-care centre making baskets -- fine baskets though they were -- I even made some myself
I've still got the cold hands to prove it
And I think that we actually need that voice
I know when I - I do a bit of photography, not terribly good photography I have to say
but my friends can always spot when a photograph's taken by me, 'cause it's taken from a certain angle
I can't reach any higher, and they spot the photographs
But it's the way of the world
It's a way in which some disabled people see the world, and that's illuminating for them
and you go and find your own examples of this
What DaDa is about, and has been since it started, is giving disabled people that platform
And when the festival started it was a very local thing here in Liverpool, then Ruth had this mad idea she'd go national
so she did that, then she said 'oh God, there's a river that leads out to the sea
oh jeez there's more countries out there, let's go international', so she did that
NASA are sending a probe soon to Mars. I have it on good authority there will be a leaflet from DaDaFest in there
and we'll have the view of disability from a martian perspective in the not too distant
But actually DaDa is now one of the world's major arts festivals
and those of us who live in Liverpool are very proud that this is the city which has brought this about
and largely down to a very small number of people
As DaDa goes ahead they keep collecting awards -- we need a bigger office for Ruth to put them all in
and the last one is the Lever award, which this DaDaFest has already won
That's all the good news
There's still some news which is not too good, is we need to break out of the disability community and the arts community
We need to get out into the business community, because arts are about changing attitudes
It's all very well Iain Duncan Smith saying 'All these disabled people can work -- even those who died 3 years ago
and, there's a slight problem there if the employer won't give you the job
And the problem with most employers, and there's probably a few here tonight, I don't mean to insult them but what the hell
they employ a tiny part of people's talents
They say 'can you type?' Right, we'll hire you as a typist
They don't say, 'can you also paint watercolour? Can you sing?
They leave out all that talent, 'we'll hire you to type,' or 'we'll hire you to take legal cases, or work with the local authority
A very small part of a person's personality is used in employment, and if employers could look further than that very tight definition
they'd see people with a range of talents, which those employers are envious of, and would love to have in their organisation
So we need to broaden that out and we need to bring the business community in the North West into DaDa and get DaDa to the business community
We've made a start but we're not there yet, too many employers are still very very
blinkered in what disability means and think if we support disability arts we're helping some handy-capped folks to entertain themselves
Well, Damien Hurst entertains himself I guess, all artists entertain themselves
I'm told Picasso had quite a good time
But actually they produce art, and disabled people are exactly the same mould
and we need to recognise that amongst disabled people there's an enormous range of talent, and DaDa brings some of that out
The business community now needs to come in to see it, to witness it, and take it on board. If they do that
DaDa will be a great success, but frankly even if they don't, DaDa's going to be a great success
You've all got the brochure, it's going to be a smashing couple of months ahead, enjoy it and have a great festival
Thank you very much