If I Cant Dance I Don’t Want to Be Part of Your Revolution is an institution based in Amsterdam,  founded in 2005, that is dedicated to performance art. The organisation works on a two-year  cycle, commissioning and producing works by artists while researching the history of  performance art. Their thematic focus includes exploring feminism, social movements,  temporality, the body and technologies, with a current focus on the body as memory. Recently,  the institution moved into a new building and has expanded its focus to include accessibility, an  area they are very enthused by.  

After providing some working definitions of key terms, like “disability” and "disability justice”, Anik Fournier and Annick Kleizen opened the floor for a discussion with participants. The conversation highlighted the  challenges, both real and perceived, that institutions face when making their practices and spaces  accessible, e.g. with physical access, language barriers and the logistical challenges of providing  services like sign language interpreters. The session emphasised that accessibility should be  embedded within art and conservation practices from their beginnings, rather than attached as  afterthoughts. It also addressed how exclusion can occur within these spaces, and how practices  must be rethought on a structural level, focusing not just on audiences but also internal practices  and environments.

 

Case Study: Constantina Zavitsanos’ Entrophy 

A key case study explored the work of Constantina Zavitsanos, a disabled artist based in NYC,  who investigates "shared incompacities” — the idea that we all have different capacities and  dependencies that connect us. She presented a collaborative performance project, Entrophy,  which included remote participation and multiple layers of accessibility, such as audio  descriptions and sign language interpretation. The performance reflected the fluidity and  subjectivity of perception, playing with the visible and invisible. Entrophy also highlighted the  complexities of documenting performance work in accessible ways, such as ensuring that  documentation captures the multi-sensory and layered experience, rather than just text  translations. Breakout discussions allowed participants to exchange experiences on how to  integrate accessibility into digital and immersive production spaces, exploring how access can be  incorporated into art production itself. 

The session concluded with a broader reflection on how arts institutions can rethink their  practices, not just in terms of audience accessibility but also in terms of institutional structures  and processes. It was suggested that accessibility should be a norm rather than an appendage,  encouraging cultural organisations to be more flexible and creative in addressing challenges.  Participants also discussed the need for accessible documentation, noting that archives and  cultural institutions should find ways to represent accessibility within their own records, whether  through descriptions, translations, or other methods that support a more inclusive experience for  all. 

Question and Answers 

Some key audience questions included: how do you avoid imposing a perspective of the  translator or interpreter on the text through their translation of it? The answer mutually agreed  upon was that accessibility should be seen as additive, rather than reductive. Another question hypothesised whether travelling across cultural contexts informs accessibility, and how to reflect  this? Again the idea of layers of access was highlighted, along with a shift away from focusing on “best practices”, which can be restrictive, to more flexible approaches — asking what can be  done to enhance accessibility productively within each institution. 

 

Author: Olwen Collins

Keywords: TDA 2025, media art, preservation, performance, dance, accessibility, workshop, inclusivity

Header image: Anik Fournier and Annick Kleizen. Transformation Digital Art 2025, 21 March. Photo by Alex Heuvink.