PRODUCER and director Calvin Ratladi says people living with disabilities also matter in arts.
The South African TV and Film Awards (Safta) winner for Outstanding Person with Disability 2022 is curating an event that is led by artists living with disabilities.
It is called A Gathering in a Better World and will be showcased at the Centre for the Less Good Idea.
Speaking to Daily Sun, Calvin (32) from Emalahleni in Mpumalanga said there are no structures that offer such an opportunity for people like him. And he wanted to show that people living with disabilities matter too.
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“The idea behind A Gathering in a Better World was to create a worldwide network for artists and create a better space for artists living with disabilities. It is a response to not having structures like this. The idea behind the curation is to bring an archive of artists to exist in the excellence of arts,” he said.
“This gathering is a physical extension connecting Sub-Saharan African artists living with disabilities within the framework of the project. It is a meeting and networking opportunity as well as a place to access creative spaces conceptualised by artists with disabilities across different artistic disciplines for a broad audience with and without disabilities,” he continued.
He said the event is meant to create a better world.
“The Johannesburg gathering is intended to go beyond ‘just another inclusion project’ that does not attract daily audiences and engage artistic reflections that relate to people living with disabilities,” he said.
“People who are living with disabilities in Africa are treated as though we have diseases. We also have talent and can also contribute to things like a country’s economy. We should also be getting these same opportunities. More than anything, we want people to acknowledge our existence. And for us to see each other as people. We hope this will create a better world and bring better opportunities for us,” he said.
Calvin also spoke about winning a Safta last year.
“It felt really great, honestly. Growing up, I didn’t see people like me on TV or see that kind of narrative and that for me was big. Coming into something that's big like acting, I had to make sure it evolves so spaces for other people, especially ones living with disabilities can be included,” he said.
A Gathering in a Better World will be running from 1 to 5 March at the theatre in Maboneng, Joburg.
