Artist Talk & Tour: Crip Arte Spazio: The Disability Arts Movement in Venice

Join us for an artist talk & tour for the exhibition Crip Arte Spazio: The Disability Arts Movement in Venice.

Taking place the day after the shows officially launches in Leicester from the Venice Biennale, the panel will consist of:

David Hevey – Curator of Crip Arte Spazio, CEO and Artist Director of Shape Arts
Tony Heaton – Participating Artist, Disability Rights Activist, Former CEO of Shape Arts
Tanya Raabe Webber – Participating Artist, Artistic Director Visual Arts at Sense

Shape brings its landmark Crip Arte Spazio: The Disability Arts Movement in Venice exhibition to Leicester, fresh from its presentation at the world-renowned Venice Biennale 2024. The Disability Arts Movement aligned art with the fight for rights, broke barriers, and ultimately affected changes in UK law, while making great art about doing so.

Shown during the 60th Venice Biennale, the exhibition is a joyous and exuberant celebration of the Disability Arts Movement, showcasing its dynamism, wit, and grandeur. The exhibition reclaims historical slurs ‘Crip Arte Spazio’ in an unflinching explosion of huge protest banners, cartoon panels, large-scale projected artist films, photography, graphic novels, and campaign merchandise.

The title Crip Arte Spazio, translated as Crip Art Space, plays on Italian words while reclaiming slurs disabled people have historically and continue to face. We fully support the curators, artists and disabled people in the reclamation of these words.