National Symposium
Disabilities & Arts: The Possibilities and Prospects
5th to 6th March 2019
Context
For someone with a disability, engagement in any form of art can be life changing.
It is becoming clearer and clearer with each scientific study that participating in the arts is beneficial to all people, disabled or non-disabled and that the results brought into the lives of the disabled through the medium of art are good evidences to prove the undeniable benefits of art as a medium.
Engagement in creative art work can be used to improve and enhance the physical, mental and emotional well-being of individuals of all ages with the aim of resolving conflicts and problems, developing interpersonal skills, managing behavior, reducing stress, and increasing self-esteem and self-awareness; it does have specific benefits for the disabled. The emotional benefits are reaped when a person chooses to express his or her emotions through art, be it through painting, singing, dancing, etc. This may allow for a more free-flow of emotions, and may prevent them from getting backlogged and causing emotional difficulties.
The physical benefits of immersing oneself in art are being discovered. It comes as no surprise to most fans of the arts that participating in the arts can positively reduce stress, pain and anxiety and increase physical and emotional health; this is true for both disabled and non-disabled individuals.
Emotionally, art can benefit disabled individuals by giving them entirely new mediums through which they may express themselves, making meaningful the phrase often used for persons with disability, ‘differently able’.
For a person who cannot speak, a dance performance may clearly communicate even the most complicated message. For a person with a mental disability who cannot communicate effectively through words, a painting rich with color and life may say more than verbal sentences ever could. And, for a person who has limited mobility, a song sung with emotion and spirit may elicit movement toward a state of clarity and joy.
Symposium cum Workshop
The Symposium aims to bring together Art professionals from the field of dance, music, theatre and visual arts (painting and drawing), learn from their presentations in the form of case narrations of nurturing persons with disability, thus reiterating the possibilities of an inclusive platform for self actualization and self expression.
Objectives
To reiterate the constructive interface between Art and Disability
To give hands on experience to Teachers and Teacher educators in helping children with disability to express through the medium of art
To share the experiences of art professionals in nurturing persons with disability.
To demystify the concept that art is therapy for persons with disability and to concertize the fact that art is therapeutic for all while for persons with disability it is a major medium of expression and self realization.
*Content provided by Department of Education, Delhi University.

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