Organised by Arts & Disability (ART:DIS) Singapore, with the support of the National Arts Council (NAC), the 6th edition of the Arts & Disability Forum (ADF) returns from 25 – 29 March 2025 with a regional focus, expanding discussions on the arts and accessibility informed by diverse voices across the region and in Singapore to explore key trends and evolving models of practice.

Enriching, empowering and engaging, ADF2025 reframes how individuals conceive inclusion and diversity within the arts, cultural and heritage space by bringing access and representation to the fore. With an expected turnout of 300 people from varying fields of disability, culture, community engagement, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion (DEI), policy and academia, attendees will explore key topics such as inclusive culture programming, disability arts as a field of practice, and the professional practice development of artists with disabilities.

Says Angela Tan, Executive Director at ART:DIS (Arts & Disability) Singapore: “We’re seeing growing momentum in Asia, with practitioners and institutions dedicating resources to make the arts more inclusive. This reflects an increasing audience appetite for diverse representation and recognition that arts access benefits everyone, not just the disabled community. We hope this forum sparks deeper discussions on accessibility in the arts for persons with disabilities and encourages more intentional representation of disabled artists in cultural programming and spaces.”

Anchoring ADF2025 is the plenary, where regional thought leaders share best practices in the Arts & Disability field across Asia and how arts accessibility is gaining ground in their countries. For instance Siddhant Shah (Founder of Access For ALL, India), Eddy Zee (Project Director of No Limits, Hong Kong Arts Festival) and Yvonne Tham (CEO, The Esplanade Co Ltd, Singapore) of the first panel come with rich expertise on how inclusivity can be decomplicated so that greater access can be achieved for all, while Deaf choreographer Alice Hu (Founder of Accessivation Studio, China), artist Sukri Budi Dharma (Founder of Jogja Disability Arts, Indonesia) and visually impaired actor Claire Teo (artist-educator) of the second panel share from lived experiences on systemic barriers limiting the creative sector to impact and involve more.

Also present are Kavitha Krishnan (Co-founder & Artistic Director of Maya Dance Theatre, Singapore), Samantha Scott-Blackhall (Artistic Director of Gateway Arts, Singapore) and Grace Lee-Khoo (Founder of Access Path Productions, Singapore) who will discuss their experience in training and working with artists with disabilities, and the journeys in integrating the artists they work with into the mainstream.

On-board as well are thought leaders such as Deaf photographer Isabelle Lim (Founder of issyshoots, Singapore), Emily Ong (Senior Director of Employment and Lifelong Learning at SG Enable, Singapore) and Samantha Bounaparte (Programme Chair at Republic Polytechnic, Singapore) who will share about how the arts can be a platform to bridge greater understanding and connections between disabled and non-disabled communities.

Says Aruna Johnson, Director (Access & Community Engagement), Arts Ecosystem Group, NAC, “We are delighted to be supporting ART:DIS Singapore once again for the forum as an important platform for artists and thought leaders of the community to come together and exchange best practices on the nexus of arts, disability and inclusivity. This forum demonstrates NAC’s continued championing of the transformative power of the arts in improving lives for all. We hope that all who attend ADF2025 will be enriched by the sessions and engage in conversations with like-minded individuals.”

For the first time, this year’s ADF involves numerous arts and cultural institutions coming in as programme partners and collaborators, signifying stronger commitment by the sector to increase arts access in Singapore. This includes:

• Programme Partner Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay where the plenary will be held, featuring 27 speakers from diverse backgrounds across 6 panels.
• Programme Collaborator National Gallery Singapore will be delivering a workshop with Beyond Vision International (Hong Kong) on developing tactile art resources so that more visually impaired audiences can participate in the arts.
• Programme Collaborator Museum Roundtable will be conducting a learning journey to the Children’s Museum to discover how sensory toolkits and immersive environments facilitate better learning for kids.
• Programme Collaborator Singapore Art Museum will be staging a participatory performance, conceived by disabled and non-disabled artists, that highlights how environments can simultaneously include and exclusive individuals.

• Singapore International Arts Festival (SIFA) 2025 presents Colony – A True Colours Project, an experimental blank canvas where artistic director (Ramesh Panicker), choreographer (Andy Benjamin Cai), film director (Mak CK) and 13 diverse dancers from Singapore, Japan, Indonesia, Cambodia, Philippines and Thailand will take audiences behind the curtains into the centre of every artist’s creative nucleus – the rehearsal space. Dancers with Down Syndrome representing Singapore are Timothy Lee from ART:DIS and Weng Jiaying from Diverse Abilities Dance Collective.

• Presented by Esplanade as part of its annual theatre series, The Studios 2025 | SUSTENANCE kicks off with Scenes from the Climate Era by David Finnigan (Australia), directed by Ellison Tan. Running from 18–20 July 2025, this production explores our evolving relationship with land, climate, and survival. Featuring Claire Teo from ART:DIS, it is part of The Studios’ final chapter in a three-year exploration of land and its many facets. More details will be made available end April at http://www.esplanade.com

• Launching on 31 May, The Gallery Children’s Biennale 2025 commissions Fern Wong, a Singaporean artist with Down Syndrome who is known for her vibrant artworks that use intricate patterns. Through her highly detailed and textured papercut designs, children are invited to create a large-scale work responding to Fern’s intricate patterns. Through this work, children will also explore how feelings and emotions are expressed in art through colours, textures, shapes, and forms.

ADF2025 runs from 25 – 29 March 2025 and more information about the plenary, programmes and ticket prices can be found on www.artdisforum.sg.