Third round of Unlimited awards opens

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MEDIA RELEASE COURTESY OF: UNLIMITED

10 commissions announced for Unlimited, the UK’s largest programme celebrating arts, culture and sport by disabled and deaf people.

- Over £400,000 committed to the first commissions from the unprecedented three-year programme to create new work for the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad

- Applications for the second of three rounds of awards now open

Scottish artists Janice Parker and Ramesh Meyyappan have been awarded two of the ten commissions for the first round of Unlimited, the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad project.

Unlimited, delivered in partnership between London 2012 and the Scottish Arts Council, will celebrate disability, arts, culture and sport on an unprecedented scale and is set to transform the disability arts movement in the UK. In this round over £400,000 of funding has been awarded to 10 commissions across the UK.

Janice Parker’s Private Dancer is an artistically ambitious large scale performance event by professional and emergent disabled dancers. Performed in and around a real sized luminous ‘house’, purpose built with a series of individual rooms, each solo dancer invites audience members to enter their private performance domain.

As well as the individual pieces, the hour long performance will include disabled and non-disabled dancers performing throughout the structure encouraging audiences to walk and move around the house. Private Dancer is the result of research and development work which received funding from the Scottish Arts Council’s Disability Arts Open Fund.

Scotland’s second commission, Snails and Ketchup by Ramesh Meyyappan, explores the turbulent relationships that prevail within dysfunctional families, inspired by Italo Calvino’s ‘Baron in the Trees’. This darkly comic tale poignantly highlights that despite familial love being unconditional, it is not always possible to exist within the same environment as those we hold dear.

The plight of the family members will be revealed in a solo performance that allows Ramesh to explore several character transitions using an eclectic range of physical / visual styles including: sign mime, movement, aerial and stilt work, bold storytelling and strong characterization.

Unlimited encourages collaborations and partnerships between disability arts organisations, disabled and deaf artists, producers, and mainstream organisations to celebrate the inspiration of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, and produce work like never before.

Applications for the second round of commissions are now welcomed from disabled and deaf artists or disability arts groups wishing to create high quality work to form part of high profile showcase events across the UK.

Ruth Mackenzie, Director of the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad, said:

“These are my first commissions since I started work for the Cultural Olympiad Board and I am proud to be working on a festival which will be offering more commissioning for disabled artists than any Cultural Olympiad and festival anywhere in the world.

"This is a chance to change the way work by disabled artists is perceived and enjoyed round the world, and we are thrilled to have such exciting commissions to get the programme started.”

Janice Parker said:

“I am delighted to receive an Unlimited commission. I am committed to bringing the work of disabled artists to more prominence and this opportunity will allow me to collaborate in depth with some brilliant disabled performers.”

Moira Sinclair, Executive Director, Arts Council England, London said:

“Unlimited Commissions will bring projects by some of our leading disabled and deaf artists to new audiences across the UK in the run up to London 2012, showcasing their work on a world stage. We hope that the Commissions will leave the legacy of a strengthened sector long beyond the Games, and we wish all the artists the very best as they develop their work in the coming months.”

Maggie Maxwell, Head of Equalities, Scottish Arts Council, said:

"We are delighted that Janice Parker and Ramesh Meyyappan have been selected as the Scottish winners for the first round of Unlimited Commissions. Janice's piece arose as a result of research and development work funded by the Scottish Arts Council's Disability Arts Open fund so it's fantastic news that it will now be supported by Unlimited.

"Janice has created an original performance work that allows audiences to engage with a number of disabled dancers in a one-to-one setting and we are delighted that the quality of her work has been recognised in the award.

Likewise Ramesh Meyyappan is a deserving winner. With the use of visual language Ramesh will create an accessible piece that has a strong social resonance. We congratulate both Janice and Ramesh for this recognition of the high calibre of their work and wish them every success with their productions and the next stages of their professional careers."

Unlimited Commissions is a commissioning fund of £1.5m for new work which is believed to be the largest single investment in creative work by disabled artists. The second half of the Unlimited programme will provide support to artists to develop their talent and skills and present their work to audiences in the UK and abroad.

Through Unlimited Talent there will be resources and training to foster young talent and develop skills across the sector, forging new partnerships between disability and mainstream arts organisations. Unlimited International will support collaboration between the artists in the UK and other countries, showcase new work around the world, and promote a global debate amongst young people about disability rights.

The project is principally funded by the Olympic Lottery Distributor, and is delivered in partnership between London 2012, Arts Council England, the Scottish Arts Council, Arts Council of Wales, Arts Council of Northern Ireland and the British Council.

Tessa Jowell said: “We want the London 2012 Paralympic Games to help break down the barriers disabled people can often face. The inspirational projects announced today not only showcase the true depth of artistic talent we have amongst disabled people in the UK, but also communicate disability in a creative and thought provoking way that will challenge people’s perception of disability.”

Further information on the application process can be found at the London 2021 website here.