All the research and reports
Time to Act: Two Years On
Two years on from the groundbreaking Time to Act report, British Council has commissioned On the Move, the international cultural mobility network, to conduct a follow-up report looking further into the knowledge gaps in the cultural sector that contribute towards inequalities for disabled artists and audiences. This new report published 2023 reveals data-led insights into the accessibility, inclusion, international mobility and professional development of disabled artists in the European performing arts sector, as well as the progress made over the past few years.
The Executive Summary of the report is available in English, French, International Sign, Italian, Polish and Spanish. The English summary is also available as an audio version.
Scripted or spontaneous? Two approaches to audio describing visual art in museums
A research article on audio description in museums by Maija Hirvonen and Betta Saari (2022). They report on a comparative analysis of two approaches to live audio-describing (AD) visual art in museums: the first case is a tour with scripted AD (the guide reads written descriptions out loud), and the second case is spontaneous AD (AD is intertwined with the guide’s talk).Scripted or spontaneous? Two approaches to audio describing visual art in museums (tandfonline.com)
Time to Act: How lack of knowledge in the cultural sector creates barriers for disabled artists and audiences
Barriers and enablers to engagement in participatory arts activities amongst individuals with depression and anxiety: quantitative analyses using a behaviour change framework
This study used a behaviour change framework to explore barriers to engagement in participatory arts activities amongst people with either depression or anxiety. The study was published in the journal BMC Public Health in 2021.
"It's you experiencing yourself"
An ethnographic study of an arts project promoting participation among young people with mental health issues. Sini Mikkonen's pro gradu, 2013, University of Oulu.
"It's you experiencing yourself" (link to the website of University of Oulu)
A report on policies and good practices in the public arts and in
cultural institutions to promote better access to and wider
participation in culture
European Agenda for Culture/Work Plan for Culture 2011-2014
The
report was produced through the Open Method of Coordination (OMC), a
volontary cooperation among member states, sharing their practises and
experiences to improve their own work.
Access to Culture 2012 report
The European Blind Union's Access to Culture 2012 report covers analysis of policy implementation of the cultural rights of disabled people, some information on cultural accessibility in several countries and case-studies from seven countries of Europe. They cover theatre, cinema, museums and city tourist information. The report was first published on the EBU website www.euroblind.org.Access to Culture 2012 [DOC]
Access to Culture 2012 [PDF]
Summary of the Access to Culture report 2012 [DOC]
Summary of the Access to Culture report 2012 [PDF]
Community Action Programme on Social Exclusion - The role of culture in preventing and reducing poverty and social exclusion
A summary of the main findings of a study commissioned by the Centre for Public Policy at Northumbria University. The study analyses and identifies cultural policies and programmes that contribute to preventing and reducing poverty and social exclusion. Policies in eight Member States are examined in the study (Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom) and an overview of policies in five new Member States is also included.
The role of culture in preventing and reducing poverty and social exclusion [PDF]
Three Dimensional Models for All
In the article Julia Ionides and Peter Howell share their long term experience of planning and constructing tactile three dimensional scale models. Tactile models offer also people with visual impairments a way to appreciate the shape, size and architectural features of buildings or other objects.
Three dimensional models for all [DOC]
Three dimensional models for all [PDF]
Museums for all. Translation and Interpreting for Multimodal Spaces as a Tool for Universal Accessibility
The Joy of Touching
Rodica Silvia Pop writes in her report
"The joy of touching. Peer cultural education for the visually impaired"
that museums can encourage individual participation of the visually
impaired by making their collections accessible.
Records from a Seminar on Accessibility on Exhibitions
The seminar Accessibility on Exhibitions was held on the 14-15 May, 2009 at Upplandsmuseet, Uppsala. The records from the seminar aim to offer inspiration backed by social theory, good practice and practical experience, towards improving accessibility in exhibitions.
Accessibility in exhibitions [PDF]
Accessibility to Cultural Heritage - Nordic Perspectives
The publication results from the project "Accessibility to cultural
heritage" (2007-2009) in which experts from the central heritage
authorities in the Nordic countries, supported by the Nordic Council of
Ministers, examined together the consequences of the proposition that
everybody should have access to cultural heritage.
Accessibility to cultural heritage [PDF]
Making Cultural Heritage Truly Inclusive Conference Publication
The Conference Publication includes articles from chosen conference speakers of the conference Making Cultural Heritage Truly Inclusive, which was organized in Helsinki 11-12 October 2007 by the Finnish National Gallery, the National Museum of Finland and the Finnish Museums Association.
Making cultural heritage truly common conference publication [DOC]
Making Cultural Heritage Truly Inclusive Conference Publication [PDF]
The Right to Art
Robert Hewison and John Holden from Demos tackle the issue of why members of certain social classes do not visit museums or other visual art services even though the entry would be free. What kinds of other factors have become as barriers?
Welcome to the Museum?
In her article, "Welcome to the Museum? The Finnish National Gallery Promotes Cultural Equality in Finland" Sari Salovaara speaks of the activities of the Culture of All Service and more broadly on accessibility projects in Finland.
Welcome to the museum? [DOC]
Welcome to museum? [PDF]
"They're smiling from ear to ear" - Wellbeing Effects from Social Circus
The research proves that social circus has a lot of effects to the wellbeing for the people participating in social circus activities. Publication of the Centre for Practise as Research in Theatre University of Tampere. The publication is one of the final publications of the Effective Circus project (2011-2014).
"They're smiling from ear to ear" - Wellbeing Effects from Social Circus [PDF]
Subtitles in Theatre? - report on a seminar on captioning in Finnish theatres
Report on a seminar "Subtitles in Theatre?", which was organized on 20 November 2007 at the Ateneum Art Museum in Helsinki. The report also describes what is theatre captioning about.
Subtiles in theatre seminar report [DOC]
Subtitles in theatre seminar report [PDF]
Developing Community Circus in Aotearoa New Zealand
Ideas and Observations from Circus Leaders. Rachael Trotman 2013.
Developing Community Circus in Aotearoa New Zealand (PDF, link to vaikuttavasirkus.fi)
Streetwise Community Circus CIC. Fit for Olympics 2012 Evaluation.
Dr Nick McCaffery (2012)
Streetwise Community Circus CIC (PDF, link to vaikuttavasirkus.fi)
Contrasting Visual and Verbal Cueing of Space:
strategies and devices in the audio description of film
In this article Maija Hirvonen studies audio description. She compares visual and verbal representation in the context of narrative film in which space is strongly cued through the visual channel. The focus is on shot distance, which controls the amount of space visible in a shot. The study analyses how shot distance is reflected in audio description by syntactic and semantic means. The study aims to show how audio description can make use of diverse representational strategies and linguistic devices in rendering shot distance.
