A Liverpool-based charity is celebrating its 40th anniversary.
DaDa, a multi-artform charity, was founded in 1984 and has since become a key part of the campaign for greater equality and access for disabled artists across the arts and cultural sector.
The charity develops and presents disability and Deaf arts through an artistic programme that includes festivals and events.
This programme is supported by year-round engagement work with developing and established artists, young disabled, Deaf and neurodivergent people, their families, and the wider community.
The centrepiece of DaDa’s work is DaDaFest International, which was launched in 2001 as a platform to showcase the work of disabled, Deaf and neurodivergent artists.
The festival is set to return in March 2025 with the theme for the special anniversary festival revealed as RAGE.
DaDa was founded in 1984 by artistic director John McGrath and Liverpool disability activist and performer Mandy Colleran as Arts Integrated Merseyside (AIM), then a branch of London-based Shape Arts.
In 1986 it became the independent North West Disability Arts Forum (NWDAF) with a focus on Liverpool, Manchester and the surrounding area.
It was renamed DaDa in 2008.
Over DaDa’s 40 years, it has made an impact through advocacy and social change and through partnership and collaboration with a range of organisations and bodies.
This includes supporting Liverpool City Council on policy making around access to services and transport, being consulted during the redevelopment of the Liverpool Everyman to make it one of the most accessible theatres in the country, and working with the Unity for more than 20 years to change perceptions of disabled artists and for the theatre to independently programme work by and support disabled artists.
DaDa has also been invited to collaborate and share expertise internationally, most recently on projects in Indonesia and Brazil.
A total of 13 DaDaFests have now been held, featuring more than 500 events showcasing the work of disabled, Deaf and neurodivergent artists.
Artists have also come from Indonesia, India, Mali, Congo and South Africa as well as from across the UK.
DaDa interim chief executive Zoe Partington said: "This is a very important year for DaDa as we mark our 40th anniversary – 40 years of artistic excellence, activism, advocacy, creativity, collaboration, conversation and celebration.
"Our vision is ‘equity and excellence in the cultural landscape to break down the barriers that exist for disabled art communities’ and I’m very proud of the high level of artwork which has been created and presented over those four decades under the DaDa umbrella as well as in partnership with organisations and venues within Liverpool and beyond.
"It’s not been easy and disabled leaders have had to fight for equity at DaDa.
"I’m also delighted we can reveal the theme of next year’s DaDaFest International is RAGE.
"After consulting with artists, the feedback we received clearly shows that though some progress has been made, too many decisions are still taken without involving disabled people.
"This has left disabled artists and disabled communities raging that the gaps in society are still so wide, and we are still so far from equity and representation at all levels in art, culture and heritage.
"We want our festival to continue to provide an equal, radical and open space for artists to flourish, share work and debate the solutions to the issues we face together through artistic excellence, expression and engagement."
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