Starting from Zero – Berlinklusion

Starting from Zero was a creative research project investigating disabled artists and cultural workers’ access to culture throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.

Link to the project page: www.StartingFromZero.de

Three squares in a row. The left square shows an open hand, palm up, in a blue and grey circle inside a red square, in the center of the palm is a white circle of light. The center square shows a black plus sign on top of layers of colored semi-translucent paper in red, purple, white and dove grey. The right square shows white pieces of torn paper scattered on a sky blue square.

Decisions about degrees of access are political- they create borders and boundaries that determine who is in and who is out, limiting both the production and consumption of knowledge.

What cultural shifts have you noticed as a result of the pandemic?

Has your access to culture increased? Or diminished?

Do you feel more or less visible?

Many people have rejected the idea that the end of the pandemic means a “return to normal” but instead, see it is an opportunity to change our cultural sector.

We would like to know:

If we are starting from zero, what kind of future do we want to build.

What useful things do we already have and what needs to change.

How can we use what we have experienced during the pandemic to inform and expand the collective potential of culture so that it includes artists and cultural workers with disabilities.

What should we keep? What should we add? What should we throw away?

Together, we would like to create:

A Post Pandemic Tool Kit for better and borderless access to culture.

Link to the project page and survey: www.StartingFromZero.de

Artwork and design by Kirstin Naomie Broussard