Urban Survival Kits – About the project

Urban Survival Kits – About the project

Urban Survival Kits (USK) is an innovative Erasmus + programme led by the University of Atypical for Arts and Disability (UofA) in Belfast and devised by artist Julie McGowan. The Urban Survival Kits project is a two-year long international creative learning project exploring how disabled and neurodiverse adults can develop and design personalised survival kits to support their local, national and international travel requirements.

This partnership between the UofA, in collaboration with local participants from the NOW Group (Belfast) and European partner organisations Cotopaxi (Poland); Blauschimmel Atelier (Germany); Akdeniz University (Turkey) and Upset Theatre (Croatia) has been participant led with the aim of empowering d/Deaf, disabled and neurodiverse people.

The USK’s programme included a series of live and online workshops specifically tailored to provide an inclusive and immersive learning experience to participants. This allowed for a safe way of experimenting, externalising, reframing and ultimately sharing real-life stories and experiences, removing the barriers that d/Deaf, disabled and neurodiverse people experience when travelling, and creating individual communication tools that are tailored to ensure positive travelling experiences.

Objectives

– To create an accessible travel kit for Adults With Disabilities (AWD)
– To create transnational learning opportunities for AWD exploring different cultures and learning arts and creativity skills
– To provide opportunities for AWD to improve their mental health and wellbeing, their self-esteem and to practise active citizenship
– To establish links and a network between the partner countries involving the development of equity and accessibility resources for AWD
– To create a support framework for learners/AWD
– To support AWD with the development of organisation and planning skills to assist them with future independent travel

Results

Learning and cultural exchange events
Personal survival kits to make travel for Adults with Disabilities more accessible
A manual offering practical advice and guidance on how to complete the programme either in person or online
Local and international exhibitions showcasing the products designed by AWD as part of the programme
Virtual exhibitions and gallery talks showcasing the work produced by the learners
Digital Trails – A digital resource offering an accessible and multi-sensory guide to trails /journeys in each partner country

Outputs

Instruction Manual – Download here
Manual in additional languages – Download here

Learning Blueprint- Curriculum Download here
Blueprint in additional languages – Download here

Exhibition and Learning Programme
Urban Survival Kit Download here

Digital Trails –

The European Commission and UK National Agency support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the contents which reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

About the partners

University of Atypical – Northern Ireland

University of Atypical for Arts and Disability (UofA) is disabled-led and is the lead sectoral organisation for arts and disability. UofA takes an empowerment-based approach towards d/Deaf, disabled and Neurodiverse people’s involvement in the arts as artists and audience members. We develop and promote the work of d/Deaf, disabled and neurodiverse artists and enhance access for d/Deaf, disabled and neurodiverse audiences. We do this through:
Our year round Atypical Gallery programme, the annual Bounce Arts Festival, Digital Horizon Programme and the Ledger Studio for Performing Arts. These are key aspects of our work in showcasing the best in innovative and challenging, local and international disability arts practice. The Ledger Studio is fully accessible, offering opportunities for workshops, training, rehearsals and performance. These unique arts resources are the only programmes and spaces dedicated to and led by, d/Deaf, disabled and Neurodiverse people in the arts.
We provide financial and career development through the d/Deaf and Disabled Artists Support Fund, our Graduate Arts Award with Ulster University, and a career development advice service. Our Equality and Access Standards Initiative is UofA’s infrastructural support to arts organisations regionally supporting improvements in equality, access and inclusion for audiences, artists, staff, freelancers, Board members and volunteers. Our Culture, Outreach, Research and Education (CORE) programme provides participatory, research, and learning opportunities for d/Deaf, disabled and Neurodiverse people on local, national or international projects.

UPSET Theatre – Croatia

UPSET is a non-profit, non-governmental organisation founded in 2008 by a group of young sociologists, psychologists, cultural and social workers, and others interested in making a positive social change against social stigma. We are a group of 30 volunteers who implement projects focused on socially stigmatised individuals both locally and on an international level. In our work, we combine scientific research, non-formal education, and cultural activities (preformative arts) in order to make an impact on our learners and on the wider community and contribute to positive changes in society.

Pracownia Filmowa Cotopaxi – Poland

Cotopaxi Film Workshop Association is a non-profit organisation established in 2008. The aim of the Association is to promote culture particularly in the area of film, to promote knowledge, science and culture, formation of attitudes of civic responsibility and also to support NGOs in Poland and abroad by promoting their activity in audiovisual form. The Association pursues these objectives through the creation of audiovisual materials and also through organising workshops, conferences and reviews.

The Association realises projects in collaboration with schools, social assistance centres, support centres for disabled people. The projects are also co-financed by national grants. Among other things, the Association held a scientific conference concerning social prevention and social exclusion, including people with disabilities. The Association works for the implementation and development of social research methods with the use of audiovisual methods (participatory video). Using the artistic, scientific and animation experience in the field of social issues, the Association builds and strengthens relationships with local communities. Members of the Association implement social policy in their professional work, including active involvement in the Social Policy Institute at the University of Warsaw.

Akdeniz University – Turkey

The primary mission of Akdeniz University is to provide a high level of education which is closely integrated with the academic world; to establish high quality programmes which support student mobility; to create scientific research and applications to a global standard with universal relevance; to transform its scientific projects into technologically viable products; to meet the needs of society for knowledge, technology and social solutions at the most advanced level through ongoing programmes in the fields of education, health and other vital services.

Blauschimmel Atelier – Germany

Blauschimmel Atelier was founded in 1998 as a non-profit organisation. Here people from all parts of social life have the possibility to discover and develop their creative potential. In Blauschimmel people with and without disabilities have the chance to meet and to create art together. Blauschimmel Atelier offers weekly courses and workshops in performing arts, fine arts, mask-performance and -building and music. The courses and workshops are led by professional artists and are open to everybody. Beside the weekly programme Blauschimmel organises and realises workshops, art projects, exhibitions, stage performances, concerts and sociocultural projects.

Our aim is to show the created results in public performances to show the incredible creative and thrilling energy and artistic variety of the common work. With the means of art the Blauschimmel Atelier provides a place of inclusion, where new cultural impacts can develop and where people with and without disabilities, of different generations, cultures and from different social living conditions can meet and be creative together under professional conditions.

Urban Survival Kit videos –

Out of the Box

Back by popular demand, Ross Mitchell presents a bold new lineup of Northern Ireland’s finest up and coming neurodivergent and disabled comedians

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From Berlin to Belfast:

Join the creative team behind our Cultural Bridge project, for an artist panel discussion exploring the learnings from our international partnership.

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Witches

Witches is a 2024 British documentary film written and directed by Elizabeth Sankey and produced by Jeremy Warmsley, Manon Ardisson, and Maria Chiara Ventura.

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Rapture and Repulsion

Rapture and Repulsion is a QueerCrip performance piece in development, written from interviews with d/Deaf, disabled and neurodivergent artists and activists

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Sick in the City

Sick in the City combines elements of socially engaged practice with audio-visual technologies for a live performance reclaiming public space in Belfast city centre.

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Vroom Vroom

Strap yourself in for an afternoon of boisterous and bonkers physicality! Experience an exhilarating showcase of dance and physical theatre from the Rogue Encounters ensemble.

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Signs of Dissent

Make your mark and have your voice heard in our placard-making workshop. If you’re marching for a cause, celebrating your identity, or want to get crafty, this session is for you.

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Tales from the Mother

Tales from the Mother is a conversation through dance between two women. The work is the result of a new commission by two of Northern Ireland’s most respected disabled dancers, Linda Fearon and Helen Hall.

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Open Mic Literary Event

Following our fantastic literary sharing event at the 2024 festival, we are looking for d/Deaf, disabled, and neurodivergent writers who would like to share their work with an audience.

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Speak Up with Alice McCullough

Speak Up is a two hour performance workshop for writers, performers or aspiring speakers who would like to share your words on stage. Feel inspired, recharged, and believe in the power of your own voice.

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Positive Sounds

Positive Sounds is a club night led by DJs, visual artists, and promoters with a learning disability.

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Passages by Anushiya Sundaralingam

Passages is an exhibition of drawings, sculpture and installation exploring the journey of migration. Fragile boats and body-like forms hold stories of movement, memory, and survival.

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Dreaming Disability Futures

Dreaming Disability Futures is a writing and dreaming workshop led by writer Alex Cregan. It is inspired by the book ‘Care Work: Dreaming Disability Justice’ by writer and activist Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha.

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Mind the Time

Bounce back in time and enjoy a rare opportunity to witness the unique talent of Stage Beyond Theatre Company on the big screen.

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Still Not Your Pity Party!

Following on from Bounce 2024, Foyle Pride is back with ‘Still Not Your Pity Party!’ This encore continues its unapologetic, eclectic collaboration with queer, d/Deaf, disabled or neurodivergent spoken word artists from the North West.

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(W)right Now

(W)right Now is a writing workshop for writers of fiction, poetry, drama. It is an opportunity to reflect on writing interests, to practise craft, to sharpen critical modes of address, and explore where identities intersect.

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Re-collections by Justine Scoltock

Re-collections is a series of mixed media pieces. It combines elements of vintage photography, advertising, and street ephemera with ink, acrylic, and paper—creating a tension between beauty and decay.

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Not Just BS Breakfast Symposium

Not Just BS is a disabled-led networking, discussion and performance forum for artists and activists developed around this year’s festival theme ‘Not Just…’ on the importance of disability representation, diversity, and intersectionality in the arts sector.

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Not

Thursday 2 October 10:30 am – 12:30 pm The Playhouse £5 BSL / ISL Creative networking and panel event Derry – Londonderry Not Just BS (Breakfast Symposium) Book tickets here

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Atypical Book Club

Thursday 15 May 6:30 – 7:30 pm Ledger Studio On 15 May, we are hosting our very first Atypical Book Club! We hope that it will be the first of

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a promotional image for deaf awareness workshops make up of some logos, text, and a photograph of the trainer, John Carberry. At the top left is a University of Atypical logo (curving lines of pink and teal on a yellow background with the words 'University of Atypical for Arts and Disability'). At the top right is a title that reads 'Deaf Awareness Training with John Carberry'). Below this, text reads: 'Learn about Deaf culture, accessibility, and sign language. Belfast: Thursday 20 March 1:00 - 3:00 pm. Ledger Studio, 109-113 Royal Avenue, BT1 1FF. Derry: Tuesday 25 March 2:00 - 4:00 pm. Destined, 1 Foyle Road, BT48 6SQ. To register for these free events, please visit our website'. At the bottom left are logos for the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, Department for Communities, and Belfast City Council. At the bottom right is a photo of John Carberry: a white man with white hair and a white beard, who is wearing glasses and smiling.

Deaf awareness workshops

The workshop will be invaluable for anyone working in the arts and culture sector who wants to make their venue or organisation more inclusive and welcoming to Deaf people. We

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Shedding Light – Steph Harrison

Daily encounters with the landscape became a ritual, a pilgrimage and a search for what once existed. I hovered in a liminal space, untethered, adrift. As I resurfaced, I began

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Sounds Atypical

University of Atypical’s intimate gig at the Ledger Studio will shine a spotlight on Belfast’s d/Deaf, disabled and neurodivergent musicians as part of Sounds of Belfast festival. The evening will

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Brian Connolly – Resident Artist

Brian Connolly was an Associate Lecturer in Fine Art, Sculpture, in the Belfast School of Art at Ulster University, Belfast, between 1995 and August 2022. He is a multi-media artist

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Bounce Launch Belfast

Bounce Launch: Belfast Join us for our Launch Event to start off the 12th year of the Bounce Festival. Experience dance routines from the classical Indian dance troupe Karma Kalakendram.

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Bounce Wrap Party

Bounce Wrap Party with Kippysmuse and Strange New Places Join us at the wrap party featuring Kris Marsden, aka Kippysmuse, an alternative folk troubadour from County Down. His delivery is

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The Big Open Arts Takeover

The Big Open Arts Takeover Join Open Arts as they take over the Crescent Arts Centre again! Come and watch, or join in and become an honorary member of each

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Yellow: Jody O’Neill

Yellow: Jody O’Neill Yellow is a joyous, uplifting piece of theatre written by Jody O’Neill, writer of the award-winning ‘What I (Don’t) Know About Autism’. It follows the story of

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Class Creations! Open Arts

Class Creations! with Open Arts Open Arts runs 3 visual art groups. Join us to celebrate their exhibition, Class Creations! The exhibition will feature work in wood, clay and textiles.

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I Didn’t See You There Film

I Didn’t See You There I Didn’t See You There is shot entirely from director Reid Davenport‘s physical perspective—mounted to his wheelchair or handheld—and serves as an unequivocal rebuke to

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Astray in a New World

Astray in a New World: Representations of Madness in Indian and Irish Literature Professors Tess Maginess and Pramod K. Nayar will offer a glimpse into how madness is represented in

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Immersive Gamelan Workshop: Open Arts

Immersive Gamelan Workshop with Open Arts Start the Bounce Arts Festival weekend by immersing yourself in the enchanting sounds of our beautiful traditional Indonesian instruments. During the session you will

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Time: An Installation Peter Fleming

Time: An Installation by Peter Fleming Peter Fleming is a composer and producer, and is the 2024 recipient of the Digital Innovation Award funded by the Santander Foundation at University

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Performance Art Masterclass Sinéad O’Donnell

Performance Art Masterclass by Sinéad O’Donnell This specially commissioned performance art masterclass is led by the acclaimed performance artist Sinéad O’Donnell. The masterclass will include a 1-hour performance lecture, followed

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Artist in Residence Brian Connolly

Artist in Residence: Brian Connolly Brian Connolly is a multimedia artist who uses a wide range of artistic processes, including performance art, public sculpture, and installation art. Install-action is a

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Catharsis – Scott Ramsey

About this exhibition: Catharsis ‘The process of releasing, and thereby providing relief from strong or repressed emotions’ University of Atypical are pleased to host an exhibition of work by artist

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The Drawing Rooms

Exhibition run: Thursday 21 March – Thursday 9 May 2024 Artist Talk – Friday 26 March 2024 1– 2pm Access: BSL Interpreter booked for artist talk on Friday 26 March.

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Disabled Artists International Residency Project

New project creates international opportunities for disabled artists Two leading artists from Northern Ireland and Germany are participating in an exciting new exchange project aimed at creating accessible international opportunities

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I AM? Exhibition

I Am? – Exhibition Taking the theme of ‘I Am’ as a starting point or catalyst, the exhibition showcases a range of artworks representing each of the artists’ interpretation of

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New disability arts CEO

New disability arts CEO driven to help others fulfil potential. The new head of Northern Ireland’s leading disability arts organisation will use her personal experiences to help hundreds of artists

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Northern Ireland Now: Contemporary Collecting

Northern Ireland Now: Contemporary Collecting A contemporary collecting project in partnership with Northern Ireland Screen which addresses underrepresentation in the Digital Film Archive and champions equality, diversity and inclusion. Northern

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Nocturnes by Joel Simon

Joel Simon, an artist with a rich background in film-making, unveils “NOCTURNES” as a series of narrative oil paintings. Drawing inspiration from the vibrant nightlife of Belfast, Simon’s exhibition captures

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Bounce Press release 2023

Bounce Arts Festival returns with extraordinary celebration of diversity Northern Ireland’s leading celebration of artistic diversity and inclusion – the Bounce Arts Festival – returns from October 6 to 8

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Press Release – Fermanagh and Omagh

PRESS RELEASE Bounce Arts Festival comes to Fermanagh and Omagh with celebration of diversity Fermanagh and Omagh will host a number of events during the Bounce Arts Festival, Northern Ireland’s

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Press Release – Derry and Strabane

PRESS RELEASE Bounce Arts Festival returns to Derry and Strabane with celebration of diversity Derry and Strabane will host a number of events during the Bounce Arts Festival, Northern Ireland’s

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Press Release – Cookstown

PRESS RELEASE Bounce Arts Festival comes to Cookstown Cookstown will host an event in Bounce Arts Festival, Northern Ireland’s leading celebration of artistic diversity and inclusion which returns from October

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Bounce 2023 press release

PRESS RELEASE Bounce Arts Festival returns with extraordinary celebration of diversity Northern Ireland’s leading celebration of artistic diversity and inclusion – the Bounce Arts Festival – returns from October 6

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Call-Out Physical Theatre Masterclass

Call-Out for the Bounce Festival Physical Theatre Masterclass Venue: Duncairn Arts and Cultural Centre, Antrim Road, Belfast Date: Sunday 8 th October, 11am-4pm. Tutors: David Calvert, Jade Quinn and Paula

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Dreaming of a village – Una Walker

Dreaming of a village: An Exhibition by Una Walker University of Atypical, Atypical Gallery Exhibition opening Thursday 5th October 2023 at 6.00pm Artist Gallery Talk – Friday 6th October 2023

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Connecting Artists Programme

University of Atypical is delighted to exhibit work created as part of the Connecting Artists Programme 2023. Connecting Artists is a creative programme of the Connections Arts Centre which is

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Epitaph – Amy Hannah

The University of Atypical for Arts and Disability is delighted to welcome you to Epitaph an exhibition of new work by artist Amy Hannah opening at 5.30pm on Thursday the

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Recruitment – Administration Assistant

Recruitment – Administration Assistant Application deadline: 4.00 pm on Thursday 25th of May 2023 Interviews will take place on Friday 16th of June 2022. Job Description Role title: Administration Assistant.

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Upside Down – Ciaran Magill

Upside Down Ciaran Magill 4 May to 9 June 2023 About the Exhibition The University of Atypical is delighted to invite you to join us for the launch of, Upside

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University of Atypical Graduate Award

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Jacqueline Wylie: In Conversation

Jacqueline Wylie: In Conversation 24th February 2023 6pm – 7pm  Join us for an informal gathering with artist Jacqueline Wylie for an exhibition tour and talk about her work and

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Commune – Group Exhibition

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Images of Incoming

The Images of Incoming exhibition is the result of a project which engaged with some 50 women from Northern Ireland and Canada. The Northern Ireland -Canadian project emerged from an

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Video Real Artist: Group exhibition

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My Place & Space – Group exhibition

The University of Atypical for Arts and Disability is delighted to work with our festival partners Fermanagh and Omagh District Council and Derry City & Strabane District Council, bringing new

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