Skip to main content
  • Accessibility
  • Headlines
  • Coronavirus-News
  • Get-Hooked
  • Technology
  • Education
  • Employment
  • Parasports
  • Ask Bhavna
  • NHBrandView
  • Independent Living
  • Lifestyle
  • NH Videos
×
Newz Hook – Changing Attitudes towards Disability Logo
  • Stories
  • Videos
  • Inclusive
  • NH Voice
  • Login
COVID-19 Notification by Government in Accessible Format

Accessibility Tools

Text Size:

Contrast Scheme:

  • C
  • C

Reset

  • Home
  • Get-hooked
  • Art & poetry as means of effective disability advocacy is theme of second Know Your Rights Webinar

Art & poetry as means of effective disability advocacy is theme of second Know Your Rights Webinar

WhatsApp flier of Know Your Rights Webinar
Get-hooked April 24, 2020
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)

The second webinar in the eight-week Know Your Rights Webinar series saw young students take the stage and exchange ideas on how art and poetry offer an effective platform for disability advocacy. The webinars are being organised by the Javed Abidi Foundation, Disability Rights India Foundation and Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative. NewzHook is a media partner of this series.

“Disabled and that too an artist?!”  Zuhaib Khan, a first year BA student of Mass Media set the tone as opening speaker for the second talk in the Know Your Rights Webinar Series held in Delhi. A blind artist who is into music, plays and stand-up comedy, Zuhaib spoke candidly about the many perception barriers disabled people encounter in the fields of art and poetry.

As a member of the Generation Next in India’s disability rights movement, Zuhaib was candid and forthright while sharing his views at the event which aims to build larger awareness about disability rights. The event has been organised by the Javed Abidi Foundation (JAF), Disability Rights India Foundation (DRIF) and Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI).

Voices of Gen Next in disability advocacy

“It’s hard for me to understand why this perception has not changed even after so many years and advocacy efforts of countless individuals”, said Zuhaib, a student at Jamia Millia Islamia in New Delhi. “Art to me is anything which is different, and an artist is anyone who understands diversity”, and questioned attitudinal barriers. “Sometimes access becomes an issue for me, but the fact of the matter is that nothing is impossible”.

While the first webinar focused on finding the right tools for disability advocacy, the second took a rather unusual turn. This is because Shameer Rishad, Convenor, JAF, feels art offers ways to express the unexpressed.

Art forms, be it poetry, fine arts or performing arts, explore the unsaid, the unexpressed. They urge one to take a deep dive within that can be healing and therapeutic for the individual and if you are able to find some answers and you are ready to share it with others, it can also become a very powerful tool of awareness and advocacy, as in the case of the speakers for this webinar. – Shameer Rishad, Convenor, Javed Abidi Foundation

For writer, poet and spoken word performer Abhishek Anicca, the personal is most certainly political and that bears reflection in his art. He spoke poignantly and powerfully about how being gradually disabled due to scoliosis shaped others’ perceptions.

“This disabling of my body was as much a social process as it was a physical one”, said Abhishek, a research scholar at Ambedkar University. “It took a long time for me to accept that I was disabled but I still couldn’t accept the transformation my social identity was going through. People would walk up to me and stare at my body. Or comment on it”.

Details of Webinar

Using the arts as an effective tool

A love for writing, public speaking and performance led him to discover the power of spoken word poetry. “I wanted to talk about disability not only for others but also because it was a way to enhance my own understanding of being disabled. My spoken word piece started shaping up, focusing on my personal experiences of being disabled in a city of Delhi”.

Abhishek is convinced of poetry’s ability to work as an advocacy tool. “There are aspects of our disabled life that we seldom talk about. Although these experiences are personal, other people have similar experiences. The conversations that your coming out with your disability stories brings out helps to build a community around common experiences”.

The second speaker Dr Anubha Mahajan, Chairman-Founder, Chronic Pain India, spoke about art as a medium of advocacy which is related to disability and how chronic illnesses and invisible disabilities are linked to the disability sector. Through one of her art pieces she depicted how a chronic illness can lead to a disability in the future due to lack of proper medical facilities, societal acceptance and other factors which have an immediate effect on the mental and physical health of the person.

“Until and unless people don’t face a similar condition they don’t want to understand or even acknowledge the actuality of invisible disability”, said Anubha. “Till the time the whole community, won’t accept the existence of invisible illnesses and understand its direct impact on the birth of a disability, there can be no change”.

She added that, “The topic of invisible disability and invisible illness is put forward in many conferences but there is no action taken which is correlated with the lack of data and statistics for chronic illnesses.”

If you would like to participate in the Know Your Rights Webinar Series, send an email to shameer@jaf.org.in. Or send a message or call +91 98110-38018 and +91 76249-55900

Watch in Sign Language

Also Read:

  • Know Your Rights Webinar Series aims to build larger awareness about disability rights & advocacy

Support us to make NewzHook Sustainable – Make a Contribution Today

We need your continued support to enable us work towards Changing Attitudes towards Disability. Help us in our attempt to share the voices of people with disabilities that enable them to participate in the society on an equal footing!

Contribute to Newz Hook

NH Videos

Healing pain through art - Dr. Anubha Mahajan, Founder Chronic Pain India

Contribue to Newz Hook |Disability news. Support us to make NewzHook Sustainable – Make a Contribution Today.

Newsletter

 Subscribe to our Newsletter

Want to feature disability stories or share disability news with the disabled community? Write to:

editor@newzhook.com

Newz Hook - Accessible News

Download App Now!

Videos

View More

Get-hooked

'Think beyond & work towards your goals' - My Take by Kartik Sawhney

Get-hooked

Understanding Stress of Moving House for Child with Autism

Get-hooked

Understanding Bipolar Disorder

Get-hooked

Understanding Dyspraxia

Newz Hook Logo

About Newz Hook

Newz Hook | Disability News - media site focusing on Disability Stories and Changing Attitudes towards Disability globally. We highlight disability news, offer inclusive solutions and create accessible collaborations. Our focus is to have Inclusion Champions from across the globe who will share disability stories and news.
Lets come together to change attitudes towards disability!

Newz Hook is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Follow us on:

Related Links

  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Partner with Newz Hook
  • Embed Newz Hook Timeline
  • Affiliate disclosure
  • Accessibility Statement
  • Contribute to Newz Hook

Our Awards

Zero Project Award Winner 2018
Back To Top
© 2019 All Right Reserved. Inclusive News India Private Limited.

Ask Bhavna

All fields are mandatory unless specified as optional.