Fringe Foreword

Why Art and Disability, we have been asked on numerous occasions. How is that relevant to this day and age? And wouldn’t the juxtaposition of both concepts engender the idea that works that are showcased at this Festival focus on the disabilities of the artists involved – that is, is the Festival in danger of becoming a ‘freak show’?

As we began planning for the 2007 Festival, we realised that the popular perception of ‘disability’ focused on physical incapacitation rather than other forms of intangible disabilities more pertinent to all of us. In short, we often found it easier and more palatable to see the disabilities of someone other than ourselves.

Yet is it not true that we are all disabled in one way or other? We may have shifting disabilities at different points in our lives. Furthermore, media and art are also channels through which we are constantly pummelled with information and purported threats and terrors. Has information overload become a disability in itself? How do we overcome it and still create and present powerful, stimulating work?

Overcoming disability requires us to wrestle with the definition of ‘disability’ itself. In doing so, we need to be careful not to emphasise the minority status of the ‘disabled’. To do so entrenches the illusion of their being smaller, poorer, lower, different, disenfranchised; it ensconces the Us versus Them segregation. It is what affirmative action aims to do – and why it fails in many respects.

Yet neither are we seeking homogeneity. To make change impactful, a fundamental transformation in definition has to be effected. We need to look anew at how we can widen our definitions and concepts, such that disability is no longer a ‘special’ category. Rather, definitions need to be altered to embrace what used to be the ‘outsider’.

2007 sees the third edition of the M1 Singapore Fringe Festival, and will feature a host of works from more than 20 artists and collectives from 11 countries. The Festival aims to be a site where different views contest and spar dynamically. 

As in any major Festival, the process leading up to the presentations is never a solitary endeavour. We would like to thank all our collaborators, sponsors, volunteers, participants and audiences for supporting the M1 Singapore Fringe Festival. And a special thank you to M1 for supporting the spirit of the Fringe.

See you at the Festival!
THE FESTIVAL TEAM