November 4, 2025 • 27 mins
This week, Simon revisits his conversations with three staff members from DADAA, a West Australian arts organisation finding creative ways to reduce disadvantage in the arts for people with disability.
DADAA stands for Disability in the Arts, Disadvantage in the Arts, Australia.
DADAA aspires to be a voice of ambition, daring, and innovation, providing opportunities for creative expression and development for people with all abilities.
To challenge preconceptions and perceptions, think differently and freely, and create great art – art that changes people’s lives.
You can find out more about DADAA on their website: dadaa.org.au
Many thanks to Dennis Collins for his assistance in producing this week's episode.
Support Vision Australia Radio: https://www.visionaustralia.org/donate
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
S1 (00:14):
Hi and welcome to In Plain Sight, a program where
we highlight people who are making a positive difference and
an impact within the disability sector and their community. We
shine a light on those who would be otherwise hidden
in plain sight, and it's a pleasure to bring you
these stories on a weekly basis here on Vision Australia Radio.
My name is Simon Chong and it's good to be
(00:36):
with you here today. I'm here on my own, doing
something slightly different this week. I'm at Dada in Fremantle.
Dada and I'm going to be visiting them to find
out what they've got going on down there and to
find out all about their community arts projects and the
wonderful things they do within the community to assist people
with a disability who want to contribute to their art
(01:00):
and creative processes. Data and arts organisation that specialises in
providing accessible and inclusive arts programs for people with a disability.
These programs are available in metropolitan Perth and other regional
areas within Western Australia. I'm really looking forward to speaking
with several members of the staff here at Dada, and
(01:22):
it's a really great opportunity to find out what's going
on down there, and particularly their radio and podcast program,
and I hope you enjoy this program. Here it is now.
Thank you. I've got the executive director here with me now.
I'd like to welcome him. Hello. David Doyle. Hello. Well,
thanks for joining us. David, can you tell us a
(01:43):
little bit about what data is and what it does
within the community here in Perth?
S2 (01:47):
So Dada is an arts and disability organisation working statewide
across Western Australia and at the moment internationally in Japan.
So Dada is a combination of of three things really
for me. So primarily data is an art organisation providing
(02:10):
access to the arts for Western Australians with a lived
experience of disability. But Dada is also a health provider
for people who are acquiring disabilities through ageing. And we're
also an NDIS provider and it's really a combination of
those three things that provide our service and our focus.
S1 (02:34):
I'm curious about one aspect of that. What do you
mean by a healthcare provider?
S2 (02:38):
So we are through CDH, which is part of HAC,
been working in populations of people who are acquiring a
disability as they age. That service is primarily run from Lancelin,
which is about an hour and a half north of
(02:58):
Perth and also in Midland.
S1 (03:02):
We are recording here at Dada in the building in Fremantle,
which is part of the old boys school. And for
those in the know, it's right next door to the
Clancy's fishbowl bulb here in Fremantle, a well known pub
and music venue. How long have you been in this
building and can you tell us a little bit about.
S2 (03:19):
So we've been in this building for five years. It's
a very iconic building. Um, the oldest public building in
in Fremantle.
S1 (03:32):
One of the original schools.
S2 (03:33):
It was, um, the Western Australian Film and Television Institute
from 1972 to about 1994. Then it became vacant for
a number of years and really went into decline. And
for me, it was really critical that Dada located itself
(03:53):
right in the middle of the city, in an iconic
building that allowed room for the diversity of programs that
we offered. Luckily, it also came with a cinema. Yes,
it's a very large building that offered Offer us, I guess,
the opportunity to position for the future to expand our offer.
(04:18):
But really importantly, it's right next to main transport hubs,
which meant that all the artists with disability that we
work with could get here independently, be seen and be
part of the city.
S1 (04:32):
So, David, on a personal note, um, how long have
you been here at Sara?
S2 (04:37):
I've been at Dada since the beginning, so I was
one of that very early group of Western Australian arts
workers who came together in 1994 to start Western Australia's
first arts and disability program.
S1 (04:54):
What was the motivation for that?
S2 (04:55):
So that, um, I guess the call for a dedicated
arts organisation for artists with disabilities came out of a
group of residents at Shenton Park Rehab, which was the
state rehabilitation centre for people who acquire disabilities, and they
really wanted a significant arts organization for them.
S1 (05:17):
Can you tell me a little bit about some of
the different programs that might be available here at Dada?
S2 (05:23):
So we work right across all art forms, from dance
through to music through to podcasting, radio writing, visual arts, theater.
S1 (05:33):
Does Dada have affiliation or have other similar organizations throughout Australia?
Because this program on Vision Australia Radio goes out nationally.
S2 (05:43):
There are five state and territory based arts and disability
organizations across the country, from Arts Access Victoria to Arts
and Action in South Australia. So we have been, um,
working together. We're independent of each other.
S1 (05:59):
Okay.
S2 (06:00):
We have just collaborated, uh, putting in a submission to
Creative Australia for a new national service organization that is
soon to be released. Uh, that'll be based out of
South Australia. Out of arts in action in the middle
of Adelaide.
S1 (06:17):
That's good. So, everyone listening in Adelaide? Check. Check out
that when it comes to your town. Now, for people
who are either artists themselves or someone who has a disability,
how does someone come involved with Dada in some of
the programs that they run here?
S2 (06:32):
So people might come to Dada through the NDIS and
through our NDIS programs, and formally sign up to Dada
for one on one mentoring, working with professional artists or
through workshops. Or they might come to us regionally across
Western Australia, through a community arts project in a town
(06:55):
like Mullewa, or a city like Geraldton, where we run
community arts projects.
S1 (07:02):
You have a gallery attached to the Fremantle location here,
and can you tell us about the gallery and when
it's open and how people find out about what's going
on there.
S2 (07:11):
So the gallery is open Tuesday through to Saturday, 10 a.m.
to 4 p.m. it's got a rolling program of high
quality contemporary art produced by artists with disabilities. So the
current show is part of Perth Festival, uh, by a
(07:32):
martu artist from the Pilbara called Anna Sampson. And the
gallery was really critical part of our planning for this building,
because we wanted a reason for the public to come
into this building and to engage with the art of
artists with disabilities.
S1 (07:49):
Yeah, that's really great because it makes it part of
the community. It's not separate. It's not like we're over
here and you're over there type of situation, which has
been in the past.
S2 (08:00):
You know, one of the main requirements in getting this
building is that we activated this building. So we really
looked at dividing this building into two. So there is
a very public part of this building, which is the gallery,
the cafe and the cinema. And then there is a
more private part of the building, which is all our
studios and statewide administration for Western Australia.
S1 (08:24):
In regards to the cinema. I know that you also
host film festivals, and I attended a fringe show here recently.
Can you tell us a little bit about the other
ways that the public can access the building and the
facilities that data has here?
S2 (08:40):
So fringe is a great example. We get a very
large audience of about a thousand over a couple of
weeks through fringe. So that's independent shows coming to the
boys school under fringe every night, right across fringe that's
programmed every two years. We run an international film program
(09:02):
called Another Film Festival, which shows, um, usually around 60
films by filmmakers with disabilities from across the world. So
we curate that, put that together. There's also workshops that
run out of this cinema every day, so it's constantly
in action. Sometimes for the public and sometimes for artists
(09:26):
with disabilities.
S1 (09:28):
Can you just expand on the and other film festival?
Is that linked to other alternative film festivals?
S2 (09:35):
It is. It really grew out of our success. Victoria's
another film festival, which is about 25 years old. We're
a very close working relationship with Arts Access. Victoria loved
that program, wanted to offer a unique Western Australian version
of that film festival.
S1 (09:57):
So all the films, where possible, are audio described and
captioned to make it fully accessible for people with different disabilities.
S2 (10:03):
Exactly. We have a fantastic access Service and team here
at Dada. Yep. Which is really around providing access to
the arts, both here within Dada and more broadly across
the mainstream arts sector for the deaf, blind and the
neurodiverse community program is really around cultural democracy and full
(10:26):
meaningful access to film, theatre and big public programs like
Sky show, which is audio described every year.
S1 (10:35):
Yeah, I find that fascinating. Audio describing fireworks. The people
I know who go, they love it. It's quite interesting
how they do that. Describing fireworks, the colours and the
and the movement of a firework going off. We have
to finish up this little segment. David, it's been really
a pleasure to talk with you. Can you tell us
what some of the major things coming up in data.
S2 (10:57):
So one that, you know, that is probably really lovely
to talk about in this context is we're on radio
radio data, which is a new digital radio station for
artists with disabilities.
S1 (11:10):
Tell us about that. How will that work? Where and
when can we tune into that?
S2 (11:13):
I'm not sure of the timing. When we'll we'll go live.
The project's really in a major state of development as
it heads to going live at the moment. But really
we have 30 people at the moment working with a
new team on Radio Dada to become producers of digital
(11:37):
radio programmes.
S1 (11:39):
So that will be internet based radio. Yeah. And what
kind of content do you envisage being broadcast on that
radio station?
S2 (11:47):
I think it will be pretty broad. I think it
will be very much around things that are pertinent to
Western Australians with disabilities right now. I guess my, my
great hope for it is that it will expand conversations
around a lived experience of Disability. It will expand conversations
(12:08):
around disability culture, particularly now in 2025. And rather than
people with disabilities being spoken about, it's an amazing opportunity
for people with disabilities to speak for themselves.
S1 (12:24):
Well, thank you for joining us, David Doyle, the executive
director of Dada. And thank you for all that you
do here. And thanks again for being part of this
show today.
S2 (12:33):
My pleasure.
S1 (12:34):
You're listening to In Plain Sight on Vision Australia Radio.
My name is Simon Chong, and this week we have
a special episode where I'm talking to people at Dada. Dada,
a disability arts centre based in Fremantle and West Australia,
where they provide arts and community based services for people
with a disability in Western Australia. And back to the program.
(12:57):
And my next guest here is Julie Barrett, and she
is the.
S3 (13:01):
Director of Arts strategy.
S1 (13:03):
Director of Arts Strategy. And tell us, what does that
mean for data?
S3 (13:07):
Yeah, it's I guess it's kind of quite a big title,
but it encompasses a number of different facets of the role,
I guess. So, um, one part of what I do
is look at managing arts programs that data run outside
of the NDIS workshops. So data is an NDIS provider
(13:30):
as you know. So we work with, I think probably
around 300 clients across our three sites, which are Fremantle,
Midland and Lancelin. But outside of that program, we also
run a broader arts program which encompasses some of our projects,
such as a podcast project that we're doing at the moment,
(13:51):
short film, um, we're developing a radio station, Radio Data.
So there's a number of projects that I'm overseeing at
the moment. And incorporated within that, I guess, is things
like grant writing and reporting and working with our many
partners across WA and supporting new partnerships to grow. And
(14:16):
also the other part of the job, I guess, is,
you know, planning the workforce and working with our arts
worker team, particularly in Midland and Lancelin. So it's kind
of a number of hats.
S1 (14:29):
Excellent. And Julie, how long have you been here at Dada?
S3 (14:33):
I've been at Dada now, just coming up for three years.
So I came from regional Queensland about three and a
half years ago. I drove across the country from central
Queensland about 6500km with my dog. Um, and arrived in
(14:53):
Perth and yeah, was lucky enough to start working with
data within a few months of arriving in Perth.
S1 (15:02):
You come from a visual arts background, is that right?
S3 (15:05):
So I do come from a visual arts background. So
initially I trained in my arts degree, I trained as
a printmaker, and then in my honours degree, I also
did curatorial studies. But prior to coming to WA, I'd
worked for quite a number of years in community arts development,
working across regional and remote locations in both Queensland and
(15:29):
New South Wales. So I guess this job continues that
because we also do a number of our projects that
are working across the Wheatbelt and sort of as far
north as Geraldton, we've been working quite a lot in
Carnamah for the last 18 months or so. Still still
on the road a bit.
S1 (15:50):
I'd like to expand upon the concept of community arts projects.
I see data as being a more formalized version of that.
What's your attraction to community arts development and community arts projects.
S3 (16:04):
I think community arts and community development work has always
been something that have been quite passionate about. I think
growing up in a regional location myself, I grew up
on quite a large property in western Queensland, um, where
obviously my mum was really, really interested in art, but
(16:24):
there weren't a lot of opportunities, I guess, to get
involved in arts and culture when you do live regionally
or remotely. So my interest, I guess, stemmed from quite
a young, young age. It's a great opportunity to to
actually work with communities to develop projects from the ground up.
(16:45):
So work rather than going into communities and saying, you know,
we're coming in to do X, y, Z. It's actually
working on the ground with communities to, uh, work together
to form projects that the communities really want and are
really invested in. I think that's the beauty of it. And,
(17:06):
you know, offering marginalized communities the opportunity to be involved in,
in art, as, you know, mental health, well-being from that
perspective as well.
S1 (17:18):
Now, talking about marginalized communities, the people with disability have
been marginalized community. And we're branching out from that now.
And I see art and art development has a big
role in that. And I appreciate what Dada does here.
How would you encourage someone who has a disability who
(17:38):
would like to show some creative expression? How would you
help encourage them to get involved with something like Dada?
And do you have to have an NDIS funding to
be part of data?
S3 (17:48):
So I guess again, there's a couple of different facets
to that. So to be involved, uh, within our NDIS
funded program as an NDIS provider, yes, I guess participants
that come to that program need to have funding. So
people with disability working across all media are. Are encouraged
to come and explore artistic expression. I guess in the
(18:13):
broader sense in terms of the projects that we run
and again, speaking to the podcast project or the upcoming
radio data project, our remit with data is always to
as much as we possibly can run the projects as
disability led, which means that we look at employing those
(18:37):
people with disability that do want to get involved in
in projects and encouraging participation and learning through those broader
arts programmes. Uh, I guess just a bit of a
personal story, which fueled my passion in this area as well, is, um,
my mum's blind and, you know, her having a love
(19:01):
of art and supporting her to be involved in still
being able to visit a gallery or be involved in
arts and culture has, I guess, sort of fueled my
passion to have that inclusive attitude so that, you know,
in a perfect world, everyone would have access to arts
(19:23):
and culture.
S1 (19:24):
Can you tell us about some of the great arts
that have been part of data over the time you've
been here?
S3 (19:29):
Absolutely. So there's there's quite a lot. And again, I
think obviously when when we are doing this work, our,
our own backgrounds and my own arts practice has fed
in a little bit into some of the projects that
I've been doing. So one of the really interesting projects
that I've loved over the last couple of years has
(19:50):
been working, um, with our Lancelin site on a zine project,
which is called the LDR collective. And the LDR stands
for long distance relationship. So the idea with that project
has been our participant making zines, which are like, I guess,
mini magazines and then sending those to to other studios
(20:15):
across Australia to get people to then add to those
and send them back. We just recently travelled down to
Melbourne with four of our artists and staff from Melbourne
to attend the Sticky Institute Zine Fair, which is the
largest zine fair in Australia. It was wonderful to, um,
actually have our Dada zines in in Melbourne as well,
(20:40):
and for our artists to actually travel outside of WA
for the first time, to actually go down and be
part of a large art fair. Another one that has
been our, uh, Incan thread project over the last couple
of years, and that's one that has been taking place
out in the Wheatbelt and particularly with in calamari. So
(21:01):
we've had a number of artist residencies where we brought
artists into that community, invited the broader community to come
in and do a program of workshops. And that's been
all based around printmaking. I guess one area that I
haven't really spoken about, the other area that I work in,
(21:21):
in Dada is our with our Access All Areas program, which, um,
Jacqueline Homer, our fantastic staff member, runs. So that that
Access All Areas program actually looks at we work with
a lot of the festivals. So Fringe Festival or Perth
Festival and a lot of the theaters as well. And
(21:43):
we look at doing, um, tactile tours for our audience
members that are blind. And we also look at things
like assistive listening, um, audio description, Auslan for our events and,
you know, things like captioning for our Throughout the film
festivals that we do at Dada, we do a film
(22:03):
festival every two years called Another Film Festival, and the
last one we showed, I think it was 32 films
from about eight countries across the world. And these are
all films that have been produced and or acted by
sort of emerging filmmakers with disability or neurodiverse filmmakers, so
(22:27):
that Access All Areas program is another huge part of
what Dada do.
S1 (22:32):
Julie, I really appreciate those examples of what's happening here
at Dada and some of the great work that they do,
not only within the studios, but out in the community.
I'm really interested to hear about the stuff that's happening
in the country area, especially out in the wheat belt
and so forth. And I really was fascinated to hear
about your own personal background, and I find that fascinating.
And really thank you for sharing those insights. We're going
(22:55):
to have to finish up this segment right now, Julie,
because we've run out of time. And I'd really like
to thank you. Is there anything else you'd like to
tell people about Dada and what's going on here?
S3 (23:05):
Uh, yeah. Like, just come on down to Dada and
we'll give you a little tour. You know, we there's
so many facets, I guess, to what we do. And
even here on site, we've got our workshop programs happening.
We've got our Fremantle Gallery. Uh, we've got a beautiful
show on at the moment for Perth Festival. We've got
our theatre Jackie with the Access All Areas program has
(23:27):
just finished a program for Fringe Festival. So there's always
there's always, um, things to see and people that can
show you around. And I just wanted to thank you
so much for having me on your podcast today. It's
been great. I guess think about what happens here.
S1 (23:44):
Thank you very much, Julie Barrett, for your time today.
See you again some time. Now, we'd like to welcome
our next guest here from Dada in Fremantle and that's
Dennis Collins. Hi, Dennis. How are you going?
S4 (23:58):
Hi. Thanks, Simon. Yeah, I'm doing really well now.
S1 (24:01):
Dennis, what role do you play here at Dada?
S4 (24:03):
Well, it's often varied, but a lot. A lot of
the time my role is generally as an arts mentor.
S1 (24:09):
Arts mentor. Now, I know that because you have been
mentoring me personally for a few years now, and you've
helped me create some really fun and interesting projects, both
audio and visual work, and I've really loved and appreciated that.
And that's why I wanted to have you involved with
this conversation, and also as part of this insight into
what's happening at Dada.
S4 (24:30):
Yeah, sure. Thanks, Simon. Also, yeah, it's been really good
to work with you because you've been a lot of
varied programs or ideas, which I can sort of help
you with, which is always fun to be able to
push my skills. So a bit of my background, I
sort of come from a audio visual background, I guess. So, um,
my first one of my first loves is basically audio
(24:50):
and sound design.
S1 (24:51):
So, Dennis, you've been an arts worker here at Dada
for a few years now. How does an arts worker
within data operate. How does it work? What are the
what are the main interactions someone might have with their
clients or their students?
S4 (25:05):
It normally starts off with the person that we're working with,
will possibly have some ideas on what they want to
work with. So generally with mentoring, it's usually one on one,
and that person will have an idea of a particular
project or a particular type of art form that they're
really interested in, um, pursuing or getting more upskilled in,
I guess. So what people want to do can vary
(25:26):
as well.
S1 (25:27):
So when you say you're a mentor, does that look
like a trainer? Are you helping to train people within
their chosen art field, or you're just helping to provide
the access to their chosen art field?
S4 (25:38):
Sometimes a little bit of both. Um, some people, they
want to have more skills in something. Other people they
just want they actually have the skills, but they need
a bit of encouragement and a bit of, um, pointing
in the right direction, I guess. Sometimes it's with knowing
which tools to use, which people they should start talking to, to,
to get opportunities for their artwork.
S1 (25:58):
Well, thanks very much, Dennis, and thanks for being part
of this program. Thanks for all the assistance you've given
me actually, with producing this program.
S4 (26:05):
Thanks, Simon.
S1 (26:06):
Thanks, Dennis. I really enjoyable group of conversations there with
the staff and the folks at Dada, and I really
like to thank them for their time and really appreciate
them giving us all that great information about what's happening.
And I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. Okay,
that's it for us this week, folks. I hope to
catch you next time here on In Plain Sight on
(26:27):
Vision Australia Radio. And remember, Vision Australia Radio is available
on all your local radio stations wherever you might be.
Please look up your local guides. It's on BBC radio,
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up in plain sight.
S5 (26:49):
Look forward to speaking.
S1 (26:50):
To you again sometime very soon. Thanks very much. Bye
for now.
Hi and welcome to In Plain Sight, a program where
we highlight people who are making a positive difference and
an impact within the disability sector and their community. We
shine a light on those who would be otherwise hidden
in plain sight, and it's a pleasure to bring you
these stories on a weekly basis here on Vision Australia Radio.
My name is Simon Chong and it's good to be
(00:36):
with you here today. I'm here on my own, doing
something slightly different this week. I'm at Dada in Fremantle.
Dada and I'm going to be visiting them to find
out what they've got going on down there and to
find out all about their community arts projects and the
wonderful things they do within the community to assist people
with a disability who want to contribute to their art
(01:00):
and creative processes. Data and arts organisation that specialises in
providing accessible and inclusive arts programs for people with a disability.
These programs are available in metropolitan Perth and other regional
areas within Western Australia. I'm really looking forward to speaking
with several members of the staff here at Dada, and
(01:22):
it's a really great opportunity to find out what's going
on down there, and particularly their radio and podcast program,
and I hope you enjoy this program. Here it is now.
Thank you. I've got the executive director here with me now.
I'd like to welcome him. Hello. David Doyle. Hello. Well,
thanks for joining us. David, can you tell us a
(01:43):
little bit about what data is and what it does
within the community here in Perth?
S2 (01:47):
So Dada is an arts and disability organisation working statewide
across Western Australia and at the moment internationally in Japan.
So Dada is a combination of of three things really
for me. So primarily data is an art organisation providing
(02:10):
access to the arts for Western Australians with a lived
experience of disability. But Dada is also a health provider
for people who are acquiring disabilities through ageing. And we're
also an NDIS provider and it's really a combination of
those three things that provide our service and our focus.
S1 (02:34):
I'm curious about one aspect of that. What do you
mean by a healthcare provider?
S2 (02:38):
So we are through CDH, which is part of HAC,
been working in populations of people who are acquiring a
disability as they age. That service is primarily run from Lancelin,
which is about an hour and a half north of
(02:58):
Perth and also in Midland.
S1 (03:02):
We are recording here at Dada in the building in Fremantle,
which is part of the old boys school. And for
those in the know, it's right next door to the
Clancy's fishbowl bulb here in Fremantle, a well known pub
and music venue. How long have you been in this
building and can you tell us a little bit about.
S2 (03:19):
So we've been in this building for five years. It's
a very iconic building. Um, the oldest public building in
in Fremantle.
S1 (03:32):
One of the original schools.
S2 (03:33):
It was, um, the Western Australian Film and Television Institute
from 1972 to about 1994. Then it became vacant for
a number of years and really went into decline. And
for me, it was really critical that Dada located itself
(03:53):
right in the middle of the city, in an iconic
building that allowed room for the diversity of programs that
we offered. Luckily, it also came with a cinema. Yes,
it's a very large building that offered Offer us, I guess,
the opportunity to position for the future to expand our offer.
(04:18):
But really importantly, it's right next to main transport hubs,
which meant that all the artists with disability that we
work with could get here independently, be seen and be
part of the city.
S1 (04:32):
So, David, on a personal note, um, how long have
you been here at Sara?
S2 (04:37):
I've been at Dada since the beginning, so I was
one of that very early group of Western Australian arts
workers who came together in 1994 to start Western Australia's
first arts and disability program.
S1 (04:54):
What was the motivation for that?
S2 (04:55):
So that, um, I guess the call for a dedicated
arts organisation for artists with disabilities came out of a
group of residents at Shenton Park Rehab, which was the
state rehabilitation centre for people who acquire disabilities, and they
really wanted a significant arts organization for them.
S1 (05:17):
Can you tell me a little bit about some of
the different programs that might be available here at Dada?
S2 (05:23):
So we work right across all art forms, from dance
through to music through to podcasting, radio writing, visual arts, theater.
S1 (05:33):
Does Dada have affiliation or have other similar organizations throughout Australia?
Because this program on Vision Australia Radio goes out nationally.
S2 (05:43):
There are five state and territory based arts and disability
organizations across the country, from Arts Access Victoria to Arts
and Action in South Australia. So we have been, um,
working together. We're independent of each other.
S1 (05:59):
Okay.
S2 (06:00):
We have just collaborated, uh, putting in a submission to
Creative Australia for a new national service organization that is
soon to be released. Uh, that'll be based out of
South Australia. Out of arts in action in the middle
of Adelaide.
S1 (06:17):
That's good. So, everyone listening in Adelaide? Check. Check out
that when it comes to your town. Now, for people
who are either artists themselves or someone who has a disability,
how does someone come involved with Dada in some of
the programs that they run here?
S2 (06:32):
So people might come to Dada through the NDIS and
through our NDIS programs, and formally sign up to Dada
for one on one mentoring, working with professional artists or
through workshops. Or they might come to us regionally across
Western Australia, through a community arts project in a town
(06:55):
like Mullewa, or a city like Geraldton, where we run
community arts projects.
S1 (07:02):
You have a gallery attached to the Fremantle location here,
and can you tell us about the gallery and when
it's open and how people find out about what's going
on there.
S2 (07:11):
So the gallery is open Tuesday through to Saturday, 10 a.m.
to 4 p.m. it's got a rolling program of high
quality contemporary art produced by artists with disabilities. So the
current show is part of Perth Festival, uh, by a
(07:32):
martu artist from the Pilbara called Anna Sampson. And the
gallery was really critical part of our planning for this building,
because we wanted a reason for the public to come
into this building and to engage with the art of
artists with disabilities.
S1 (07:49):
Yeah, that's really great because it makes it part of
the community. It's not separate. It's not like we're over
here and you're over there type of situation, which has
been in the past.
S2 (08:00):
You know, one of the main requirements in getting this
building is that we activated this building. So we really
looked at dividing this building into two. So there is
a very public part of this building, which is the gallery,
the cafe and the cinema. And then there is a
more private part of the building, which is all our
studios and statewide administration for Western Australia.
S1 (08:24):
In regards to the cinema. I know that you also
host film festivals, and I attended a fringe show here recently.
Can you tell us a little bit about the other
ways that the public can access the building and the
facilities that data has here?
S2 (08:40):
So fringe is a great example. We get a very
large audience of about a thousand over a couple of
weeks through fringe. So that's independent shows coming to the
boys school under fringe every night, right across fringe that's
programmed every two years. We run an international film program
(09:02):
called Another Film Festival, which shows, um, usually around 60
films by filmmakers with disabilities from across the world. So
we curate that, put that together. There's also workshops that
run out of this cinema every day, so it's constantly
in action. Sometimes for the public and sometimes for artists
(09:26):
with disabilities.
S1 (09:28):
Can you just expand on the and other film festival?
Is that linked to other alternative film festivals?
S2 (09:35):
It is. It really grew out of our success. Victoria's
another film festival, which is about 25 years old. We're
a very close working relationship with Arts Access. Victoria loved
that program, wanted to offer a unique Western Australian version
of that film festival.
S1 (09:57):
So all the films, where possible, are audio described and
captioned to make it fully accessible for people with different disabilities.
S2 (10:03):
Exactly. We have a fantastic access Service and team here
at Dada. Yep. Which is really around providing access to
the arts, both here within Dada and more broadly across
the mainstream arts sector for the deaf, blind and the
neurodiverse community program is really around cultural democracy and full
(10:26):
meaningful access to film, theatre and big public programs like
Sky show, which is audio described every year.
S1 (10:35):
Yeah, I find that fascinating. Audio describing fireworks. The people
I know who go, they love it. It's quite interesting
how they do that. Describing fireworks, the colours and the
and the movement of a firework going off. We have
to finish up this little segment. David, it's been really
a pleasure to talk with you. Can you tell us
what some of the major things coming up in data.
S2 (10:57):
So one that, you know, that is probably really lovely
to talk about in this context is we're on radio
radio data, which is a new digital radio station for
artists with disabilities.
S1 (11:10):
Tell us about that. How will that work? Where and
when can we tune into that?
S2 (11:13):
I'm not sure of the timing. When we'll we'll go live.
The project's really in a major state of development as
it heads to going live at the moment. But really
we have 30 people at the moment working with a
new team on Radio Dada to become producers of digital
(11:37):
radio programmes.
S1 (11:39):
So that will be internet based radio. Yeah. And what
kind of content do you envisage being broadcast on that
radio station?
S2 (11:47):
I think it will be pretty broad. I think it
will be very much around things that are pertinent to
Western Australians with disabilities right now. I guess my, my
great hope for it is that it will expand conversations
around a lived experience of Disability. It will expand conversations
(12:08):
around disability culture, particularly now in 2025. And rather than
people with disabilities being spoken about, it's an amazing opportunity
for people with disabilities to speak for themselves.
S1 (12:24):
Well, thank you for joining us, David Doyle, the executive
director of Dada. And thank you for all that you
do here. And thanks again for being part of this
show today.
S2 (12:33):
My pleasure.
S1 (12:34):
You're listening to In Plain Sight on Vision Australia Radio.
My name is Simon Chong, and this week we have
a special episode where I'm talking to people at Dada. Dada,
a disability arts centre based in Fremantle and West Australia,
where they provide arts and community based services for people
with a disability in Western Australia. And back to the program.
(12:57):
And my next guest here is Julie Barrett, and she
is the.
S3 (13:01):
Director of Arts strategy.
S1 (13:03):
Director of Arts Strategy. And tell us, what does that
mean for data?
S3 (13:07):
Yeah, it's I guess it's kind of quite a big title,
but it encompasses a number of different facets of the role,
I guess. So, um, one part of what I do
is look at managing arts programs that data run outside
of the NDIS workshops. So data is an NDIS provider
(13:30):
as you know. So we work with, I think probably
around 300 clients across our three sites, which are Fremantle,
Midland and Lancelin. But outside of that program, we also
run a broader arts program which encompasses some of our projects,
such as a podcast project that we're doing at the moment,
(13:51):
short film, um, we're developing a radio station, Radio Data.
So there's a number of projects that I'm overseeing at
the moment. And incorporated within that, I guess, is things
like grant writing and reporting and working with our many
partners across WA and supporting new partnerships to grow. And
(14:16):
also the other part of the job, I guess, is,
you know, planning the workforce and working with our arts
worker team, particularly in Midland and Lancelin. So it's kind
of a number of hats.
S1 (14:29):
Excellent. And Julie, how long have you been here at Dada?
S3 (14:33):
I've been at Dada now, just coming up for three years.
So I came from regional Queensland about three and a
half years ago. I drove across the country from central
Queensland about 6500km with my dog. Um, and arrived in
(14:53):
Perth and yeah, was lucky enough to start working with
data within a few months of arriving in Perth.
S1 (15:02):
You come from a visual arts background, is that right?
S3 (15:05):
So I do come from a visual arts background. So
initially I trained in my arts degree, I trained as
a printmaker, and then in my honours degree, I also
did curatorial studies. But prior to coming to WA, I'd
worked for quite a number of years in community arts development,
working across regional and remote locations in both Queensland and
(15:29):
New South Wales. So I guess this job continues that
because we also do a number of our projects that
are working across the Wheatbelt and sort of as far
north as Geraldton, we've been working quite a lot in
Carnamah for the last 18 months or so. Still still
on the road a bit.
S1 (15:50):
I'd like to expand upon the concept of community arts projects.
I see data as being a more formalized version of that.
What's your attraction to community arts development and community arts projects.
S3 (16:04):
I think community arts and community development work has always
been something that have been quite passionate about. I think
growing up in a regional location myself, I grew up
on quite a large property in western Queensland, um, where
obviously my mum was really, really interested in art, but
(16:24):
there weren't a lot of opportunities, I guess, to get
involved in arts and culture when you do live regionally
or remotely. So my interest, I guess, stemmed from quite
a young, young age. It's a great opportunity to to
actually work with communities to develop projects from the ground up.
(16:45):
So work rather than going into communities and saying, you know,
we're coming in to do X, y, Z. It's actually
working on the ground with communities to, uh, work together
to form projects that the communities really want and are
really invested in. I think that's the beauty of it. And,
(17:06):
you know, offering marginalized communities the opportunity to be involved in,
in art, as, you know, mental health, well-being from that
perspective as well.
S1 (17:18):
Now, talking about marginalized communities, the people with disability have
been marginalized community. And we're branching out from that now.
And I see art and art development has a big
role in that. And I appreciate what Dada does here.
How would you encourage someone who has a disability who
(17:38):
would like to show some creative expression? How would you
help encourage them to get involved with something like Dada?
And do you have to have an NDIS funding to
be part of data?
S3 (17:48):
So I guess again, there's a couple of different facets
to that. So to be involved, uh, within our NDIS
funded program as an NDIS provider, yes, I guess participants
that come to that program need to have funding. So
people with disability working across all media are. Are encouraged
to come and explore artistic expression. I guess in the
(18:13):
broader sense in terms of the projects that we run
and again, speaking to the podcast project or the upcoming
radio data project, our remit with data is always to
as much as we possibly can run the projects as
disability led, which means that we look at employing those
(18:37):
people with disability that do want to get involved in
in projects and encouraging participation and learning through those broader
arts programmes. Uh, I guess just a bit of a
personal story, which fueled my passion in this area as well, is, um,
my mum's blind and, you know, her having a love
(19:01):
of art and supporting her to be involved in still
being able to visit a gallery or be involved in
arts and culture has, I guess, sort of fueled my
passion to have that inclusive attitude so that, you know,
in a perfect world, everyone would have access to arts
(19:23):
and culture.
S1 (19:24):
Can you tell us about some of the great arts
that have been part of data over the time you've
been here?
S3 (19:29):
Absolutely. So there's there's quite a lot. And again, I
think obviously when when we are doing this work, our,
our own backgrounds and my own arts practice has fed
in a little bit into some of the projects that
I've been doing. So one of the really interesting projects
that I've loved over the last couple of years has
(19:50):
been working, um, with our Lancelin site on a zine project,
which is called the LDR collective. And the LDR stands
for long distance relationship. So the idea with that project
has been our participant making zines, which are like, I guess,
mini magazines and then sending those to to other studios
(20:15):
across Australia to get people to then add to those
and send them back. We just recently travelled down to
Melbourne with four of our artists and staff from Melbourne
to attend the Sticky Institute Zine Fair, which is the
largest zine fair in Australia. It was wonderful to, um,
actually have our Dada zines in in Melbourne as well,
(20:40):
and for our artists to actually travel outside of WA
for the first time, to actually go down and be
part of a large art fair. Another one that has
been our, uh, Incan thread project over the last couple
of years, and that's one that has been taking place
out in the Wheatbelt and particularly with in calamari. So
(21:01):
we've had a number of artist residencies where we brought
artists into that community, invited the broader community to come
in and do a program of workshops. And that's been
all based around printmaking. I guess one area that I
haven't really spoken about, the other area that I work in,
(21:21):
in Dada is our with our Access All Areas program, which, um,
Jacqueline Homer, our fantastic staff member, runs. So that that
Access All Areas program actually looks at we work with
a lot of the festivals. So Fringe Festival or Perth
Festival and a lot of the theaters as well. And
(21:43):
we look at doing, um, tactile tours for our audience
members that are blind. And we also look at things
like assistive listening, um, audio description, Auslan for our events and,
you know, things like captioning for our Throughout the film
festivals that we do at Dada, we do a film
(22:03):
festival every two years called Another Film Festival, and the
last one we showed, I think it was 32 films
from about eight countries across the world. And these are
all films that have been produced and or acted by
sort of emerging filmmakers with disability or neurodiverse filmmakers, so
(22:27):
that Access All Areas program is another huge part of
what Dada do.
S1 (22:32):
Julie, I really appreciate those examples of what's happening here
at Dada and some of the great work that they do,
not only within the studios, but out in the community.
I'm really interested to hear about the stuff that's happening
in the country area, especially out in the wheat belt
and so forth. And I really was fascinated to hear
about your own personal background, and I find that fascinating.
And really thank you for sharing those insights. We're going
(22:55):
to have to finish up this segment right now, Julie,
because we've run out of time. And I'd really like
to thank you. Is there anything else you'd like to
tell people about Dada and what's going on here?
S3 (23:05):
Uh, yeah. Like, just come on down to Dada and
we'll give you a little tour. You know, we there's
so many facets, I guess, to what we do. And
even here on site, we've got our workshop programs happening.
We've got our Fremantle Gallery. Uh, we've got a beautiful
show on at the moment for Perth Festival. We've got
our theatre Jackie with the Access All Areas program has
(23:27):
just finished a program for Fringe Festival. So there's always
there's always, um, things to see and people that can
show you around. And I just wanted to thank you
so much for having me on your podcast today. It's
been great. I guess think about what happens here.
S1 (23:44):
Thank you very much, Julie Barrett, for your time today.
See you again some time. Now, we'd like to welcome
our next guest here from Dada in Fremantle and that's
Dennis Collins. Hi, Dennis. How are you going?
S4 (23:58):
Hi. Thanks, Simon. Yeah, I'm doing really well now.
S1 (24:01):
Dennis, what role do you play here at Dada?
S4 (24:03):
Well, it's often varied, but a lot. A lot of
the time my role is generally as an arts mentor.
S1 (24:09):
Arts mentor. Now, I know that because you have been
mentoring me personally for a few years now, and you've
helped me create some really fun and interesting projects, both
audio and visual work, and I've really loved and appreciated that.
And that's why I wanted to have you involved with
this conversation, and also as part of this insight into
what's happening at Dada.
S4 (24:30):
Yeah, sure. Thanks, Simon. Also, yeah, it's been really good
to work with you because you've been a lot of
varied programs or ideas, which I can sort of help
you with, which is always fun to be able to
push my skills. So a bit of my background, I
sort of come from a audio visual background, I guess. So, um,
my first one of my first loves is basically audio
(24:50):
and sound design.
S1 (24:51):
So, Dennis, you've been an arts worker here at Dada
for a few years now. How does an arts worker
within data operate. How does it work? What are the
what are the main interactions someone might have with their
clients or their students?
S4 (25:05):
It normally starts off with the person that we're working with,
will possibly have some ideas on what they want to
work with. So generally with mentoring, it's usually one on one,
and that person will have an idea of a particular
project or a particular type of art form that they're
really interested in, um, pursuing or getting more upskilled in,
I guess. So what people want to do can vary
(25:26):
as well.
S1 (25:27):
So when you say you're a mentor, does that look
like a trainer? Are you helping to train people within
their chosen art field, or you're just helping to provide
the access to their chosen art field?
S4 (25:38):
Sometimes a little bit of both. Um, some people, they
want to have more skills in something. Other people they
just want they actually have the skills, but they need
a bit of encouragement and a bit of, um, pointing
in the right direction, I guess. Sometimes it's with knowing
which tools to use, which people they should start talking to, to,
to get opportunities for their artwork.
S1 (25:58):
Well, thanks very much, Dennis, and thanks for being part
of this program. Thanks for all the assistance you've given
me actually, with producing this program.
S4 (26:05):
Thanks, Simon.
S1 (26:06):
Thanks, Dennis. I really enjoyable group of conversations there with
the staff and the folks at Dada, and I really
like to thank them for their time and really appreciate
them giving us all that great information about what's happening.
And I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. Okay,
that's it for us this week, folks. I hope to
catch you next time here on In Plain Sight on
(26:27):
Vision Australia Radio. And remember, Vision Australia Radio is available
on all your local radio stations wherever you might be.
Please look up your local guides. It's on BBC radio,
on the DAB, digital radio, via radio, Online and on
demand on all the major podcast streaming services. Just look
up in plain sight.
S5 (26:49):
Look forward to speaking.
S1 (26:50):
To you again sometime very soon. Thanks very much. Bye
for now.
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