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Call for Ideas: Performative Drawing & Disability

Draw to Perform Festival 25-26 July 2026 (in development)

Draw to Perform is currently developing the Draw to Perform Festival for Drawing & Disability, planned for summer 2026 in collaboration with Chailey Heritage Foundation.

As part of our early research and development phase, we would love to hear from disabled artists who are working with, or interested in, performative drawing.

This is not an open call and no selections will be made at this stage. We are in the process of applying for Arts Council England funding and are gathering ideas, voices, and conversations that can help shape the festival.

What we’re interested in

We are keen to hear about:

– Drawing as performance, action, gesture, or live process

– Expanded, experimental, or interdisciplinary approaches to drawing

– Access-led, disability-led, or body-led drawing practices

– Ideas that could work as: Live drawing performances, Participatory or audience-facing work, Performative drawing workshops

Ideas can be fully formed or very early-stage. We are especially interested in practices that challenge conventional ideas of drawing and performance.

Who can respond

– Disabled artists at any career stage

– Artists with disability that working in drawing, performance, live art, movement, sound, or hybrid practices

What to send

If you’d like to share an idea, please send:

– A short description of your practice and/or proposed idea (up to 300 words)

– Any links to documentation, website, or social media (optional)

– Access needs you’d like us to be aware of (optional)

There is no fixed deadline at this stage. We are gathering ideas on a rolling basis while the festival is in development.

Why get in touch now?

Sharing your ideas helps us:

– Shape the artistic direction of the festival

– Advocate for disabled-led work within our funding application

– Build relationships with artists for future programming

If funding is secured, we will follow up with artists about formal invitations, fees, and timelines.

How to get in touch

Please email your ideas or questions to:
drawtoperform@icloud.com (with the title ‘Your name_DTP festival 2026’ in the subject line)

We warmly welcome informal conversations and are happy to discuss ideas before anything is written down. Draw to Perform is committed to celebrating disabled artists and creating inclusive, accessible spaces for experimental drawing and performance. We look forward to hearing from you.

Image: DTP Enayball collaboration with dancer & choreographer Kimberley Harvey, 2021

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