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Seminar on
Creative Accessibility in the Performing Arts

Creative accessibility is really nothing special - it is just theatre, theatre at its best.

— Michèle Taylor, keynote speaker (see video below)

A seminar on Creative Accessibility in the Performing Arts was held in Helsinki on 20th October 2025 to mark the end of the three-year TIKSI project. The seminar attracted around a hundred culture workers, theatre-makers and performing artists from Finland and the Nordic countries.

Audience members seated at a seminar, listening attentively; one person signing while others watch and engage in a bright, formal indoor setting.

What a joyful, inspiring, informative and motivating day!

— Participant comment

Sharing learnings from theory and practice

TIKSI project researcher Riikka Papunen and DuvTeatern's Managing Director, Sanna Huldén, shared their views on the possibilities of creative accessibility, what the TIKSI project explored, and how.

Together with students from the Theatre Academy and the project accessibility experts, Mikaela Hasán, director of Livsfarligt på allvar! (Seriously Life-threatening!) and DuvTeatern’s Artistic Director, presented concrete examples from the workshops on creative accessibility within the TIKSI project.

Watching the process of integrating the creative use of sign language in the workshop section was especially eye-opening for me.

— Participant comment


Audience member in the foreground wearing a T-shirt with the text “Det är bara teater” (“It’s only theatre”) on the back, watching a group of speakers on stage; several presenters stand in a row, some using sign language.

The artistic team behind the production Livsfarligt på allvar! shared their insights and key learnings, and representatives from the Swedish Theatre and DuvTeatern discussed aspects of collaboration and co-production. The production Orlando, oodi luonnolle (Orlando, an ode to Nature) was also introduced by its artistic team and accessibility consultant.

Michèle Taylor on the change that is needed

Michèle Taylor was the keynote speaker of the seminar. Taylor is Director for Change at the British company Ramps on the Moon, which has inspired DuvTeatern’s TIKSI project, for which she is also a mentor and friend. 

In her one-hour speech, Taylor addressed the need for change within the cultural sector. In the video below, Taylor explains what she means by organisational and cultural change.

The power of storytelling

Taylor encouraged everyone to learn more about the social model of disability and to work towards eliminating barriers to people’s full participation in the arts. She emphasised the risk of artists building stories based on stereotypes.

In the video below, she describes the power that stories carry in the ableist world in which we live.

 

The day concluded with a Long Table discussion about the future of creative accessibility and a musical performance by actors from Livsfarligt på allvar!.

I left feeling hopeful and motivated for future work.

— Participant comment

 

Group of performers on stage at a seminar, including a sign language interpreter on the far left, addressing the audience; behind them, a projected slide reads “GOODBYE!” in large letters.

Disability equality and anti-ableism is not about being nice to disabled people. It is not even only about social justice. It is about being the best, most exciting, most innovative and most creative cultural sector we can be.

— Michèle Taylor, keynote speaker