Expanding advocacy through the arts

L’Arche Belfast “In their own Voice” (This is Me) photography highlights how the arts can be an accessible vehicle for advocacy and belonging.  

The project was created with Therese Gorman, whose personal experiences and career have brought her to the intersection of where art and learning, discovery and advocacy meet.

Participants were involved in every stage.  They helped design an exhibit, created photographic content, wrote personal messages, framed the artwork. Their ideas, creativity, and experiences were at the centre.  Together, they explored identity and voice, approaching topics such as disability, age, gender, how people see themselves and what they want to say to others.  The photography supports personal confidence and is a platform for key personal messages that are important to people.  And it shows the power of creativity to bring people together.

The work of the project connects us with the people in the photographs and with what they want to say.  It allows more people to claim voice and contribute to the social conversation.

When asked about her involvement with L’Arche and with advocacy through the arts, Therese recalls:

“A time ago, my best friend suffered a spinal injury and I saw how people in society began to treat her differently.  Why should they ask me what she wants to drink with dinner?  She knows what she wants.  Then, I started getting older and I noticed how this affected the way people saw me, the way aging and being a woman could make me more invisible.

Everyone’s identity is valid.  And from the outside, people can’t tell what’s inside the person, any person.  The project is a way to ask each person: What do you want to say?  It is a way for people to communicate.

And you.  What do you see?  Do you see the full person?  Do you know their story?  Do you know what they want to say?  Art and activism – like photography or craftivism, these can all change hearts and minds.”

Executive Director Scott Shively shares profound gratitude for financial partners of L’Arche like Lisburn & Castlereagh City Council Arts Service and Island Arts Centre Centre whose support made possible this powerful visual arts and advocacy project:

“It’s part of L’Arche – storytelling in different ways allows more people to engage more widely, it’s so important to our mission.”

L’Arche Belfast is going to COSP19

Representatives from L’Arche Belfast are excited to share more about L’Arche’s work to enhance accessible engagement for every person through art and storytelling when they travel to the United Nations Headquarters to participate in the 19th Session of the Conference of States Parties (COSP19) to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD).

Together, they will highlight how creative, participant-led projects help expand participation and open doors for leadership in advocacy, and how the arts can serve as a powerful tool for advancing inclusion in line with global human rights commitments.

Learn more about COSP19 here.