Reading group session 1: Opening Access
Wednesday 20th May 2026, 10am-12pm (AEST)
Quick links
Reading group plan: What to expect over the two hours we are online
Jump to plan
Recap of reading group texts for session 1
Jump to texts
Shared document for longer reflections, or post-facto responses
Open the shared document
Reading group plan
This reading group plan may be adapted during our time together, as access needs emerge and change. The plan has been developed in response to some participants’ expressed access needs.
Throughout the reading group, you are encouraged to move, lay down, sit, have cameras on or off, and any other mode of presence that supports your participation.
We have created a shared document that anybody with the link can edit. You may use it to participate non-verbally, to write longer thoughts and reflections, to share links or references to other readings or artworks, or simply to contribute to the reading group discussion in your preferred manner and pace. You can also write into the document after the session is over, if you wish.
First Hour
Introduction (10 minutes)
Movement exercise (5 minutes)
Summaries of texts (10 mins)
- Summary of ‘For a new accessibility’ by Carmen Papalia
- Summary of Andy Slater’s call for TikTok descriptions
- Reflections on the prompt for rest
Discussion (25 minutes)
Break (10 minutes)
Second Hour
Discussion of ‘access as temporary’ (15 minutes)
- How might access needs, desires, and responsibilities shift with place, with seasons, with community?
- What examples of very situated access can we think of?
Discussion of ‘access as collectively-held’ (15 minutes)
- How might access needs and desires be approached in practice as a collective responsibility?
Sharing access desires: “I want” (10 minutes)
- “What conditions must be in place in order for you to thrive or elect into the museum community?”
Open discussion (15 minutes)
- Thoughts on access, place, and community
Closing remarks (5 minutes)
Recap of texts for this reading group
What we will be discussing
Informed by Carmen Papalia's concept of 'Open Access', we will think together about what it might mean for access to be approached as temporary, collectively-held space. How might access needs, desires, and responsibilities shift with place, with seasons, with community? How might access needs and desires, whether constant or fluctuating, be expressed amongst a community? How might access needs and desires be approached in practice as a collective responsibility — and as a collective creative opportunity?
This week's reading
- (Essay) ‘For a new accessibility’ by Carmen Papalia, in Contemporary Art and Disability Studies, edited by Alice Wexler, and John Derby, Taylor & Francis Group (2019)
If you have more energy:
- Read the above, and watch or listen to this article about Andy Slater’s TikTok request for descriptions of the 2023 Montgomery dock fight – and one of the many rich and creative responses he received
If you have less energy:
- Consider the following quotes from this week's reading:
(p 37) "Whether or not a space is accessible depends on so many things, the most important of which is the condition of the social space. And how might we assess the condition of the social environment when so many of the current strategies for ensuring accessibility center on limiting physical barriers? I figured that a paradigm that promotes social accessibility would likely have the interests of everyone who is disabled by a set of social and cultural conditions in mind, not just the interests of the disability community. It would depend on the collective politics of a space and whether it is being held to a set of tenets that promote a welcoming atmosphere in which those who feel inclined to enter may hold agency and thrive. It would account for the disabling conditions informed by histories of oppression, marginalization, and trauma by creating opportunities for acts of transformative justice."
(p 38) "Open Access relies on those present, what their needs are and how they can find support with each other and in their communities. It is a perpetual negotiation of trust between those who practice support as a mutual exchange. Open Access is radically different than a policy that temporarily removes a barrier to participation for a group with definitive needs. It acknowledges that everyone carries a body of local knowledge and is an expert in their own right. Open access is the root system of embodied learning. It cultivates trust among those involved and enables each member to self-identify and occupy a point of orientation that centers complex embodiment. Open Access disrupts the disabling conditions that limit one’s agency and potential to thrive. It reimagines normalcy as a continuum of embodiments, identities, realities and learning styles, and operates under the tenet that interdependence is central to a radical restructuring of power. Open Access is a temporary, collectively held space where participants can find comfort in disclosing their needs and preferences with one another. It is a responsive support network that adapts as needs and available resources change."
Or, if you have no energy:
- Rest in a place where you can feel a soft breeze or other airflow.
- Does your sense of this place change over the minutes or hours you are resting?
- How might this place change over seasons?
- Does your capacity to participate ebb and flow over time?