Unlimited UK and International Partner Awards for Disabled Artists Announced

Unlimited is partnering with 12 UK organisations to offer 17 awards to disabled artists. These awards will offer a grand total of £628,000 to commission artists on a national and international level.

Jack Hunter, One of Two.

Unlimited’s mission is to commission extraordinary work from disabled artists until the whole of the cultural sector does. This work will change and challenge the world. As the world’s largest commissioner of disabled artists, they’ve been dedicated to this work since 2013.

This year, they’re focusing on artworks that engage communities in meaningful ways, challenge audience perceptions, and enhance visibility for disabled artists. They’re looking for projects that are designed to be seen, offering dynamic and interactive experiences to broad audiences.

Working in partnership with organisations across the cultural sector is key to their long-term mission of not existing. They aim to support disabled artists in creating new work that captivates, inspires, and fosters deeper understanding and appreciation.

In partnership with British Council, they’re offering five International Awards of up to £50,000 for artists to form collaborations across the world.

Partners based in England are Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture and Bradford Metropolitan District Council, Liverpool Biennial, Norfolk and Norwich Festival, Oxford University Cultural Programme, Sadler’s Wells, Southbank Centre, and Wellcome Collection. In Scotland: Imaginate and Summerhall Arts. In Wales: Span Arts and Tŷ Pawb.

Made possible with the support of Arts Council England, Arts Council of Wales, and Creative Scotland, they’re delighted to offer 12 UK awards ranging from £15,000 to £60,000.  These awards will support the creation of extraordinary new work in combined arts, dance, live performance, outdoor arts, socially engaged work, visual arts and more.

Isabella Tulloch Gallego, Programme Manager Commission at Unlimited: “We’re incredibly excited to award £628,000 in this round of commissions. By working in partnership with a range of organisations this year, we can offer even wider support to disabled artists through our shared investment. This year’s awards reflect not only a national but also an international commitment to challenging and changing the world. We eagerly anticipate the incredible work this investment will inspire.”

Nikki Locke, Senior Relationship Manager, Culture Responds to Global Challenges at British Council: “We’re delighted to support the Unlimited Partner Awards, which builds connections between disabled artists across the globe. Our long-standing partnership with Unlimited is an essential part of the British Council’s commitment to support the international disability arts sector. Previous collaborations have been ambitious, high quality and disabled-led – elevating unique and thought-provoking perspectives and challenging societal attitudes towards disability. The global arts sector needs to shift to create greater access and inclusion for disabled people. We believe that finding new ways of connecting with and understanding each other through the arts can be a catalyst for change.”

Previous commissions have varied widely in both artform and scale, reflecting our commitment to Unlimited possibilities and radical creativity. In the UK, we’ve awarded projects such as a bold theatre production exploring disabled LGBTQ+ experience in the Scottish Highlands, and a powerful one-woman dance show inspired by Black hair culture. Internationally, our awards have championed equity and representation, supporting a groundbreaking collaboration between disabled women in Scotland and Mexico to rework archival footage, and an impactful light and projection experience featuring music, poetry, dance, and sign language in England and China.

Find all the information about today’s award announcement and application details.

The application portal is now open and will accept submissions until Monday 30 September, midday.

Background

Shanaz Gulzar, Creative Director of Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture: “The BD:Is Lit Partnership Award will fund the creation of a new piece of work for Bradford’s spectacular and popular light festival BD: Is Lit, taking place during Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture year. We’re proud to be supporting Unlimited to create opportunities for our region’s disabled artists and for audiences to experience their work.”

Fiona Ferguson, Creative Development Director of Imaginate: “We are thrilled to be partnering with Unlimited on this new commission for a d/Deaf, disabled and/or neurodivergent artist based in Scotland to develop an exciting and ambitious new performance idea for young audiences. We believe that all children have the right to see inspiring, interesting, challenging and engaging theatre and dance performances including work that is led by d/Deaf, disabled and/or neurodivergent artists.  This commission is a fantastic opportunity to continue our work in addressing underrepresentation in the young audiences’ sector while learning from Unlimited and the other artists and partner companies involved in the selection process.”

Dr Samantha Lackey, Director of Liverpool Biennial: “We’re delighted to be collaborating with Unlimited on these awards, building on our longstanding ambition to improve our support of, and work with, d/Deaf, Disabled and Neurodivergent people across all areas of Liverpool Biennial, from artists and audiences to our own team. We believe that providing meaningful opportunities for Disabled artists to make new work and develop their practice is vital and look forward to the peer learning and support opportunities that will arise from joining a network of likeminded arts organisations across the UK.”

Daniel Brine, Artistic Director and Chief Executive of Norfolk and Norwich Festival: “Norfolk and Norwich Festival is delighted to support a disabled artist from East Anglia through the Unlimited 2024 UK Partner Awards. Working in partnership with Unlimited is important to us because it offers an artist an extraordinary opportunity to develop new work and helps build our skills and confidence in working with disabled artists.   
Our Festival and year-round engagement work offers artists unique opportunities both on an international stage and in our communities. We’re excited to be working with an artist supported by Unlimited 2024 UK Partner Awards who can share with us fresh perspectives and artistic practises.”

Josie Bamford, Executive Producer of Oxford University Cultural Programme: “Oxford University Cultural Programme is an ambitious programme that is building towards the opening of the Schwarzman Centre for the Humanities, at which point it will be based within the suite of cultural spaces that will exist within the centre. We are delighted to be collaborating with Unlimited on this brilliant award and we are so excited that the outcome of this will be one of the earliest pieces of work to be performed in the new Schwarzman Centre, marking and celebrating from the very beginning, our commitment to disabled artists and disabled led companies.”

Rob Jones, Associate Artistic Director of Sadler’s Wells: “We are partnering with Unlimited because we are passionate about supporting the next generation of disabled choreographers. A partnership like this is long overdue for this organisation and I am so excited to see how this partnership supports disabled choreographers to make incredible work for our stages, the dance world and beyond!”

Bethan Touhig Gamble, Director of SPAN Arts: “As a charity that aims to use the arts as a vehicle for social change in rural West Wales, partnering with Unlimited for the second time allows us to invest in diverse artists, expand the platform for disabled and neurodiverse voices, and commission exceptional socially engaged work.”

Mark Ball, Artistic Director of Southbank Centre: “Even though great progress has been made by Unlimited in centring D/deaf and disabled artists much of the work we see is consigned to smaller spaces and too often still sits at the edge of artistic programmes. By investing in the Unlimited UK Partner Awards, we are signalling that D/deaf and disabled artists’ work has no limits on its ambitions and can fill spaces of all scales with thrillingly adventurous work.”

Samantha Chapman, Visual Arts and Cinema Curator of Summerhall Arts: “Summerhall Arts is deeply committed to combating underrepresentation in the arts, and it is an honour to be working with Unlimited in offering this commission opportunity. It is vital there is a cultural and political shift with regards to opportunities offered to disabled individuals and it is imperative that our work contributes to this in any way it can.”

Jo Marsh, Creative Director of Tŷ Pawb: “Our mission at Tŷ Pawb is to provide a cultural hub for all, with a focus on producing an arts programme that aims to educate, enlighten, challenge preconceptions and showcase emerging and established artists from underrepresented backgrounds. We are therefore delighted to be working with Unlimited, an organisation that does so much extraordinary work to support and amplify the work of disabled artists.”

Unlimited is an arts commissioning body that supports, funds and promotes new work by disabled artists for UK and international audiences. Our mission is to commission extraordinary work from disabled artists that will change and challenge the world. Since 2013, Unlimited has supported over 521 artists with over £6.5 million, reaching audiences of over 6 million, making it the largest supporter of disabled artists world-wide.

Our partners

Bradford 2025 is your next UK City of Culture – and we’ve started the countdown to an electrifying year. 2025 will be a celebration of Bradford, its cultures and its people – right here, right now. From artists to businesses, schools to community groups, we’re inviting people across Bradford to help us create a year of culture that could only happen here. www.bradford2025.co.uk.

Imaginate is the national organisation in Scotland, which develops, celebrates and presents theatre and dance for children and young people. Our purpose is to improve and enrich children’s lives by producing the annual Edinburgh International Children’s Festival, deliver a schools and communities programme and support the creative development of artists. www.imaginate.org.uk.

Liverpool Biennial is the UK’s largest free festival of contemporary art and has been transforming the city of Liverpool through public art commissions, community projects, and a legacy of Biennial exhibitions for over two decades. Since being formed in 1998 Liverpool Biennial has commissioned 392 artworks, presented work by over 560 leading artists, delivered 34 collaborative neighbourhood projects, and received over 50 million visits. www.biennial.com.

Norfolk and Norwich Festival shares exceptional arts experiences to make East Anglia a great place to live, learn, work and play. The multi-artform, contemporary and audience-centred Festival takes place for 17 days each May.  Year-round, Festival Connect & Create delivers creativity and cultural participation initiative for children and young people and their communities. nnfestival.org.uk

Oxford University Cultural Programme

Based in the performance and public spaces in the new Stephen A. Schwarzman Centre for the Humanities, The Cultural Programme brings together local, university and global cultural communities in a physical and digital cultural offer, inspired by the University of Oxford’s research. 

The Schwarzman Centre will be a space where world-leading research takes place alongside arts and cultural activity of the highest quality. It will transform the way Oxford teaches, researches, and shares the humanities with the world. At the heart of the vision for the new building is a suite of performance spaces, including a world-class concert hall, a theatre, a cinema, an exhibition space, and a black box space for immersive work. Together, these facilities will enrich Oxford’s cultural landscape and foster interdisciplinary collaboration. Animating the new Schwarzman Centre will be an ambitious, wide-ranging and diverse programme comprising performances, mini-festivals, workshops, exhibitions, screenings, talks and other public events. The Cultural Programme will create places and spaces for collaboration across all genres and disciplines and attract artists, audiences and visitors of all backgrounds from across the globe. This is a significant moment for culture in Oxford and the Cultural Programme is committed to ensuring everyone, from all backgrounds, can participate in the joy and power of the arts. www.schwarzmancentre.ox.ac.uk/culturalprogramme.

Sadler’s Wells is a world-leading dance organisation. We strive to make and share dance that inspires us all. Our acclaimed year-round programme spans dance of every kind, from contemporary to flamenco, Bollywood to ballet, salsa to street dance and tango to tap. 

Supporting artists is at the heart of our work. We have associate artists and companies, which nurture some of the most exciting talent working in dance today. Around 30,000 people take part in our learning and engagement programmes every year. www.sadlerswells.com.

The Southbank Centre is the UK’s largest multi-arts centre and engages the most diverse audiences of any performing arts organisation in the UK. Our biggest venue, the Royal Festival Hall (2,700 seats) is the lasting legacy of the 1951 Festival of Britain and the ambition and values of that project – that arts, ideas, innovation and culture can heal communities and should be available and accessible to everyone – are still our guiding principles today. The Southbank Centre is uniquely able to offer a wide-ranging, inclusive and world-class artistic programme spanning contemporary visual arts, music, dance, performance, literature, comedy and spoken word across the Royal Festival Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Purcell Room, the Hayward Gallery and our free spaces. We are also home to the National Poetry Library, the National Academy for Social Prescribing (NASP) and six resident orchestras (Aurora Orchestra, Chineke! Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, London Sinfonietta, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and Philharmonia Orchestra). www.southbankcentre.co.uk.

SPAN Arts is a community arts charity working across West Wales. With our artists, volunteers, and community we:

• Co-create impactful and sustained creative engagement programs.
• Co-programme and commission LIVE and digital work that challenges perceptions and celebrates the people of Pembrokeshire.
• Co-design and deliver development opportunities for the local community and artists.

www.span-arts.org.uk

Summerhall Arts is a new, independently governed, charitable organisation borne out of necessity and in the face of extreme financial pressure upon the cultural sector. Our aim is to be Edinburgh’s leading arts organisation that cultivates creativity, fosters cultural exchange, and enriches lives through a vibrant and inclusive programme of multi-disciplinary arts. www.summerhallarts.co.uk

Tŷ Pawb is a multi-award winning, cultural community resource, bringing together arts and markets within the same footprint. We offer a space for dialogue around subjects including social and civic issues, the environment, health, cultural identity, sustainability and education. We present a contemporary programme of welcoming and inclusive exhibitions, socially engaged projects and live performance. The programme emphasises skills and craft, working with emerging and established artists from all backgrounds. www.typawb.wales.

Wellcome Collection. www.wellcomecollection.org.

The Funders

Arts Council England is the national development agency for creativity and culture. We have set out our strategic vision in Let’s Create that by 2030 we want England to be a country in which the creativity of each of us is valued and given the chance to flourish and where everyone of us has access to a remarkable range of high-quality cultural experiences. From 2023 to 2026 we will invest over £467 million of public money from Government and an estimated £250 million from The National Lottery each year to help support the sector and to deliver this vision. www.artscouncil.org.uk.

The Arts Council of Wales is the country’s official public body for funding and developing the arts. Every day, people across Wales are enjoying and taking part in the arts. We help to support and grow this activity. We do this by using the public funds that are made available to us by the Welsh Government and by distributing the money we receive as a good cause from the National Lottery. By managing and investing these funds in creative activity, the Arts Council contributes to people’s quality of life and to the cultural, social and economic well-being of Wales. 

The British Council is the UK’s international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities. We support peace and prosperity by building connections, understanding and trust between people in the UK and countries worldwide. We do this through our work in arts and culture, education and the English language. We work with people in over 200 countries and territories and are on the ground in more than 100 countries. In 2022-23 we reached 600 million people.

Creative Scotland is the public body that supports the arts, screen and creative industries across all parts of Scotland, distributing funding provided by the Scottish Government and The National Lottery. Further information at creativescotland.com. Follow us on X, Facebook and Instagram. Learn more about the value of art and creativity in Scotland and join in at www.ourcreativevoice.scot.

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Media contact

For more information or if you would like this press release in an alternative accessible format, please contact Emily Simmons, Communications Officer on [email protected].