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BOP in Sao Paulo

In November 2019, BOP was invited by British Council Brazil and Instituto Tomie Ohtake to attend the 6th International Congress of Education and Accessibility in Museums and Galleries.

The congress hosted representatives from museums and galleries from countries all over the world, including France, Mexico, Spain, Japan. Happening in Sao Paulo from 27th – 30th November 2019, a variety of workshops, discussions, round table talks and creative, happened in different cultural organisations within the city. The activities that we contributed to included:

  • A 30-minute presentation from Mairi and Michelle looking at Participation and Representation of New Audiences, held at Itaú Cultural.
  • A three-hour workshop delivered by Mairi, Michelle and Callum, focussing on what actions cultural organisations and artists can take to make their organisations more accessible to working with disabled people, held at Tomie Ohtake.
  • Michelle was interviewed by Claudio Rubino (Culture and Participation Department, Tomie Ohtake) as part of their webseries Corpos Divergentes (Divergent Bodies)

In addition to the events that BOP was directly involved with, we attended talks presented by other organisations invited to the congress that explored how different cultural insititutions from across the world approach accessibility.

Michelle and Callum were able to participate in a two-hour workshop lead by the theatre collective O Grão, exploring the different ways that bodies can interact with different stimuli.

Mairi and Callum were invited on a tour of the Memorial of Resistance in which they showcased the different materials they have developed to make their permanent collection more accessible to visually impaired people and people with learning impairments.

Six people gather on a stage in front of a large presentation screen. Two women on the left are sat by a laptop, one is holding a microphone. Some of the people on the stage are sat facing these women and some are not.
A large white room filled with lots of wooden tables with people sat at them. They are all pointed towards a blonde woman who is stood at the front giving a presentation in front of a projection slide
Five people pose for a photograph. There are 4 women and one man. They all appear to be in their late twenties to early thirties
Two young women stand beside large pieces of paper stuck to the wall. They are holding pens as if they have just been writing on the pages. We see the backs of people's heads, watching them.
A photo taken from behind a woman. From the back we can see that she has blonde hair and she is wearing a white striped shirt. Her arms are spread out wide and she has papers in one of her hands. She is speaking to a large room of people all sat behind a series of long wooden tables.
There are 3 telephones mounted on a wall. A person is at each phone holding the receiver to their ears. There is a tall blonde woman, a young man wearing a cap and a woman with long dark hair in a wheelchair
Four people, three women and one man, pose smiling in front of a large piece of graffiti depicting peacock feathers.
A large group of people gather to pose and smile for a photograph. Some stand and some sit on the floor. There is a large white sheet on the floor, on it there are various pieces of coloured paper and card.
Four people pose for a photo in front of a grey stone building. There are three women and one man, the weather looks very sunny and they look very happy.
A close side view of people sitting in the front row of an audience. They are wearing headphones.
Seven people sit around a table in a restaurant. They are all smiling at the camera. There are various little plates and wine glasses on the table.
Two women on a subway platform next to a blue disabled logo on the floor. One of the women has blonde hair and is wearing floral trousers. The other has long dark hair and sits in a wheelchair. They both wave to the camera.
Four people, three women and one man stand on the terrace of a very tall building, you can see the sprawling city skyline behind them.They are holding champagne glasses and smiling at the camera.

Posted on: 30 Nov 2019

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