image credits: Tilo Stengel

Across the performing arts and across Europe, disabled artists are pushing the boundaries of form, and are presenting audiences, fellow artists and arts professionals with one of the creative opportunities of our time.

Europe Beyond Access: the key achievements and successes

Artistic Exchanges

Exchange between European artists is at the heart of Europe Beyond Access, aiming to support artistic innovation, counter geographic and artistic isolation of disabled artists, and build transnational professional relationships through programmes such as Artistic Laboratories, Solo Residencies for skills transfer from mid-career to early-career disabled artists, Group Residencies for transnational artistic collaboration between peers, and a Digital Exchange programme.

Audience Development and Engagement

Europe Beyond Access is committed to developing audiences for the work of disabled artists by sharing the quality and innovation of Europe’s disabled dance artists, building the market to support long-term careers, encouraging greater cultural participation by disabled audiences, and focusing on the development and engagement of both "mainstream" and disabled audiences.

Capacity Building

The project will support independent European disabled artists to develop their own abilities to package, market and present their work and artistic value to a wide range of cultural stakeholders including performing arts programmers, commissioners and arts managers. It will support the development of a sustainable peer network.

The project will undertake a major programme of building the knowledge of mainstream cultural managers and programmers – building knowledge of the quality of work by a unique generation of artists, but also sharing the expertise and experience of the project partners in supporting artists and building audiences for their work.

Public Performances and Commissions

Europe Beyond Access represents an unprecedented trans-national investment in presenting, supporting, and commissioning the work of world-class disabled performing artists, aiming to celebrate their high-quality and innovative work, raise standards and expectations for disabled artists, and establish a network of organizations committed to collaborative support at the highest level, with initiatives including 10 new project commissions, 21 showcases of disabled artists' work, and four duets spanning four countries available for touring.

Project Partners

Europe Beyond Access is created with support from the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union. An enlarged consortium will continue to support disabled and Deaf performing artists across Europe. British Council (UK), who initiated and led the first Europe Beyond Access programme from 2018-2023, is now associated partner.

The second generation of the project will be run by 10 high-profile European cultural organisation: Skånes Dansteater (Sweden), Holland Dance Festival (Netherlands), Onassis Stegi (Grece), Oriente Occidente (Italy), Kampnagel – Internationales Zentrum für schönere Künste (Germany), CODA Oslo International Dance Festival (Norway), Centrum Kultury ZAMEK w Poznaniu (Poland), Project Arts Centre (Ireland), Mercat de les Flors (Spain), Culturgest – Fundação CGD (Portugal).