A’ Leagail Cnapan-starraidh: Unlimited a’ toirt Duaisean Com-pàirteachais na RA agus Eadar-nàiseanta do 17 luchd-ealain le ciorram
Rudy Kanhye, image by Steve Elliott.
-
£650,000 de mhaoineachadh do 17 coimiseanan ealain le luchd-ealain le ciorram
-
Tha Duaisean na RA a’ tachairt le taic bho Chomhairle Ealain Shasainn, Comhairle Ealain na Cuimrigh, Alba Chruthachail agus 11 buidhnean com-pàirteachail
-
Tha Duaisean Eadar-nàiseanta gan toirt seachad is gan cuideachadh ann am com-pàirteacheas le Comhairle Bhreatainn
An-diugh, tha sinn a’ foillseachadh an luchd-ealain le ciorram eug-samhlach a chaidh a thaghadh airson ar Duaisean Com-pàirteachais na RA agus Eadar-nàiseanta. Cruthaichidh an luchd-ealain sin obair a chuireas an aghaidh beachdan, a bhrosnaicheas còmhraidhean cudromach, agus a bheir cruth ùr air crìochan ealain feadhainn le ciorram.
Sa chuairt seo de mhaoineachadh, gheibh 17 coimiseanan ùra dàna taic le 12 luchd-ealain a’ faighinn Duaisean Com-pàirteachais na RA agus còignear a’ faighinn Duaisean Com-pàirteachais Eadar-nàiseanta. Air an taghadh bho raon fìor fharpaiseach de chòrr air 288 tagradh, tha na pròiseactan sin nan eisimpleir de shàr shealladh is innleachdachd ann an ealain. Tha inbhe nan tagradh a’ sìor seallainn doimhneachd air leth de chomas am measg luchd-ealain le ciorram.
Ellen Renton image by Douglas Tyrrell Bunge.
Is iad Duaisean Com-pàirteachais na RA 2025 a thugadh seachad ann an Sasainn: Jez Colborne (BD IS LIT agus Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture), Roy Claire Potter (Liverpool Biennial), Joanna Holland de ‘*conditions apply’ (Norfolk and Norwich Festival), Jonny Leitch bho Head Over Wheels (Oxford University Cultural Programme), Courtney Deyn bho BULLYACHEe agus Nikki Watson (Sadler’s Wells), Tamm Reynolds (Southbank Centre), El Jaunts (El Jones) (Wellcome Collection); ann an Alba: Ellen Renton (Imaginate), Rudy Kanhye (Summerhall Arts) agus sa Chuimrigh: Ceri Ashe (SPAN Arts) agus Radha Patel agus Umulkhayr Mohamed bho DARCH collective (Tŷ Pawb).
Is iad an fheadhainn a fhuair na Duaisean Com-pàirteachais Eadar-nàiseanta 2025 Kevin Walker cuideachd aithnichte mar Signkid, agus Andre Witter, Kaite O’Reilly agus Ho Lee Ching agus Wheelsmith cuideachd aithnichte mar Danial Bawtham, Liz Strange agus Sarah Fadel, Persis Jadé Maravala agus Bruno Bo MC agus Ray Young agus Tamara Ibarra.
Tha 17 coimiseanan ùra dàna a’ cur an aghaidh crìochan ann an dannsa, tèatar, ceòl, litreachas, film, agus na h-ealain lèirsinneach a’ coimhead ri ciorram, eilthireachd, èiginn na gnàth-shìde, briseadh ann an conaltraidh, agus eachdraidhean falaichte. Eadar raves AI is siaban seanairean cuèir, co-obrachadh ceòl nam Bodhar is faoin-sgeulachdan bho linn às dèidh nan ìmpirean, tha gach pìos a’ cur an aghaidh cleachdaidhean, a’ neartachadh nan guthan nach cluinnear, agus ag ùrachadh ceàrd innse sgeulachd.
Tha sinn a’ toirt seachad nan duaisean sin ann am com-pàirteachas mar phàirt de ur n-obair atharrachadh bunaiteach adhartachadh san roinn chultarach, gus nach bi adhbhar againn a bhith ann tuilleadh. Faighibh barrachd a-mach mu na dòighean againn seo a dhèanamh tro chom-pàirteachasan ann an roinn dhubhlannach an seo.
Is e Unlimited an-dràsta a’ bhuidheann as motha a tha a’ toirt coimiseanan ealain do dhaoine le ciorraman seachad san t-saoghal. Tha sinn a’ toirt taic do luchd-ealain le ciorraman agus sin na rinn bho thòisich sinn ann an 2013. Nuair a bhios luchd-ealain ciorramach air an riochdachadh aig ìre cho-roinneil thar na roinne cultarach, cha bhi sinn ann tuilleadh. Tha naidheachd an là an-diugh a’ toirt nan ìrean maoineachaidh iomlan againn gu £7.1 millean airson 538 neach-ealain.
Breaking Boundaries: Unlimited awards 17 disabled artists UK and International Partner Awards
Rudy Kanhye, image by Steve Elliott.
- £650,000 in funding awarded to 17 new artistic commissions by disabled artists
- UK Awards made possible through support from Arts Council England, Arts Council of Wales, Creative Scotland and 11 partner organisations
- International Awards delivered and supported in partnership with the British Council
Unlimited unveil the trailblazing disabled artists and companies selected for our UK and International Partner Awards. These creators will develop work that challenges perceptions, ignites vital conversations, and redefines the boundaries of disability arts.
In this round of funding, 17 bold new commissions will receive support with 12 artists securing UK Partner Awards and five awarded International Partner Awards. Selected from a fiercely competitive field of over 288 applications, these projects represent exceptional artistic vision and innovation. The calibre of applications continues to demonstrate the extraordinary depth of talent within the disabled artist community.
Artists awarded for UK Partner Awards 2025 are in England: Jez Colborne (BD: Is Lit and Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture), Roy Claire Potter (Liverpool Biennial), Joanna Holland of ‘*conditions apply’ (Norfolk and Norwich Festival), Jonny Leitch from Head Over Wheels (Oxford University Cultural Programme), Courtney Deyn from BULLYACHE and Nikki Watson (Sadler’s Wells), Tamm Reynolds (Southbank Centre), El Jaunts (El Jones) (Wellcome Collection); in Scotland: Ellen Renton (Imaginate), Rudy Kanhye (Summerhall Arts) and in Wales: Ceri Ashe (SPAN Arts), Radha Patel and Umulkhayr Mohamed from DARCH collective (Tŷ Pawb).
Recipients of the International Partner Awards 2025 are Kevin Walker aka Signkid and Andre Witter, Kaite O’Reilly, Ho Lee Ching and Wheelsmith aka Danial Bawtham, Liz Strange and Sarah Fadel, Persis Jadé Maravala and Bruno Bo MC and Ray Young and Tamara Ibarra.
17 bold new commissions push boundaries across dance, theatre, music, literature, film, and visual arts exploring disability, migration, climate crisis, communication breakdown, and hidden histories. From AI raves to queer elder soap operas, Deaf music collaborations to post-colonial myth-making, each piece challenges norms, amplifies unheard voices, and redefines storytelling.
We’re delivering these awards in partnership as part our mission to drive significant change within the cultural sector, so we’re no longer needed. Find out more about approach for achieving this is in a challenging sector.
Unlimited is currently the world’s largest disabled arts commissioner. We back disabled artists and have done since we got started in 2013. When disabled artists are represented at a proportional level across the cultural sector, we will cease to exist. Today’s announcement takes our total funding levels awarded to £7.1 million to 538 artists.
On Ellen Renton's project PALS, Fiona Ferguson, Creative Development Director at Imaginate said, “Ellen is a brilliant writer and maker who we feel very lucky to be working with on Pals, an exciting new work in progress for visually impaired children and their families performed in a space that decentres vision. This is exciting, both for future audiences and for Imaginate. Huge thanks to Unlimited and the Partner Award panel.”
On Rudy Kanhye’s project L'ésperance Blue Gold, Kim Simpson, Head of Equalities, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy at Creative Scotland says, "These works exemplify the bold, boundary-pushing art we champion, bringing incredible disabled artists to Scottish and international audiences.”
Background
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. Unlimited is funded by Arts Council England, Arts Council of Wales, British Council, Creative Scotland and Paul Hamlyn Foundation. Since 2013, Unlimited has supported over 538 artists with over £7.1 million, reaching audiences of over 9 million, making it the largest supporter of disabled artists world-wide.
Our partners
Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture (Bradford 2025) is a year-long celebration of the city and district created for, with and by the people of Bradford. Taking place across its city, towns, villages and greenspaces it will showcase the rich history of the area and spotlight its dynamic contemporary culture across artforms.
The designation has brought significant investment to the region and been a catalyst for development. It is set to have a lifelong impact through its reshaping of the local curriculum, skills and training programmes, investment in existing and new creative spaces, and open-up opportunities for cultural participation.
Bradford Metropolitan District Council commissions and platforms talent and new work in a calendar of festivals and events. We inspire and support our artists and have national and international reach.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The Southbank Centre is the UK’s largest arts centre, occupying 11 acres along the river and its 4 venues anchor London’s most vibrant cultural quarter on the South Bank of the Thames. We exist to present great cultural experiences that bring people together and we achieve this by providing the space for artists to create and present their best work and by creating a place where as many people as possible can come together to experience bold, unusual and eye-opening work. The site has an extraordinary creative and architectural history stretching back to the 1951 Festival of Britain. Southbank Centre is made up of the Royal Festival Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Purcell Room and Hayward Gallery as well as being home to the National Poetry Library and the Arts Council Collection. It is also home to six Resident Orchestras (Aurora Orchestra, Chineke! Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, London Sinfonietta, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and Philharmonia Orchestra).
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.
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.
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.
Wellcome Collection is a free museum and library. We believe everyone’s experience of health matters. Through our collections, exhibitions and events, in books and online, we explore the past, present and future of health.
You can find us near Euston station in London. Our exhibitions and events are always free. You can use our library and view items from our collections free of charge too – you may just need to book in advance. Wellcome Collection opened in 2007. We care for many thousands of items relating to health, medicine and human experience, including rare books, artworks, films and videos, personal archives, and objects. We’re part of Wellcome, a charitable foundation supporting science to help build a healthier future for everyone.
Our funders
Arts Council England is the national development agency for creativity and culture. Our vision, set out in our strategy Let’s Create, is 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 every one of us has access to a remarkable range of high-quality cultural experiences. Between 2023 and 2026 we will have invested over £467 million of public money from Government, alongside an estimated £250 million each year from The National Lottery, to help ensure that people in every part of the country have access to culture and creativity in the places where they live. Until Autumn 2025, the National Lottery is celebrating its 30th anniversary of supporting good causes in the United Kingdom: since the first draw was held in 1994, it has raised £49 billion and awarded more than 690,000 individual grants. Visit our website to learn more about our work.
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 culture and creativity across all parts of Scotland, distributing funding provided by the Scottish Government and The National Lottery, which, now in its 30th year, has supported over 14,600 projects with more than £501.9 million in funding through Creative Scotland and its predecessor, the Scottish Arts Council. Further information at creativescotland.com. Follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram. Learn more about the value of art and creativity in Scotland and join in at www.ourcreativevoice.scot.
Media contact
WX Wakefield Exchange, Union Street, Wakefield, WF1 3AE.
M: 07506 679968
Registered Charity number: 1196665