Ground-breaking Graeae returns to Greenwich+Docklands International Festival (GDIF) this coming June, for the fifth year with its world premiere of The Limbless Knight - A Tale of Rights Reignited, which reunites the creative team behind The Garden and Against The Tide.

Lisa Simpson is seeking funding to  support disabled choreographers using new technology developed by Adam Benjamin. Lisa and her colleague, Ray Rooney, have set up a social enterprise company to help disabled dancers and their teachers unlock similar potential. Sheila McWattie reports on the initiative

Now in its 18th year, the 2013 International Family Film Festival was held (May 1st - 5th) at Raleigh Studios in the heart of Hollywood. Creative Bucks project Driving Inspiration entered an animation created last year and came first in the Youth Animation Class.

Arts Council England has announced the 62 successful applicants to the ‘Catalyst Arts: Building Fundraising Capacity’ scheme. Disability Arts Online and StopGap Dance Company are part of a consortium celebrating success.

Jane Jessop, founding director of Blue Apple Theatre, tells Sheila McWattie about raising awareness of disability hate crime and taking Blue Apple Theatre to the Houses of Parliament

Brighton-based charity Creative Future has launched a national competition to discover the best writers from disadvantaged groups who find it hard to get their work recognised.

A multimedia installation by Caglar Kimyoncu exploring the politics of compulsory military service. Produced by disabled-led digital art agency filmpro, the work will show at the Old Truman Brewery, London from 2 May.

A new festival starts in Brighton this weekend. John O’Donoghue looks into the background of Sick! and highlights some of the must-see events happening from 1 - 16 March.

The Deaf Cultural Centre, based in Birmingham, West Midlands, are inviting arts organisations, promoters and venues to collaborate with Deaf practitioners

Plans for inclusive arts organisation The Art House to develop Drury Lane Library as a vibrant artist-hub in the centre of Wakefield, West Yorkshire, is one step closer to being realised with investment from Arts Council England.

It was announced this week that as lead partner of the Arts and Disability Consortium, Shape has received initial support for a £962,000 bid from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) for the National Disability Arts Collection and Archive.

This February sees the launch of a new festival that aims to celebrate Brighton's vibrant Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transexual (LGBT) culture and history, spearheaded by Norfolk poet, artist and campaigner Vince Laws.

Liverpool based disability arts organization, DaDaFest, has become the latest group to join a national campaign to help disabled people overcome the challenges of using the internet.

The New Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich, has appointed Ali Briggs as Agent for Change with a remit to create better opportunities for disabled artists and disabled people in the eastern region.

The London based social charity Rich Mix is hosting the first ever mid-career retrospective of a living British-Bangladeshi female artist – Sanchita Islam. The exhibition, entitled ‘The Rebel Within’, runs from 6 March - 28 April 2013

Graeae Artistic Director Jenny Sealey was awarded the Liberty Human Rights Arts Award at the annual ceremony, held at the Southbank Centre on 21 November

Graeae received the Promotion of Diversity Award at the annual TMA (Theatrical Management Association) Theatre Awards UK ceremony on Sunday 28 October 2012.

ITV today announced the launch of the world’s first animated storytelling app with British and American sign language. The Signed Stories app is designed to make reading fun for all children.

Birds of Paradise are planning the appointment of a triumvirate of outstanding talents - Garry Robson and Robert Softley Gale as Artistic Directors and Shona Rattray, currently Company Manager, promoted to Creative Producer.

Trish Wheatley talks to Liz Crow about her new work 'Bedding In' which is one of the eight Diverse Perspectives commissions funded by Arts Council Grants for the Arts programme.

Created by Jonathan Hering and Jack Whiteley 'Rhapsody for Clarinet and Wheelchair Basketball Team' is a groundbreaking audio-visual work, that combines music, sound design, film and sport. Commissioned by the Bluecoat, and premiered as part of DaDaFest 2012 the film has now been launched online.

DaDaFest 2012 has drawn to a close and has been hailed a great success, with audiences from near and far coming together to enjoy this internationally renowned festival of disability and deaf arts, the largest festival of its kind in the world.

The UK Disabled People's Council (UKDPC) organisers of the Together! 2012 festival in Newham announce their successes, after the disappointment of venue closure at the last minute.

Oska Bright is the award-winning, international festival of short films made by artists with learning disabilities. Over the last decade, it has screened hundreds of films from around the world, enabling learning disabled film-makers to blaze a trail for their artform. You can now watch Oska Bright films via the on-demand channel at www.thespace.org

The Dean Rodney Singers is Heart n Soul’s most ambitious arts project to date. Autistic artist Dean Rodney is working with seventy-two band members made up of musicians, singers and dancers from seven countries across the world.

A festival celebrating the 24-hour Paralympic Torch Relay brings the South East’s best artistic talent to the streets of Aylesbury as part of a four-day UK wide event, giving local people a chance to experience the Paralympic Games in a moment of a lifetime.

Fine ceramic artist Paul Cummins has made more than 12000 individual flower heads for a series of 6 unique art installations at some of the UK’s most beautiful historic houses and socially significant public sites. The project is an Unlimited commission and is part of the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad.

Opening today at Pallant House Gallery in Chichester, West Sussex, is a studio exhibition showcasing the results of ‘Look About’, a two year mapping and collecting project by Portsmouth‐based artist Jon Adams in response to the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad.

The UK Disabled People's Council (UKDPC) is sad to announce that the Together! 2012 free Disability Arts and Human Rights festival at London Pleasure Gardens has been cancelled due to the closure of the venue.

Survivor film maker Lou Birks has been commissioned to write and direct a Paralympic Ceremony opening film. The film will play to a packed 80,000 seater stadium and be broadcast around the world. Estimated worldwide viewing figures are 1.5 billion.

The groundbreaking performing arts company Signdance Collective are to perform its Olympic inspired outdoor performance piece: 'New Gold' and 'Half A Penny' featuring the London-based Punk/ Jazz Duo, 'Dead Days Beyond Help' as part of their European Tour for 2012

London's Southbank Centre will present an unprecedented programme of commissions by Deaf and disabled artists in an 11-day celebration between 30 August – 9 September. All 29 Cultural Olympiad Unlimited commissions will feature at Southbank Centre as part of the London 2012 Festival

Paddy Masefield, award winning playwright, innovative theatre director and stalwart campaigner for disability rights, died of cancer, aged 70, last Friday. DAO Editor Colin Hambrook, remembers a few of the achievements of this remarkable man.

RADA is introducing a programme of workshops aimed at young people with impairments who might not previously have considered a career on the stage

HORSHAM will be treated to a Rio style carnival at Sparks in the Park on Sunday 15 July when the Blue Touch Paper Carnival comes to town with Embaixadores de Alegria from Rio

Diverse City welcome Brazilian dancers to Dorset for two weeks of performances across Dorset culminating in the performance of a lifetime in the Battle for the Winds: The Ceremony of the Winds and Final Battle on 28th July.

Portsmouth University’s Artist in Residence, Jon Adams, has been awarded a prestigious fellowship by the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts (RSA).

DaDaFest 2012 is proud to announce the full programme of events for this year’s festival with an eclectic mix of music, art, comedy, theatre, poetry, performance, workshops and seminars.

Accentuate is delighted to announce that uScreen, led by Screen South, has reached the Semi Finals of the National Lottery Awards. uScreen offers young deaf & disabled people the opportunity to make films online using a range of free accessible film-making tools with live showcases and workshops.

Niet Normaal: Difference on Display, a major international contemporary art exhibition, comes to the Bluecoat, Liverpool this summer as part of DaDaFest 2012 and is set to include two new commissions from influential North West artists

Simon Raven is the 2012 winner of this prestigious disability-art prize which includes a three month residency at Camden Arts Centre and £5000

One of Scotland’s leading theatre production companies has today announced the launch of a new project to increase involvement in theatre for Deaf people both as audiences and professionals

Artist Rachel Gadsden (UK) and the Bambanani artist-activist Group (South Africa) explore the psychology and politics of HIV/AIDS and of life-giving medical regimes in an Unlimited commission, showing in Cambridge, Liverpool and London as part of the London 2012 Festival.

Many of you will have followed the development of the National Disability Arts Collection and Archive (NDACA) and now DAO is asking for your help in supporting and assuring the future of this unique resource

The Unity Festival, created by Hijinx Theatre, is taking place between 21 – 30 June and will showcase and celebrate the best in inclusive, disability and learning-disability arts from Wales, the UK and around the world, promoting positive images of disability and social inclusion to audiences

Vital Xposure packs a punch in Bethnal Green as the former boxing ground of the Kray Twins becomes the home of the new disability-led theatre company Vital Xposure which launched at the weekend.

Turning Points is a ten minute film being screened as part of the London 2012 Festival, the spectacular 12-week nationwide celebration running from 21 June until 9 September 2012 bringing together leading artists from across the world with the very best from the UK.

Innovative Liverpool-based disability and deaf arts organisation Disability and Deaf Arts will now be known as DaDaFest – taking on the name of its best known event, the critically acclaimed international festival. In line with this name change, the entire DaDaFest brand has received an overhaul including a vibrant new image and website design.

A unique piece of music has been commissioned by Drake Music Scotland to highlight the musical talents of young people with disabilities and feature centre stage at the 2012 Cultural Olympiad.

Part of the Unlimited Cultural Olympiad programme and the London 2012 Festival, Tin Bath Theatre's 'Bee Detective' is 
an outdoor theatre show for deaf and hearing children. Created by Sophie Woolley, it will be touring parks and squares across the UK this summer.

To celebrate broadcasting London 2012 Paralympic Games Channel 4 have commissioned 'Monument to the Unintended Performer' created by Tony Heaton

Shape Arts yesterday (29 May) announced the shortlist for the Adam Reynolds Memorial Bursary 2012

Marian Cleary, DAO's new sub-editor, introduces the Unlimited commissions

DAO is delighted to announce a significant Grants for the Arts award by Arts Council England to commission eight disabled artists to work with organisations nationally to produce new works over the period of a year for online presentation.

Multimedia artist Mark Ware has been awarded Arts Council Grants for the Arts funding to develop and produce an exciting, innovative high quality multimedia digital art project in collaboration with Exeter Cathedral, to interpret 900 years of history, using digital and HD technology.

There is a week to go for artists to submit applications for Shape Arts' Adam Reynolds Memorial Bursary. Submissions close on 8 May 2012.

From Fri 13 July – Sun 2 September, the Bluecoat will be given over to this landmark exhibition, which will feature the work of over 30 internationally renowned artists including new commissions, each addressing a definitive question of our time: ‘what is normal and who decides?’ specifically focussing on language as freedom and language as imprisonment.

Arts Council England has announced that Embrace Arts (Richard Attenborough Centre at Leicester University) has been successful in the first stage of its new large-scale capital funding programme with a proposed award of £600,000.

Participatory arts organisation Action Space Mobile have given records their work over the past 44 years to Sheffield University’s Special collections Archives Department, for use by graduates.

Blue Eyed Soul Dance have announced that they are to close at the end of March 2012. The company grew from a residency with CandoCo Dance Company in 1994. From its base in rural Shropshire and with the support of Arts Council England it explored, developed and delivered a highly successful and extensive programme of inclusive dance, locally, nationally and internationally.

Folk in Motion, a unique new folk dance project for wheelchair users, has been granted the Inspire mark by the London 2012 Inspire programme. The London 2012 Inspire programme recognises innovative and exceptional projects that are directly inspired by the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

A street in High Wycombe will be creatively transformed in March as part of a cultural programme celebrating London 2012. Conceptual disabled artist, Zoe Partington, has worked on developing a creative response to how disabled people navigate through urban spaces and the impact this has on them emotionally and physically.

Ten years ago this month, 'Electroboy: A Memoir of Mania' was published by Random House. Author Andy Behrman, talks about the journey, as the book moves towards being made into a film.

Arts Council England and the BBC today announced the 53 successful applicants who will be creating hundreds of hours of original commissions for 'The Space' – an experimental digital arts media service and commissioning programme.

Critically-acclaimed dance theatre company Signdance Collective is to perform its show New Gold at Warehouse Theatre in London for two weeks in April, as part of the 2012 Cultural Olympiad, a cultural celebration inspired by the Olympics and Paralympics.

The search is on to find the UK’s favourite National Lottery-funded arts projects

DaDaFest 2012, the UK’s largest Disability and Deaf Arts Festival, has scooped this year’s prestigious £10,000 Lever Prize award.

Shape, in association with Westway Development Trust and our sponsors HSBC, would like to invite applications for the Shape Open Exhibition 2012 from artists who have work that comments or makes reference to issues surrounding disability.

Disabled Londoners are set to benefit from Shape Diamonds in 2012, a year which includes the Cultural Olympiad and Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.

Diversity should be about opening up and expanding our thinking, with everyone benefiting from different perspectives and alternative points of view. That’s why this week Sync - a leadership development programme funded by Arts Council England – is expanding its membership to everyone interested in leadership and diversity through a strand called InSync.

Hope Whitmore has recently received support from Graeae Theatre Company for the background research of a play she is writing called Off Key. She is hoping to hear from people with autism about difficult situations they have been in, and especially about the experience of ‘coming-out’ as autistic to those close to them.

The nationally respected development agency for disabled and Deaf artists, Dada-South, starts the new year proud to announce their change of name. From 1st February the organisation will be known as Ardent Hare.

Mind the Gap win NatWest CommunityForce Award to develop a filmmaking project in the North East

The next stage of the London 2012 Paralympic Torch Relay Torchbearer nomination process started this week. BT, one of the three Presenting Partners for the London 2012 Paralympic Torch Relay, launched their public nomination campaign on 13 December 2012.

UK’s first comprehensive study of venue access is to be published by Attitude is Everything, providing key information about the main barriers to access at music venues and festivals

To celebrate the International Day of Disabled People on 3rd December 2011, the 23 BBC Big Screens across the UK will be showing a series of DaDa short films from 12.30-1pm.

Poet Benjamin Zephaniah tells his rags to riches story, as he prepares to take up the post of chair of Creative Writing at Brunel University

Showstopping Lizzie Emeh wows crowd at the London Studios as she wins the Champion Award at the Ability Media International (AMI) awards 2011.

Creative excellence amongst disabled artists was honoured at the Ability Media International (AMI) awards on Sunday 20 November 2011, as stars of screen, stage, broadcast and new media joined to celebrate diversity and inclusion in the media and arts

The Royal College of Physicians (RCP) and partners, Shape, have won a top award with their ‘challenging’ exhibition of RCP portraits Re-framing disability: portraits from the Royal College of Physicians.

Heart n Soul celebrate 25 years with a The Beautiful Octopus Club at the Royal Festival Hall on Friday 2nd December, 7pm.

DaDaFest, the International Festival of Disability and Deaf Arts, has announced that the festival is to return in summer 2012, with the theme of TransActions - Fluid Bodies: Shifting Identities

Extant's paper 'Haptic Reassurance in the Pitch Black for an Immersive Theatre Experience' was awarded best paper at the international technology conference UbiComp 2011 in Beijing, China.

Five Needles is a short film by Deaf Director Julian Peedle-Calloo, which follows the story of four Deaf women in the concentration camps during WW2 who are hiding their Deafness to stay alive.

Leading arts organisation Heart n Soul launched its Paralympic Games website Games Through Our Eyes, created by its Media Team, on 23 September 2011 at its Squidz Club for young people with learning difficulties.

Cooltan's BIG Largactyl Shuffle was organised to celebrate World Mental Health Day and explored the history of the NHS 'from cradle to grave'.

Broadcasters, producers, directors and screenwriters have been invited to nominate companies for awards celebrating creativity and diversity in broadcasting industry

Disabled Avant Garde have published a four minute film on youtube of their protest at the Liberty Festival on London's South Bank on 19 August 2011.

Theatre Company Spare Tyre, toured residential homes nationally in Autumn 2011, working creatively with older people with dementia to medically benefit participants.

Bournemouth People First, a charity run for and by people with learning disabilities, were delighted to be awarded a grant of £49,700 from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) to support a new 18 month project called ‘Struggle for Equality’.

DaDa – Disability and Deaf Arts is delighted that North West Business Leadership Team (NWBLT) has named DaDaFest International 2012 winners of the Lever Prize.

The London 2012 Cultural Olympiad, Arts Council England, the UK Arts Councils and the British Council have awarded £700,000 of funding in the final round of Unlimited Commissions.

Four organisations were named as finalists in the arts category of The National Lottery Awards 2011, the annual search to find the UK’s favourite Lottery-funded projects.

The End of an Era: Cochrane Theatre’s parting performances on 21st and 22nd September will premiere Vital Xposure’s The Knitting Circle’, exposing the hidden stories of Britain’s madhouses.

Liberty is a platform for amazing new work from deaf and disabled artists. Come and enjoy an afternoon of music and cabaret, outdoor arts and dance, and fun for children at the Southbank Centre and National Theatre.

The Arts Council of England will launch the Creative Case - a new approach to diversity, during a day-long public symposium in Manchester on Monday 12 September.

The Orpheus Centre are performing a production of ‘The Tempest' at The Rose Theatre, Kingston and the Linbury Studio Theatre at The Royal Opera House.

Gary Thomas' new project The Dog and the Palace Film and Workshops was granted the Inspire Mark, the badge of the London 2012 Inspire Programme

Commissioned by Drake Music, Distant Interiors was created during March/April 2011 by three artists investigating translation and interpretation via remote, three-way collaboration

Garry Robson Artistic Director DaDaFest International 2010 reflects on the impact of the work of award-winning visual artist/disabled artist Tanya Raabe as she launches a major touring show at Solihull Gallery.

Written and directed by artist and film-maker Simon Mckeown, and starring Liz Carr, 'The Beaten' questions society’s attitude to care and domination.

A short piece of video art by Chris Tally Evans, depicting one year of life on a reach of the River Wye, is among the artwork to be exhibited at the Kennedy Center, Washington DC, USA this June for a prestigious VSA exhibition titled Shift.

Legendary punk rock combo Heavy Load released a new version of The Ting Ting’s No.1 hit ‘That’s Not My Name’ that coincided with Learning Disability week in June 2011.This release focused on the issue of Disability Hate Crime

Why did the chicken cross the road? Which came first the chicken or the egg? Mind the Gap’s talented cast of learning disabled professional performers hatched a plan to answer these and other less poultry questions in their new street theatre piece, ‘Chicken Coup!’ which toured festivals during the summer of 2011

Charlie Swinbourne gives an account of writing My Song - a seminal film directed by William Mager that premiered at Deaffest in May.

Attitude is Everything is delighted to announce their third Club Attitude showcase at Glastonbury 2011 featuring beauteous acoustic bards, street folk poetics and punk rock legends inter-spiced with beats, bleeps and signed rap!

Shoot Your Mouth Off's (SYMO) spanking new website has gone live, hosting a huge range of films featuring the enormous talent of disabled people in the North East of England

Performance artist Aaron Williamson presents a feature on BBC Radio 4 on Tuesday 15 March at 11.30am, exploring whether performing arts practice can do what political agitation never has?

Having a first outing at the Soho Theatre, London, from 21-23 February, The Knitting Circle is an exciting new work in progress, reuniting director Paulette Randall and writer / producer Julie McNamara. Based on the testimonies of people who survived the asylums closed in the 1980s and 90s.

Chris Tally-Evans invites you to take part in Turning Points - an inspirational national story-telling project, which is part of the Unlimited Cultural Olympiad program.

An exhibition by Blind with Camera is showing at the DaDa-Fest International, Liverpool until 3 December 2010. DAO talked to Partho Bhowmick who set up the project in Mumbai, India in 2006 after being inspired by Evgen Bavcar, an accomplished blind photographer based in Paris.

A unique solo performance by Pete Edwards - telling the story of a gay, disabled man in search of his heart’s desire. Produced in association with Graeae Theatre Company.

Wendy McGowan-Griffin interviews Matthew Miller, Co-Director of Fabrica Gallery about the curatorial decisions made during the installation of Martin Parr’s 'House of Vernacular,' which ran from 2 October to 28 November 2010 as part of the Brighton Photography Biennial.

Autumn 2010 see StopGAP Dance Company embarking on a tour of their latest double bill - 'Within' choreographed by Thomas Noone and 'Splinter' choreographed by Rob Tannion. Lucy Bennett provides a dancers' insight into this exciting development in StopGAPs work

Deafinitely Creative, the nation's only playwriting programme exclusively for deaf writers, has chosen its four finalists for 2010-11.

Over the coming months DAO intends to report on a range of events taking place under the Accentuate banner. Accentuate is funded by Legacy Trust UK which is creating a cultural and sporting legacy from the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, SEEDA and the regional cultural agencies. Screen South is the home of Accentuate.

Led by artist Jon Adams, this initiative intends to start a dialogue and a series of conversations reflecting the real issues around disability, our fragility and the nature of Public Art.

Disabled people from across the UK came together in Westminster on 3 June 2010 for the launch of a new campaign to ensure legislation prohibiting assisted suicide and euthanasia remains in place

Shape Animate Podcast: Julie McNamara tells an audience about her years of struggle as an artist, culminating in a painful moment of realisation and conflict.

Groundbreaking comedy performer, Maysoon Zayid, takes a break from her hectic schedule to talk to us about her craft.

Once a painter, always a painter! Kit Wells talk about life and painting in relation to his recent acrylics of urban wasteland and desolate places.

Jasna Nikolic is the first of six Outside In residency artists at Pallant House Gallery. Here, she talks about her work and influences.

South London arts organisation Heart n Soul celebrated recent MBE awards to director Mark Williams and founder artist Pino Frumiento in the Queen's New Years Honours on Wednesday 31 March. Heart n Soul Now toasted the royal recognition at the Albany arts venue in Deptford, where the organisation has been based for 24 years.

Deaf actor David Bower stars in an innovative radio play accompanied by an online sign-theatre film of the drama. Catch it on BBC Radio 4 on 9 April 2010 at 2.15pm

Colin Hambrook profiles an upcoming play inspired by the life and times of legendary disabled performer, Ian Dury. Written by award-winning playwright Garry Robson of Fittings Multimedia Arts, the play is due to tour the UK from the beginning of April 2010.

London 2012 and Arts Council England have announced that over £400,000 of funding has been awarded to 10 commissions for Unlimited, the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad project - the UK’s largest programme celebrating arts, culture and sport by disabled and deaf people.

Artist and Writer Allan Sutherland talks about the work of artist Tony Heaton, part of the Shape Animate series of workshops.

Samuel Dore AKA Bursteardrum has been working as a film-maker, cameraman and editor since 2000. Colin Hambrook asked him a few questions in preparation for his talk and workshop as part of Shape's 'Animate' programme

Colin Hambrook talks with theatre practitioner Julie McNamara about her Animate talk at Shape on 4 March 2010. Animate explores the rich history of Disability Arts through talks and workshops.

CoolTan Arts, the London-based arts project working with mental health service users, launched three films at the British Film Institute on February 8, 2010. One film follows their pioneering Largactyl Shuffle late-night art and heritage walks round London.

Parliamentary Outreach have launched an innovative new initiative designed with mental health group, Rethink. Colin Hambrook reports on how the project is engaging with communities of disabled people, within the mental health arena, who have traditionally been disengaged from the democratic process.

Animate explores the rich history of Disability Arts through talks and workshops. Colin Hambrook asked visual artist Noemi Lakmaier about her plans for the second of these talks at Shape on 8 February 2010

Animate will explore the rich history of Disability Arts, through a programme of talks and workshops. Colin Hambrook asked Tony Heaton, sculptor and Chief Executive of Shape, what he plans to talk about himself, and what he is looking forward to hearing about from the artists leading these events?

DAO editor, Colin Hambrook spoke to Dada-South’s director Stevie Rice about the organisation’s role in Accentuate over the next couple of years.

Two Cultural Olympiad events, taking place during 2010, are aimed at opening up arts and culture to new audiences. Organisers want non-commercial organisations to get involved in developing and planning how these projects shape up.

Disabled artist and activist Liz Crow reached The Guardian's 'Top 10 from Trafalgar' list, selected from the 2400 people who have each spent one hour alone on the empty plinth.

The annual DaDaFest Awards are for many people the highlight of DaDaFest. This year’s awards were presented on 3 December 2009 at a black tie event at the Hilton, Liverpool.

Disability Arts Online has won its first national accolade. The site was highly commended at the Jodi Awards, announced December 2, 2009 at the Sackler Centre, V&A, in London. The national and international Jodi Awards celebrate the best use of digital technology in the service of access to culture for disabled people.

Oska Bright 2009 runs from Tuesday 17 to Thursday 19 November 2009 with different screenings each day. As well as daily screenings Oska Bright includes Master Classes, mentoring sessions, a fabulous awards ceremony and a closing party with live music. The festival kick off with an inspiring workshops for people with learning disabilities wanting to learn how to make films.

Jon Pratty reports on Rethink Parliament, a new collaboration between Rethink, dao and Parliamentary Outreach launched this month by John Bercow, Speaker of the House of Commons.

Katherine Araniello and Aaron Williamson of the Disabled Avant Garde have published two new films satirising the current state of disability arts. Take a look and weep.

Liz Crow of Roaring Girl Productions tells us about the making of Resistance - a dual-screen moving image installation that will tour galleries and museums and is due to be launched on 17 November 2009 as major part of DaDaFest, Novas CUC Gallery, Liverpool.

Deaf and Disabled arts, culture and sports are right at the core of Unlimited, a new London 2012 Cultural Olympiad programme worth £3m launched at South Bank Centre

This autumn Pallant House Gallery plays host to Jon Adams' retrospective 'The Goose on the Hill' from 13 October – 22 November 2009. The exhibition coincides with ‘Outside In’ - a major exhibition of Outsider Art.

Magpie Dance have been challenging their dancers through a series of workshops with the Siobhan Davies Dance Company. Eileen Strong reports.

The fourth decibel Performing Arts Showcase, takes place in Manchester from 15-18 September 2009. The showcase, run by Arts Council England offers promoters and national and international arts professionals a unique snapshot of England’s diverse performing arts talent.

'Outside In' is on show at Pallant House Gallery, 9 North Pallant, Chichester, West Sussex, 4 August – 8 November 2009. The exhibition provides a platform for artists who are marginalised due to health, disability or other social circumstances. Marc Steene, Head of Learning, explains some of the reasoning behind the competition, due to become a national event by 2011.

Paula Silva gives an overview of Flickering Darkness - a film installation premiered at the Chamber of Commerce in Bogota, by Juan delGado of Cremer Projects.

Liz Porter gives an overview of a pilot Parliamentary Outreach project developed in partnership with Essex County Council, The Women's Library, Rethink, Epping Forest Museum, and Southend Discovery Museum.

A Yorkshire project, coordinated by ADA inc, focusing on the creative responses of disabled artists to the complex overlaps between art, sport and disability.

Rachel Feldberg, Artistic Director of the Ilkley Literature Festival, discusses life, love and disability with Jo Verrent, director of ADA inc.

Caroline Cardus reports on Buckinghamshire's Cultural Olympiad project.

Sally Booth, a well-known visually impaired visual artist, beat competition from artists across the UK to be announced as the recipient of the Adam Reynolds Memorial Bursary 2008.

STAGETEXT is a charity which provides captioning services to theatres so that deaf, deafened and hard of hearing people can enjoy the latest plays and musicals.

Late at Tate - an artist intervention in Tate Britain’s Duveen Galleries - was recently curated by Vauxhall’s art laboratory, Beaconsfield. The concept behind the evening was the idea of creating a terminal space, with an array of arrival and departure points, in which only the surreal applied.

Caroline Cardus' Go Make! residency at Fort Brockhurst in Gosport, is the fourth in an ongoing series of bursaries for disabled and deaf artists, awarded by Dada-South. Colin Hambrook reports.

Pauline Alexander tells the story of turning direct experience of employment discrimination into Art

Joe Bidder interviews Chris Hammond as part of a series of profiles looking at the lives of leading figures within the Disability Arts movement

DAO asked Oska Bright about the world's first national festival of short films made by and for people with learning disabilities

Sophie Woolley runs the course of modern tragi-comedy with her latest one-woman show 'When to Run?' Or so says Melissa Mostyn

James Aldridge explores his relationship to disability and impairment

Joe McConnell talks to Pádraig Naughton about his journey as a visual artist with a sight impairment.

Melissa Mostyn talks to Cathy Woolley about her work and inspiration as artist and friend.

A tribute to a great disability arts activist

Laurence Clark tours his latest stand-up show - on the condition that Jim Davidson isn't let in the theatre - until December 2005.

Joe McConnell, editor of DAIL Magazine, provides a look at the work of some of the disabled artists who received bursaries in 2004 from Artsadmin for work in digital media.

Celebrating Disability Arts is the title of a publication by Allan Sutherland reviewing 20 years of Disability Arts practice.

Mark Ware has created a play, a film and an exhibition that's influenced by his life after a stroke at the age of 39. Colin Hambrook talked to him about his creative journey.