Nothing Without Us

From my work with Iz Paher as MELT, I am working on projects and practices that build towards worlds not structured by ableism. In this article we are not telling you how to make X more accessible. We are not asking for [boxes to be checked] crumbs – we are asking for a culture shift and for long-held assumptions to crumble. We are asking for access, but more than that, we are calling for anti-ableism to be put into practice(s). Anti-ableism unmakes ableism, a form of oppression that hierarchizes people and practices in terms of ability, and is interwoven with racism, anti-queer sentiment, colonial disposession, classism, and other forms of structural oppression.

The image shows writing in green chalk on a concrete outdoor ground. It is from a recent performance from MELT titled ‘Against Curing’ at Floating University in Berlin. The letters move around a crack and read: concretizing accessibility? We are on a concrete ramp. Photo taken by Mor Senesh Aaronsohn Arkadir.