All In - Episode 1

Speaker 1 (00:07):

Welcome to all in the show that celebrates the incredible world of disability, arts and culture where creativity knows no bounds and voices are amplified. My name is Nikki and I will be one of your co-hosts.

Speaker 2 (00:21):

Hi, my name is John and I'll be one of your co-hosts. And hello, my name is Adam.

Speaker 1 (00:27):

Each week we'll dive into all things disability, arts, advocacy, and culture.

Speaker 3 (00:32):

From spotlighting underrepresented voices to discussing the issues that matter to people with disabilities like us, we're here to shake things up.

Speaker 2 (00:42):

This week we'll be doing the Ability Fest

Speaker 1 (00:47):

And talking about the Prime Minister's slur in parliament. In Parliament.

Speaker 3 (00:51):

Get ready for fun, ride through creativity, community, and change because in the world of all in everyone's invited first though. Welcome to our arts and culture segment Access all where we celebrate the vibrant world of disability creativity. Each week will be spotlighting a talented artist who are breaking barriers and redefining what it means to create.

Speaker 1 (01:19):

Today we are joined by Angelina Mito. Angelina is an Italian Australian abstract artist based in Melbourne who believes that the presence of art can make a positive difference and transform the way we can experience public and private spaces. Welcome Angelina.

Speaker 2 (01:39):

Thank you. Just wondering, how did you start your art?

Speaker 4 (01:45):

It actually started with the recovery from a functional seizure where my mind body connection was highly compromised and at that time I didn't have the capacity to use a paintbrush and coordinate with a small canvas and a way that we worked around it because I did respond to colour and I was really emotional. I found it hard to talk, but I would cry a lot and just a part of the rehabilitation process ended up being working with bigger canvases and pallet knives, and I just kind of never stopped and the better, I kept getting better and I really have a background in writing, but I kind of lost my capacity to read and write and be coherent and articulate. But it was like I could communicate through colour and these palette knives in a way that I don't know, I just have not stopped.

Speaker 1 (02:45):

Can you tell us a little bit about your creative process? I know that you're a fairly prolific artist, so I know that there's a lot of emotion and expression in your daily life. Can you tell us a little bit more about that?

Speaker 4 (02:59):

Yeah, so it's definitely my process is emotion based. And the emotion or state I'm in will often have a high resonance with a particular colour, which I'll work with or particular combinations of colours. And it's actually, the process is probably most likened to the action artist. It's in the moment. It's not preplanned or controlled or precise. I just let me be who I am in the moment and the painting be what it is in the moment even. And there's always that thing, it might not work, but it is actually the process that I love about the art. So it's kind of like the way that it is, and I am really aware that a lot of other artists processes are very, very different. But yeah, that's what works for me.

Speaker 3 (03:55):

Yeah. Touching on that actually, with your process, how does your painting in general represent your disability experience?

Speaker 4 (04:04):

Because it's in the moment. I think it's a direct, so with that functional seizure, I lost everything. I couldn't even move for a while. My background, as I said, was in the reading and the writing. I couldn't read or write like I used to. So from one minute to the next, my entire life changed. For a while. I couldn't really get to the bathroom. Even on my own, people would talk. I wouldn't understand what I, so I lost everything and I didn't know that everything I was trying to do to recover, I'd regain all the capacities that I had. My short-term memory's not really recovered a hundred percent since, and quite a few other things had not, but I'd been able to recover in a way that I didn't, had no idea I would achieve, but I could have another significant functional seizure at any point and lose what I have now. So with the disability, it's like take the moment for what it is, and that's what I do when make art. It might be I might not have the next moment. So yeah, it's how it really comes. In

Speaker 1 (05:15):

What ways are you hoping that your art might impact other people who have similar life experiences?

Speaker 4 (05:25):

I really hope because the functional seizures come from complex post-traumatic stress disorder, and that has a myriad of other conditions. So there's several, but at the heart of it, it's complex post-traumatic stress disorder. And in that state and trauma, it can take you outside of words and in very primal states and very emotional states where it's very hard to explain yourself and communicate. But my hope is that in a way that art, which is without words and just colour and emotion and movement, that there can be a recognition or a sense of connection or not aloneness and a way of communicating without words when we can't use them and something becomes visible in a way like that invisible disability is invisible. So it's really hard to explain what I'm trying to say about something in that way. I hope it does that.

Speaker 1 (06:27):

In sharing your story, someone else might see their own story, do you think?

Speaker 4 (06:30):

Correct. Even if we can't use words to share that story by just like a human recognition or an experience in the presence of art, even whether it be my own or other people's art, I just think that there's such a power, a potential power in that I find I experience and I hope others do too.

Speaker 1 (06:52):

Fantastic. And if people want to look more into your Aunt Angelina, where can they find you?

Speaker 4 (07:00):

You can find me at Angelina Murdo Art, and I have an Instagram account, which is Angelina Murdo artist, and on TikTok as well. It's Angelina Nado artist.

Speaker 1 (07:12):

Fantastic. Thank you so much for joining us. Thank you for having me. We are now joined by regular guest James Harkness. James is a film buff and an art critic. This week he is reviewing the award-winning film. A Beautiful Mind. Welcome, James.

Speaker 5 (07:34):

Thank you, Nikki. And why this film? Thank you. Thanks for asking about that. Look, I love this. Look, it's a Hollywood film. It's a real, and it's a little bit cheesy in places, a bit sentimental, that kind of thing. But what I love about this film, it's a rare film in that it demonstrates a particular type of psychosis that people often with schizophrenia will experience, which is what he has in the film. Schizophrenia. And the condition is called ideas of reference. And it's this situation, it's a situation where the person suffering from the ideas of reference will look at a newspaper, or sorry, read a newspaper or listen to a radio show or watch the tv, and they will think that it's personally addressing them, that there are messages coming from that form of media which personally addressed them in some particular way. And this guy, John Nash, was a brilliant genius mathematician.

(08:46):

I'm certainly not claiming to be anything like that, but when I've been unwell, I have schizoaffective disorder, I've experienced ideas of reference I've, as he does in the film, obsessively look at the newspaper. In my case, I wasn't looking for secret mathematical codes. I was more in a very self-obsessed way looking for details that I'd written on a blog or something like that, that I imagined were being relayed back to me through the newspaper. But there aren't many books or films or forms of art which show this state called ideas of reference, and this film does that, and I love it for that reason. It shows him looking at the newspapers and decoding and taking notes and that sort of thing. And it's great the way it does that. Yeah.

Speaker 3 (09:43):

So as someone that's experienced it yourself too, do you feel like you have more of a critical eye in this film for that reason or

Speaker 5 (09:54):

Look, like I said, I don't claim to be, I don't have a mathematical mind at all. And he was a, I think it was economics. He came up with some economic theory. I'd call myself a pop culture enthusiast or even less than that, I'm just a self-obsessed film lover, and that's me. And I thought the film was a bit cheesy. It's got its flaws, it's quite a sentimental film and it's Russell Crowe's performance is good, but it's a Ron Howard film and look, he makes good films. They are very Hollywood. It's not what you'd call an independent film or certainly not an art house film. It's a Hollywood film. But I think it does a good job of demonstrating schizophrenia and in particular these ideas of reference. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (10:55):

What do you think that means for people who experience ideas of reference? Do you think that's made it easier for them to perhaps have dialogue with their family about witnessing that in a film?

Speaker 5 (11:07):

Absolutely. I think, what's the famous quote, you can't be what you can't see, and just seeing it represented in a film is a really positive thing. It's great. It shows that people experience that.

Speaker 1 (11:25):

Do you think it's changed the stereotypes around schizoaffective or schizophrenic disorders where ideas of reference are present?

Speaker 5 (11:33):

Look, I think it does do that. I think it contributes to, and it's perpetuated by the media. Schizophrenia is this condition where someone has two personalities, this sort of thing, and that's not the truth at all. It's more of a psychotic condition, and psychosis is misunderstood too. So showing this very particular specific ideas of reference in the film is a great thing and it shows him to be someone who's suffering. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (12:06):

Fantastic. Thanks James. I've really enjoyed your insight.

Speaker 5 (12:10):

Thank you. Thanks for having me. Thank you. Yeah,

Speaker 3 (12:19):

You are watching all in this week. I'm reviewing Ability Fest. I was lucky enough to be there in Melbourne on the weekend, and it was such an incredible experience, an all accessible festival founded by Dylan Alcott and the Dylan Alcott Foundation, which was launched in 2019 and featured a diverse lineup of artisan performers, all ensuring an accessible environment for everyone. Here is the clip showcasing what it's all about.

Speaker 6 (12:50):

Ability Fest was an idea of mine that came to me about two years ago. I love music festivals. It was the first place that I felt fully included having a disability. I used to get bullied about my disability and I hated it. And I remember I went to a music festival and I was like, no one cares about my disability. They just cared about the music and wanted to enjoy it with their friends and family. And for a lot of people with disabilities, they don't get those opportunities. So we wanted to make a music festival for anybody, whether you're able-bodied or disabled to come together and have a good time and enjoy the music. And as you can see, it came together.

(13:27):

Ability First is the first of its kind all around the world. We have some added accessibility features so people with disability can come. We have flooring around all the inaccessible paths and grass. We have elevated platforms for people with disability. We have auslan sign language interpreters on stage signing every single lyric on the main stage. We have a quiet area or a chill zone for people with sensory disabilities, so they can go in there and relax, put on noise cancelling headphones and try and enjoy the show. We have a guide dog area to educate people on how guide dogs work. We have absolutely everything. And to see so many different people with so many different disabilities coming here and enjoying themselves with their everybody friends, it means so much for us and it's so special that it's all going towards a good cause to try and raise as much money to help as many young Australians with disability across the country achieve their dreams.

Speaker 3 (14:34):

As you can see, it's truly accessible and inclusive.

Speaker 1 (14:38):

Adam, can you tell us a little bit more about what makes it inclusive and accessible?

Speaker 3 (14:42):

So what makes it inclusive, accessible for sars? It's the price. I mean, obviously a lot of people with disability tend to stroll to be able to afford these major festivals. I mean like Laneway and other festivals typically quite harder to reach due to the income difference between a person with a disability and a standard festival goer. So that's one major point. But also obviously the facilities and you had all these, the toilets, for example, all accessible toilets you had in the mosh pits, you had all different ways to be able to get your wheelchair, to be able to be comfortably placed near the front. And you had an interpreter signing all the gigs, all the performances as well, which I must say it looks like one of the most fun tasks to do. Being able to just sign while the performance is happening at the same time. And obviously the lineup itself, as I referenced earlier, started with two artists that identify as having a disability, gk, which is a rapper and got on from a Triple J on Earth competition. And then the second act, Eliza Hull is another one with a disability and a really both of fantastic artists. I heavily recommend checking both out, honestly, because to open with these two, obviously at the start of the two important parts are normally start the day and then at the end of the performance. So to open with

Speaker 1 (16:39):

It feels like our community.

Speaker 3 (16:41):

Yeah, yeah, exactly.

Speaker 1 (16:42):

I've seen Eliza twice, it's amazing. I do have a question. Did they actually also caption when the videos? So it wasn't just sign interpreting, there was Captioning two,

Speaker 3 (16:53):

There was captioning two. Fantastic. Yeah, so we had the two big screens. As with most festivals, obviously we have the big screens, but yeah, you had the captioning.

Speaker 1 (17:03):

I think Ability Festival might be the only place that's actually captioning

Speaker 3 (17:06):

As well. Yeah, I believe so

Speaker 1 (17:07):

Too. Yeah. Wow, that's amazing.

Speaker 3 (17:10):

Yeah, it's such inclusive environment. And there was also all these different areas as well. There was a specific quiet area as well, and there was silent discos and all that. So for the quiet zone, obviously low stimulus kind of looking environment, so you can just go in and if it's too much at the festival, you can just go in there and take a break. Or the silent disco, you couldn't enjoy the music without the crowd crush kind of problem, so yeah.

Speaker 1 (17:44):

That's fantastic.

Speaker 3 (17:45):

It was all,

Speaker 1 (17:46):

Were they casting to the quiet rooms as well so people could still see?

Speaker 3 (17:50):

I believe so, yes.

Speaker 1 (17:51):

Wonderful. They covered everything.

Speaker 3 (17:54):

I was at the front though, on the barricade, so I'm not particularly sure. But yeah.

Speaker 2 (18:00):

So what was your favourite artist and what was your favourite bit?

Speaker 3 (18:06):

I'm obviously a bit of a Australian music, tragic, so obviously the fact there was an Australian lineup overall was fantastic. But I'm a huge fan of King Stingray of Kate Alexander Eliza, which I referenced earlier as well. Yeah, there was Ocean Alley, which is obviously Legend of Australian indie scene. Yeah, I mean, I basically just named half the lineup there. I know that. But yeah. Anyway, I'm just looking forward to next year, which ability first will be back next year, and you should all check it out

Speaker 2 (18:45):

And say all the details. I would definitely be there because I missed out on this last year, but I'll be there next year. Look out Me Too.

Speaker 1 (19:02):

In a controversial moment in Australian parliament this week, prime Minister Anthony Albanese faced backlash for using a disability related slur regarding Tourette syndrome during a speech. The remark drew immediate backlash and criticism from disability advocates and disability rights groups who highlighted the harmful impact of using such language on public perception and stigma surrounding disabilities. Although he apologised. I'm wondering how both of you feel about what Anthony Albanese said, and even the apology itself

Speaker 2 (19:43):

To me, it wasn't really great. I feel, especially when ableism in our parliament is so high, these guys have been voted into our system, they shouldn't be there. That's what I'm thinking.

Speaker 1 (20:01):

What about you, Adam?

Speaker 3 (20:02):

Well, on that moment, you kind of think when you're in the headed moment, I feel like you can't hold back what you truly think. So that means that when the elbow says that, that means that in normal conversation, in the backgrounds, he deems that acceptable.

Speaker 1 (20:29):

It shows a lot of his character. I also wonder, do you think it's embarrassing for Australia, we have artists like Louis Capaldi, Alex Wolf, who's an actor and a musician who are openly talking about having Tourettes. How do you think it makes Australia look on a public stage? Do you think it's embarrassing?

Speaker 3 (20:51):

Yeah, it is quite frankly embarrassing. There's no other way to really describe it. We're in the year of 2024, and we've got all this education out there of what Tourette's syndrome is, and I feel like in a lot of cases we've made quite significant processes as a nation in total. And then the person who's the figurehead of that then says something like that, that's obviously going to be highly publicised, not just here, but also on a worldwide sense. It's not a look that I particularly am in favour of.

Speaker 1 (21:35):

In his apology, he said the word sufferer of tourette. How do you guys feel about sufferer?

Speaker 2 (21:46):

Sufferer is dear. Yeah. It really is demoralising and belittling. And if elbows watching, look out because the disability world is not happy.

Speaker 3 (22:00):

Yeah, it's always how it's phrased. You obviously went through however many advisors in creating this apology statement, and you still didn't pick up that this might not be the wording that's needed.

Speaker 1 (22:23):

This isn't the first time we've seen this kind of behaviour from politicians though using disability related slurs to criticise other people in parliament. Do you think that all parliamentarians need to do some sort of training in equality language and get a better understanding or spend more time in the disability community to understand the disabilities that they're making these slurs about?

Speaker 3 (22:50):

Oh, absolutely. I mean, you see a lot of attempts to educate various politicians, and it's clearly not really sunk in for a lot of representatives, but as the, not just a honourable minister, but the prime minister of the country, it's what

Speaker 1 (23:12):

Does school children kind of thing. So this prime Minister can say these slurs, and we have school children thinking it's okay to then go on and use other disability related slurs. It's not good enough.

Speaker 2 (23:25):

No, it's not appropriate. And what is the next generation going to think to be able to know that they can be able to use those slurs in mainstream parliament? They'll be walking down the street next and using the slurs. That's not okay to be doing it, and we should be challenging it in everyday life.

Speaker 1 (23:51):

Thank you very much to our special guests, Angelina Mito and James Harkness. My name is Nikki.

Speaker 2 (23:58):

My name is Adam. My name is John,

Speaker 1 (24:00):

And you've been watching All In Where you're all invited.