This is my Disabled artists art worker contract
I am tired and frustrated at having to explain, each and every time I work with a new client/employer/contractor/gallery/museum/university,
There is a brick wall to be negotiated. It is further labour having to discuss, relay and communicate, my access needs and fundamental working environment as a Disabled artist. For these requirements to be disclosed, recognised, upheld and respected.
“All artists are teachers, all labour is art labour, all art labour is labour.
Including time to rest. Resting is a labour I pour into myself to be able to function.
No such day as a sick day when you are a freelance art worker/artist.”
Sick days are unenumerated
Sick days are unpaid - it doesn’t pay to be sick,
For a Disabled Artist/Art Worker contract
Pay us for the work we do, for you, that makes us sick.
Pay us for days we are sick, from the work we do, for you
That makes us sick
For a Disabled Artist/Art Worker contract
Pay us for having days off, which are not holidays.
Pay us for rest days. Resting properly takes time. Pay us for the time it takes for us to fully rest
If not, Pay us for the extra time, for the time it takes for us to get sick, if we cannot rest.
For a Disabled Artist/Art Worker contract
Pay us for having food as a part of the budget
For a Disabled Artist/Art Worker contract
Always build in a fully accessible taxi allowance
For a Disabled Artist/Art Worker contract
Assume we need assistance, an assistant on hand or two to help, build it in into the budget
For a Disabled Artist/Art Worker contract
We need the conditions of work to reflect how sick we might get from carrying out this work
For a Disabled Artist/Art Worker contract
Don’t assume your timeline is the same time line, don’t assume time is universal
For a Disabled Artist/Art Worker contract
I want us to be paid for the days I can’t move
Can’t cook
Can’t eat
Can’t work
For a Disabled Artist/Art Worker contract
Pay us for the extra labour responding to all your emails whilst we are sick, from you demanding our art labour for you.
For a Disabled Artist/Art Worker contract
We deserve to be paid for our sick days as standard, for that to be built into the project, budget, timeline, adjustments. We will get sick. We know our bodies.
For a Disabled Artist/Art Worker contract
Pay for us to have the time to cope
Pay for the extra hours it takes for us to emotionally recover from having our labour extracted from
ARTS FESTIVALS
ARTS MUSEUMS
ART GALLERIES
ART SCHOOLS
ART RESIDENCIES
For a Disabled Artist/Art Worker contract
Let us have full ownership of our work, ideas, pedagogy and methods,
Trust we know what we are doing
You cannot control us.
We do not wish to be institutionalised.
For a Disabled Artist/Art Worker contract
You cannot profit from your proximity to us,
For a Disabled Artist/Art Worker contract
We refuse to break our boundaries of safety to complete any kind of work
For a Disabled Artist/Art Worker contract
We are allowed to refuse. To pause. To break. To step away with out fear of retribution. And Without shame.
For a Disabled Artist/Art Worker contract
Building in time for emotional access needs is not unprofessional.
Working without a disabled artist’s safety plan is dangerous.
For a Disabled Artist/Art Worker contract
Listen to our needs, They are not malleable.
For a Disabled Artist/Art Worker contract
Assume and build in assistance into all and every budgets, we are not super human, and non disabled artists aren’t either.
We are Mothers and carers also, build in time and availability for childcare and caring responsibilities.
For a Disabled Artist/Art Worker contract
Pay us properly for our expertise and knowledge.
We are not grateful to help you with information extraction.
All labour is art labour
All art labour is labour
Raisa Kabir, 2021