YUMMY Discussions: Disability Pride
Join Yucky public program curators William Maggs and Hen Vaughan in conversation with Sam Wilson for a discussion on the importance of self-determination, disability culture, and the concept of Deaf Gain.
Adelaide Contemporary Experimental
24 April 2024
5:30pm to 7:00pm
YUMMY is a two-part discussion series accompanying Yucky, a group exhibition led by Sam Petersen that explores the personal and political complexities that exist as part of disabled experience.
The exhibition and accompanying programs reclaims the visceral world of ‘yuck’, encouraging audiences to question ableist biases and assumptions made towards disability and ‘yuckiness’.
Taking pride in what is deemed yucky whilst embracing what it is to be human outside of able-bodied value systems, YUMMY discussions take prompts from Yucky and The Yucky Reading Room delving deeper into yuckiness - and its inverse, yumminess - with invited thinkers.
This discussion will focus on the richness of disability culture and self-determination, particularly focusing on the unique qualities of the Deaf community. The conversation will also highlight the impact the medical model of disability has on the understanding and treatment of disabilities.
Sam Wilson, a proud Mutti Mutti/Wemba Wemba Deaf woman, will draw on her personal and professional experiences to unpack the concept of Deaf Gain—the strengths, gains and positive impacts of being deaf—Deaf cultural identity, and the significance of sign language.
This event will be Auslan and English interpreted and live streamed online.
Resource spotlight:
Deaf Power
This discussion will refer to resources from the Yucky Reading Room. Prior reading is not necessary for attending as excerpts will be read at this event.
Feature Image: YUMMY Discussions: Disability Pride (2024), design by William Maggs. Photography by Hen Vaughan.
Public Program Curator
Artist
Samantha Wilson is a proud Mutti Mutti/Wemba Wemba woman living on Kaurna Country Adelaide. Samantha was a member of the Australian Theatre of the Deaf from 1989-1994. She was a cofounder of DeafTV in Melbourne where she worked in roles of director, producer, floor manager, actor, editor and program planner. She has a strong connection to the arts through Auslan theatre and poetry. Sam is also an educator, teaching Auslan and Deafawareness training.
Public Program Curator: William Maggs (they/he/she)
William Maggs is visual artist based in Adelaide, South Australia who uses various mediums including painting, digital art, and drawing. As a Deaf artist, William is particularly passionate about capturing the joys and struggles of being Deaf in his art. From a young age, William discovered his love for painting, which provided him with a powerful creative outlet to express his thoughts and feelings in a way that words couldn't. Currently completing his tertiary studies in Bachelor of Creative Arts (Visual Effects and Entertainment Design) William is honing his skills to turn his imagination into reality and to explore the complex and nuanced journey of life through his work.
William presented his first solo exhibition in 2021, and has exhibited as part of Flow Festival (2018, 2023). William curated the inaugural Deaf Gain group exhibition at Kerry Packer Civic Gallery, Adelaide (2023); a celebration of the local and national Deaf community platforming 9 diverse artists works from South Australia and Victoria.
In 2023, William was awarded Deaf Volunteer of the Year by Deaf Australia recognising Maggs’ ongoing advocacy for the Deaf community nationally; including William’s involvement with Deaf Rainbow NSW during World Pride 2023, and attendance at the 2023 Parliamentary Breakfast where William represented South Australia.
Public Program Curator: Hen Vaughan (they/them)
Hen Vaughan is a writer and artist living on unceded Kaurna Yarta. With a particular focus on walking arts, site-specific poetics, and critical ideas around health and illness, Hen’s practice has involved working on performances, workshops, walking tours, exhibitions, publications, radio programs and artist camps. Their writing has been published in Runway Journal, fineprint, and Artshub. Hen was an inaugural recipient of the National Gallery of Australia’s Digital Writers Mentorship in 2022.
About the Yucky Reading Room
The Reading Room is a space to encourage conversation and self-education. It is a room for guests to gather, learn, explore and critique the ideas shared across ACE’s galleries.
For the Yucky Reading Room, Adelaide Contemporary Experimental (ACE) has gathered rich texts, audio and video that have inspired each exhibition artist. The resulting collection engages with topics such as illness, the abject, disability, access advocacy, and the body as a political state.
The Yucky Reading Room and the exhibition’s public programs will share this space to encourage conversation and self-education. It is a room for guests to gather, learn, explore and critique the ideas shared across ACE’s galleries.
Additionally, a suite of digital resources have been made available for audiences who cannot access the gallery, extending Yucky’s presence beyond these walls.
The Yucky Reading Room is a space where you can relax, reflect and dig deeper into the ideas shared in the Yucky exhibition.
The Yucky Public Program Curators are supported by the Government of South Australia through the Richard Llewellyn Deaf and Disability Arts program.
This project is presented and supported by Adelaide Festival.
The Yucky Reading Room is supported by the City of Adelaide.
