Cultural Activities of People with Disabilities in Slovakia

Cultural Activities of People with Disability to promote Social Inclusion

Seminar, Budapest 5 – 7th October, 2014

Štefan Grajcár, Slovak Union of Physically Disabled People, SUPDP

(Slovenský zväz telesne postihnutých, SZTP)

Contents:• Introducing myself• General information on participation of people

with disabilities in cultural life• Answers to the questionnaire• Activities of the SUPDP in maping the accessibility

of various buildings for people with disabilities• An example of a bad practice• An example of (nearly) a good practice• Two examples of cultural activities of members of

the SUPDP

Introducing myself: • Member of the Polio Association of the Slovak

Republic (PASR) since 1999; Chair of the PASR since 2010

• As a result of this – a member of the Slovak Union of Physically Disabled People Board since 2010

• Not a professional in the field of culture (school psychologist & English teacher by qualification; last two decades career adviser and counsellor; still in full-time employment)

General information: • Slovakia – a country with population of about

5.4 mil. inhabitants• According to some estimations (e. g. World

Disability Union), there are about 10 % of people with disabilities for Slovakia it would mean about 540 000 people with disabilities (all kinds, not only physically disabled)

• The Slovak Union of Physically Disabled People has about 18 000 members

Information on participation of people with disabilities in cultural life in general• General remark: Slovakia is a member country

of EU, UNO, NATO, OECD, and other international organisations and is therefore a signatory of all relevant international documents, resulutions, conventions, etc.

• Accessibility as such was neglected for decades, and still it is in some way, nevertheless, some progress is visible, though it´s far from good.

Activities of the SUPDP in maping the accessibility of various buildings for people with disabilities – few examples

• Mapping accessibility of buildings in bigger towns – a project supported by the Office of the Slovak Government and the ESF

• Accessibility of museums in Slovakia for physically disabled people: (http://www.sztp.sk/poradenstvo/bariery/137-prehlad-pristupnosti-muzei-na-slovensku-pre-obcanov-s-telesnym-postihnutim.html)

Example of a bad practice

• ISTROPOLIS – the House of Culture, Bratislava, Trnavské mýto

• Photographs (6)

ISTROPOLIS – the House of Culture, Bratislava, Trnavské mýto (1)

ISTROPOLIS – the House of Culture, Bratislava, Trnavské mýto (2)

ISTROPOLIS – the House of Culture, Bratislava, Trnavské mýto (3)

Example of (nearly) a good practice

• REDUTA, the home of the Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra, with a famous concert hall, renewed recently

• Photographs (4)

REDUTA, the building of the Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra (1)

REDUTA, the building of the Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra (2)

Example of a cultural activity (1)

• Exhibition „Svet ako ho vidíme my“ (The World how We See It) of artistic works of people with physical disabilities is organised by the SUPDP each year, usually in two towns;

• The current exhibition is beeing held in Nové Zámky

Example of a cultural activity (2a)

•

Example of a cultural activity (2b)• „Kremnická barlička“ („The Crutch of Kremnica“) is a

festival organised annually in Kremnica, a city in the central part of Slovakia• It is a competition in recitation of prose and poetry

(including own works) , and in singing (for soloists, couples, and groups)• Accompanied actions are sometimes exhibition of

handicrafts, photographs or woodcarving• Participants are physically disabled people from the

whole country, the competition is open to people speaking Slovak or any other minority language

THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION!

Štefan Grajcár, Slovak Union of Physically Disabled People

(Slovenský zväz telesne postihnutých)stefan.grajcar@gmail.com