The panel discussion "Inclusion in Culture", held on Friday at KNAP, provided a valuable opportunity to discuss what inclusion truly entails when it comes to individuals with various disabilities.
“Our normalcy isn’t that different from others’,” emphasized Mirna Brođanac (from the Poetry Group Povezija). Brođanac also highlighted the importance of distinguishing between compassion and pity. As an author, she illustrated this through her picture book Lanina škola, which portrays a young girl’s first day of school, experienced from the perspective of a wheelchair user.
While this perspective is somewhat idealistic, Vojin Perić (from the Theater of the Blind and Visually Impaired Novi Život) offered a contrasting view: “Inclusion is just an illusion!” Perić provided examples of the lack of independence faced by visually impaired adults in everyday life, stressing that inclusion is a gradual process that society must advance slowly. “Don’t include people with disabilities out of pity but with an approach based on equality,” concluded Perić.
The panel was organized as part of the Slavic Soundwalking project, aimed at promoting cultural and linguistic diversity, inclusivity, and accessibility to literary content through digital technology. In addition to Croatia, the project is being implemented in Serbia and Slovenia. Matijaž Juhart (from the Association of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing of Slovenia) pointed out during the discussion that it is impossible to make content accessible to everyone, as each person requires a different type of adaptation. Inclusion comes at a cost, noted Vera Jovanović (from the Association of Serbian Sign Language Interpreters), adding, “It is crucial that we work together and ask people with disabilities what they need and want.”
However, this collaborative effort is currently lacking, which is why inclusion remains incomplete, argued Juhart, describing the existing situation as “high intellectual inclusion, but lacking emotional and social inclusion.” For example, individuals with hearing impairments often cannot fully understand conversations by lip-reading, making it difficult for them to engage in discussions with hearing individuals. Nevertheless, student Kiara Vrljić (from the Croatian Association of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing) shared her experience of online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic, where she had no trouble accessing information for oral exams. However, she found it significantly more challenging to participate in student gatherings, often attending events with friends who were also deaf. This example confirms that “inclusion is a two-way street; it must involve everyone and begins with awareness,” as stated by Mirna Brođanac.
“This isn’t fundamentally about disability. We need to become aware of a basic level of understanding diversity, which means recognizing that we are all different in character, regardless of disability or non-disability. It’s okay if you like one person with a disability but another irritates you or doesn’t suit you. That has nothing to do with their disability but with their character, and that’s how we should view things—that’s how it should be,” emphasized Denis Marijon (from the SUMSI Association).
Participants of the panel "Inclusion in Culture" agreed on the need to critically evaluate the art created by people with disabilities, assessing their work based on artistic value.
To make cultural content more accessible, it is essential to define standards and demonstrate consistency so that people with disabilities can access culture whenever they wish, not just a few times a year. The discussion was moderated by Ivana Rašan.