What does the 'Man on the Moon' tell us about being inclusive in the arts?

After seeing #manonthemoon all over Twitter, I finally saw the John Lewis Christmas 2015 advert lat night. As I watched it, it got me thinking! It did much more than make me want to run to John Lewis to do my Christmas shopping, it inspired a ‘light-blub’ moment. As I watched, I began to see the advert as a way to explore some of the key elements that I feel are essential to making the arts more inclusive and inspiring successful inclusive arts practice.

I believe that inclusion is more than a 'tick box', that inclusion goes beyond ‘dos and don’ts’, specific ‘inclusion’ projects and ‘integration’ . Through a recent research project, I developed 12 guiding principles for inclusive arts, which you can find in previous posts. The 'light-bulb' moment made me realise that ‘The Man in the Moon’ ties-in with some of these 12 principles……….

1. We all need to be more child-like! - "Every person should be encouraged to explore, experiment and give it a go’"

In the advert we meet a little girl called Lily. She is bored of watching her brother on his phone and decides she wants to find a new adventure. By stepping out of her usual way of being and trying something new, she starts out on a journey of exploration and investigation and discovers something no one else has ever seen before. This is the exciting/scary part of making the arts more inclusive, the part where we step out of our comfort zone and what ‘normally’ happens and then begin to explore and experiment with new ways of doing things with different people with their different ways of experiencing and seeing the world. It is important to remember that we must be child-like in our times of discovery and encourage each other to be explorers and adventurers in order to uncover something new that hasn't been found yet

2. The Man on the Moon – "Every person deserves the best and to be the best they can be."

When we see the man on the moon he is isolated in his own world with no one to connect with and no way of leaving his world to explore new worlds. He is alone and trapped and probably feeling sad, lonely and scared. He has no idea about what is going on in the world that he can see in the sky, but cannot be a part of. Distance separates him, he cannot access the world he sees and enjoy all the lights, music and dancing... he is just not included in that world.

This is a thought-provoking image that we can all relate to, but more than that I think it can help us to see the very reason why arts needs to be inclusive to all and accessible to all. No one should be the man on the moon, left out and alone; everyone should be enabled to be part of the world and its creativity, lights, music and dancing. Everyone should be able to access this and to experience the best that the creative world has to offer to enable them to become the best they can be.

3. Keep trying and don't give up – “Every person can be included with a little bit of time, some room for 
expression and a ‘listening’ ear."

The little girl desperately wants to connect with the man in the moon and this desire pushes her to think creativity and try many different ways to reach the man. She waves, she writes messages and she shoots rockets in to the sky, all in an effort to tell him she sees him and she is thinking about him. We can never stop trying in inclusive arts practice, we need to make the time to try, to ‘listen’, to hear, to watch, to talk, and to understand. This can be frustrating at times and it can feel like you will never connect, never breakthrough. But by continuing to try, to experiment, to be patient, then more and more new and innovative ways to make connections between different people with different experiences of the world are uncovered.

4. Everyone should be invited to the party  - “Every person should be treated according to the same values as anyone else 
at all times and in all situations."

As the festive season approaches, the little girl is seen celebrating with her family, she is part of the world, part of the music and lights and dancing, but she wants the man in the moon to be part of this too. She sees that he should be treated the same as everyone else around her, he should be a part of the celebrations. Obviously posting a present to the moon is tricky, but as she proves, its not impossible. She has to think creatively and invent a whole new way of giving a gift and this is exactly what we need to do if we are to make the arts more inclusive – we need to think and creatively problem solve together, we need to seek out the possibilities and investigate the ways that we can change ‘cant do it’ to ‘can do it ’ to enable the arts to be truly inclusive.

5. The Perfect Gift – “Every person should be enabled to understand information and instructions 
through communication in is all its different forms.”

When the man on the moon opens the box, it's the most perfect gift for him. It is more than a kind gift and it is more than a tool, it is a key in to another world that he can now become part of. We need to be aware of what tools people need to be able to look in to the world of the arts to ensure everyone can access it, understand it and be part of if. These tools can be for the physical body, but these tools can also be emotional and these can support the mind in understanding and learning. Each person is an expert of their own reality and by talking to people we can begin to understand what tools everyone needs to become a part of the lights, music and dancing, to be able to join the party and dance. The man in the moon now has the right tools to connect, communicate and not feel alone and isolated, now he can be part of the world and can start to express himself and Lily can learn from him.

6. He looks and he sees – “Every Person needs to adapt in someway to include others and find a middle ground to join together on - adaptability is the key to successful inclusive arts.

For the little girl to send the man in the moon the gift he needed to join the party and be included, she had to adapt the way she sent the gift. When the man in the moon opens the box and finds the telescope, he then puts it to his eye and looks. The man in the moon does not leave it in the box and hide it; he engages with it and uses it to see into the unknown world. The little girl has been adaptable and gone 'half way' in her connection to the man by working out how to send him the gift, but he takes a step 'half way' too when he picks up the telescope and uses it. They find a middle ground on which to meet  and make a connection to become explorers on a new journey together.

7. What happens next? – “Every person has a different experience of the world and his or her 
involvement in a creative process makes the end result totally unique.”

The advert urges to us ‘continue the story’ by linking you to the John Lewis website where you can learn more about the man in the moon via an app and of course where you can start your Christmas shopping and ‘Show someone they are loved this Christmas.’ So the story doesn't end with the gift and the initial connection with Lily and the man in the moon and it certainly wasn't the end for my 'light-bulb' moment either. It made me wonder 'What developed from their friendship and understanding?' 'What did they go on to discover from here?' and 'What were they able to learn from each other?'. This for me is the beginning of the story for being inclusive in the arts, once everyone can connect with and access the arts world, the ideas are endless as we learn from each other and begin to understand and accept each other’s experience of the world and of being human.

8. Who is the man on the moon? – “Everyone is a creative genius”

The man on the moon is anyone who is not or can not be a part of the arts world because they aren’t seen, they aren’t understood, they aren’t listened to, they aren’t invested in or believed in, they don't have the right tools or they aren’t accepted as creative individuals. We can chose to watch as the ‘man on the moon’ does his chores alone.

“Lily watches as he goes about his chores, all alone up there.”- 

John Lewis Website.

We can chose to leave it at that and return to our own party……..or we can be determined to do things differently, be determined to send a message, be determined to include everyone and be determined to see everyone as a creative genius who should be invited to the party to enjoy the lights, the music and the dancing with everyone else.

“She becomes determined to get something to the moon, to send him a message and show him that someone down here is thinking of him.”- 
John Lewis Website.

A Conclusion

Through this research project, I set out to explore the approaches to, and the impact of, inclusive arts practice at Epic Arts Cambodia. I did this through a qualitative research approach in the form of interviews and activity observations, which investigated the perceptions, experiences and practices of activity participants, facilitators and programme managers at Epic Arts Cambodia. From this I discover the necessary ‘Attitudes’, ‘Actions and ‘Personal Skills’ that people at Epic Arts believed to bring about successful inclusive arts practice and what impact these necessary attitudes and subsequent practices have on people who interact with the work Epic Arts delivers.

I presented the research process and results of this investigation publically to a worldwide audience via this blog, which recorded my learning journey and the understanding that I gained from interactions with people at Epic Arts. This blog focused on discovering what the necessary attitudes and resulting practices were that people at Epic Arts believed brought about successful inclusive art practice and the impact that is made, as well as my personal learning and chosen processes. 

After analyzing the data collected and discovering the three main areas; ‘Attitudes’, ‘Actions’ and ‘Personal SkilIs’, I then worked with managers and staff at Epic Arts to discuss the findings of this research and work to develop methods to communicate the key findings of this investigation to support the sharing of experience, learning and best practice in inclusive arts at Epic Arts and add to the dialogue of inclusive arts practice. This took form in three different ways; firstly I worked with Cambodian managers at Epic Arts to create a book that they could understand and be able to share with others. At this point the book, ‘Inclusive Arts In Action: An Exploration of Inclusive Arts Practices at Epic Arts. by Laura Evans’ exists in English (presented in my previous blog post). The book will soon be translated to Khmer and from here, I hope to work in conjunction with staff at Epic Arts to develop a training course that focuses on using creative practices that can train people in Cambodia and further afield to work inclusively using the arts.

The second method of communicating key findings was to work with staff and students to create an ‘Inclusion Policy’ for Epic Arts. Through a discussion with staff and students at Epic Arts using the research findings the, 'We are Epic…We are Inclusive – Inclusion Policy’ was created. This policy was agreed upon by all staff and was implemented in April 2015 and sets out clear guidelines of what Epic Arts stands for and what it believes that staff should and most importantly should not do to promote inclusive in the workplace. This is the policy;

The third element that emerged as a method for communicating the findings of the research was a Manifesto for Epic Arts. Managers felt that it was important to use the research findings to create a clear statement about what Epic Arts believed, that could guide the development of the organisation in the future. ‘The Epic Arts Manifesto’ was created in April 2015 and will begin to be officially used by the organisation as of May 2015. This is the Epic Arts Manifesto;

Overall the research project enabled the voices of the activity participants, facilitators and programme managers at Epic Arts, Cambodia to be heard and this has produced a clearer understanding of what the organisation is doing. I believe that the research has unearthed the values that form the foundation of the work that Epic Arts undertakes. Even though these values may not be followed at all times by all people, as an voice of the organisation, the people at Epic Arts believe that these are the ‘Actions’, ‘Attitudes’ and ‘Personal Skills’ they should aim to cultivate through practice as authentic human beings.

This research project created new policy at Epic Arts and highlighted the need for Epic Arts to be able to share lessons it has learnt in working inclusively through the arts with people with and without disabilities in Cambodia. The results of this research project can be used in the future to develop training in the discovered ‘Attitudes’, ‘Actions’ and ‘Personal Skills’ for inclusion that can be delivered nationally and internationally by staff from Epic Arts, which can go some way to supporting some of the guiding principals of the National Disability Strategy Plan 2014-2018 for Cambodia in particular;

1.a) - Respect for inherent dignity, individual autonomy including the freedom to make one’s own choices, and independence of persons with disabilities.

1.c)  - Full and effective participation and inclusion in society.

1.d)  - Respect for difference and acceptance of persons with disabilities as part of human diversity and humanity.

2.a)  - Networking, collaboration and participation among all stakeholders at different levels, which include; international, national, municipal, provincial, district and commune. 
 

(National Disability Strategy Plan 2014-2018 for Cambodia)

In addition to supporting the education of others, encouraging a change in attitudes and perceptions and the sharing of best practice, I believed that the development of creative practice based training activities linked to the book developed from these findings could provide additional income for Epic Arts, which can generate sustainable income for the organisation. As there is a limited amount of information and research in to inclusive arts, I believe that this investigation in to what Epic Arts is doing in Cambodia and the three documents that this has produced for Epic Arts, has been of incredible benefit to all participants involved, the Board of Trustees and the organisation as a whole, as well as adding to the current discourse surrounding inclusive arts.

A BOOK - 'Inclusive Arts in Action: An Exploration of the Inclusive Arts Practices at Epic Arts. By Laura Evans'

The research that I conducted at Epic Arts provided me with an insight in to the perceptions, experiences and practices of activity participants, facilitators and programme managers at the organisation and I felt that it was imperative that this information be shared effectively with staff at Epic Arts. During their interviews and in additional discussions, a number of staff at Epic Arts shared that they are often involved in a variety of research projects, but that they find it hard to understand the final results as the ‘academic’ language used in reports can be difficult to comprehend, as this manager explained, 

“I have given interviews before and been involved in projects where people are doing research in Cambodia, but when I try to read the report I find it hard to understand. The words are too complicated and I cannot understand what has been discovered. I have good English, but I struggle with ‘academic’ words and I really want to know what has been discovered, but just can’t access it.”

As this research project was with and about the activity participants, facilitators and programme managers at Epic Arts, I felt that for the information to be accessed by the people themselves, a more ‘simple’ version of the findings should be created. Once this version was created it would be far easier, in the future, to translate this in to the local language and to create activities and presentations surrounding the results that staff at Epic Arts could understand and then explain to others independently. I decided that a simple book that is easy to read, with little or no ‘academic’ language would be the first step in enabling people at the organisation to access the research findings and that this book could provide the basis for the Cambodian managers to be able to effectively explain what Epic Arts does, to other interested parties.

In the recent National Disability Strategy Plan 2015-2018 for Cambodia, the lack of a forum to enable people to share lessons learned and best practice in working with people with disabilities in Cambodia was highlighted, 

“There is a lack of a forum, which represents the different persons and children with disabilities, for sharing experiences, knowledge and good practice of all disability stakeholders in order to apply improvement of disability implementation as a result of good lessons learned.” 

(National Disability Strategy Plan 2015-2018 for Cambodia. 2014).

A book that can be easily translated in to Khmer that highlights what Epic Arts is doing and what it has been learnt about working positively with people with disabilities in Cambodia, could act as a starting point for discussion and grow in to a training programme for other people in Cambodia to access.

A manager at Epic Arts explained the importance of learning from this research project so that they, as well as me, can fully understand the work that they and their staff and students are doing at Epic Arts and to have an insight in to the experiences of activity participants, facilitators and programme managers at the organisation, 

“I want to improve my knowledge about the inclusive arts that we do at Epic Arts so that I can talk about it and feel confidence to share my knowledge with other people. I think if I know more about the inclusive arts that is in action at Epic Arts then I can teach others and more people can learn to be inclusive in Cambodia.” 

So I worked to simplify and adapt my research findings to make a book that could be shared. I then worked with a designer to bring the book to life. This book will be published by Epic Arts later this year and will also be translated to Khmer. Epic Arts plan to sell the book through the 'Epic Creations' marketplace and the 'Epic Arts Cafe in Kampot . Here are some sample pages of the book.

The Results (Part 3) - What personal skills are required for successful inclusive arts practice at Epic Arts in Cambodia?

In my last blog I presented the second theme area that was discovered through the interviews and observations I conducted at Epic Arts. This third blog post in the 3-part, “The Results”, series addresses the third theme area that the research at Epic Arts revealed. This third area was the particular ‘personal skills’ that people felt were required for successful inclusive arts practice at Epic Arts.

What PERSONAL SKILLS are seen to be required for successful inclusive arts practice at Epic Arts?

• Include everyone in communication
• Be part of a team
• Have knowledge and share knowledge
• Be adaptable in all areas

Include everyone in communication

The first of these ‘personal skills’ that people felt were required for successful inclusive arts practice was the ability to include everyone in communication. With three different languages in use at Epic Arts; Khmer, Cambodia Sign Language and English, clear communication can be a challenge at times, but one everyone feels is necessary to overcome. It was clear to see that additional challenges were also present as many of the people who are deaf at Epic cannot read or write. But as an inclusive organisation, clear communication is seen as essential and I could see that a lot of time and effort went in to making communication clear and accessible to all.

From my research at Epic Arts, I have been asked to create an ’Inclusion Policy’ or ‘Epic Manifesto’. This is still in its initial stages of development, but is starting to take form as a draft document called ‘We are Epic….We are Inclusive’. I feel that because communication is such a key part of Epic Arts’ successful working practices I have included it as point four in the ‘We are Epic….We are Inclusive’ document and it says;

Below is a flow chart that is an appendix to the ‘We Are Epic… We Are Inclusive’ document and shows how communication happens at the organisation. 

This document was developed with the staff at Epic Arts and you can see on this flow chart that Khmer, English and simple images are used so that those who can’t read or understand a language can make sense of the document.

Inclusive communication was also evident on the walls of the Epic Arts Centre, which contained a number of colorful timetables. Here is an example of a weekly timetable for the Inclusive Arts Course, which combines Khmer, English and images so that everyone can access the timetable.

A new one of these is made every week at Epic Arts so that everyone can understand what is happening, this process and format is also used for the Epic Encounters performance team when they tour. A similar style tour timetable and plan is created to enable the performers to be independent and to access information about what they are scheduled to do.

I also discovered in the interviews that the admin team at Epic are also working on sign videos of all the policies at the organisation and these will be posted on You Tube so that they can be accessed by staff who are deaf, at all times. As many of the staff who are deaf can't read, this use of digital media is a unique solution to the communication of important rights and rules that apply to them as employees.

It also became evident in interviews and observations that inclusive communication comes in other forms that do not involve words and a number of peoplel interviewed expressed the need for an awareness and understanding of body language. One teacher said,

“I can be inclusive in my words, give positive comments and feedback, but I am very aware that a facial expression or the way I stand can look like I don’t mean it, which can have a huge affect on a person.”

Many of the staff at Epic who are deaf, expressed that they are very aware of the body language of others and the way in which someone stands or uses their facial expressions can communicate a message to them, whether this is positive or negative. The students on the Inclusive Arts Course are aware of this and one student said,

“Your body language can be welcoming or unwelcoming, but you can be feeling the opposite. It's important when communicating to be open in our body language and aware of it in order not to exclude people.”

This awareness of body language was also clear in the Special Education Project, where some of the students with learning disabilities in the classes have limited or no verbal ability and are often very sensitive to other peoples body language. When I observed the lessons with these students, I could see that teachers were open in their body language and positive facial expressions were used well to support communication.

Be part of a team

Another personal skill that I identified as a key element in successful inclusive arts practice was the ability to be part of a team. One staff member explained that inclusive arts requires teamwork and a sense of a community working towards the same goal, he said,

“Creating inclusive arts work is a shared experience within a ‘community’ of artists. It is not about a single person’s agenda or mission, or solely about what they can get from it, but about a shared purpose.”

In all the areas of work at Epic, there appeared to be a sense of shared purpose and everyone working for the greater good, the development of others and of themselves. Within the Epic Arts community, its clear to see that everyone is aware of the strengths and weaknesses of each other and when working in a team everyone seemed to have an awareness of the role they could take regardless of their ability. One volunteer said,

“The students are very much a community and they can read each other and often don't need to ask each other if they need help, they know the strengths and weakness of each other.”

One visitor I interviewed also joined me in this observation of ‘commonality’ when they noticed the sense of community at Epic Arts and said,

“I think building communities is a hard thing, but I think building communities with so many different abilities must be harder, but you really feel that sense of community at Epic Arts.”

In one observation I undertook, I watched an art lesson with the Inclusive Arts Course students and they were participating in a textiles project as a group. Independently they chose to create an assembly line and each person had a part within it that reflected their strength so everyone could be involved. No one talked about this in the lesson, it just seemed to evolve.

Another personal skill that everyone at Epic seems to have developed is a very strong sense of humour. One staff member said,

“I think the notion of inclusion at Epic is seen in its most honest form in the humour within in the organisation.”

During my research time at Epic Arts, it was clear to see this was a fun place to be, there was a feeling of play and freedom and everyone appeared to approach things with a sense of humour and that humour involved and included everyone. One volunteer noticed that,

“There is a great sense of fun and a lot of light-hearted banter and even this is equal, there may be jokes about someone wearing glasses, or the colour of their hair or their disability; everyone can be joked about in a fun way, everyone is included – everyone is fair game!”

Here is one example of the jokes and banter that happen between people at Epic Arts. This is a Facebook post from a staff member called Buntheng. He posted a video of his little boy walking for the first time saying…

“I’m 11 months old and I can walk now!”

Within minutes Sokun, one of the performers with Epic Encounters, who is a wheelchair user, posted a comment ….

“I’m 30 years old now and I still can’t walk, any ideas?”

This was quickly followed by another staff member saying….

“Oh Sokun, don’t be jealous of him!”

Have knowledge and share knowledge

Another personal skill that I identified as necessary for successful inclusive arts practice at Epic Arts was to have knowledge, be prepared and share knowledge. The aim to have professional knowledge, to be well prepared and to have knowledge of other people was revealed in all areas of the Epic Arts programmes. A number of people I interviewed talked about the importance of knowledge and understanding to prevent people being fearful of others. One of the inclusive arts students said that,

“If people do not have an understanding or knowledge about different people they can be fearful and this can stop inclusive arts from happening, because there is judgment and uncertainty.”

I think this very simply explains the importance of the awareness of others and the acceptance of differences. In workshops I observed, I saw people being wary of the workshop leaders with disabilities at first, but as they spent time with them they became more comfortable and there was a realization that there was nothing to be fearful of. 

As part of the Inclusive Arts Course at Epic, students learn to lead workshops and as part of this they are taught the importance of being knowledgeable about being inclusive, being well prepared and well planned. The students seem to have taken this on board as one student I interviewed said,

“I have to have knowledge about working with different people in an inclusive way. I must plan and be prepared so I can give a high quality experience to the people in the workshop.”

At Epic Arts it was apparent that there was an importance placed on those leading inclusive workshops being knowledgeable in how to work creatively with different abilities and to have solid training in this. I could see that the workshop leaders were strong artists and able to teach, but they also had a specialist knowledge of how to work inclusively. The dance teacher at Epic also said,

“Its vital I am well prepared and aware of the needs of each student and how they can work on the project within the group, not just as individuals.”

Being well planned and aware of the needs of all individuals in the group is an essential criterion for successful inclusive arts practice as it’s very hard to ‘make it up’ in an inclusive setting and hope it works, as there are so many things to consider. The workshop leaders and those students learning to become workshop leaders seemed to understand this and the idea of being well planned and knowledgeable was ingrained in the teaching process at all stages of planning and delivery.

Be adaptable in all areas

The final ‘personal skill’ that people at Epic Arts felt was key to successful inclusive arts practice was to be adaptable in all areas and this skill seemed to permeate every interview I did and every observation I undertook. Every single person talked about how important adaptability was in all areas of the work at Epic Arts during their interview. Its almost as if being adaptable is the very foundation of the inclusive arts work the organisation does. One student gave an example of how this idea of being adaptable works for him when dancing with others. He said,

“To dance or move together with someone who uses a wheelchair, I do not have to get in a wheelchair myself to do that persons movements, just like they do not need to stand like me, but together we can work out a new way to make a movement by adapting together.”

This highlighted to me that 'adapting together' is the very fabric of creating at Epic, not an 'after thought' in creative workshops. There is an understanding and acceptance that everyone needs to make some adaptations to work together, but that this modifying creates a new way of achieving something and it is an integral part of the creative process, not simply something to ‘overcome’. One staff member talked about adaptability at Epic in general, not just the in 'creative' elements and said,

“I think that people who are successful at working inclusively at Epic Arts are adaptable and understand that things are changeable and organic and that the experience is a journey of discovery for everyone. Its part of what makes up what we call ‘Epic DNA’.”

Things are always changing and moving around at Epic Arts. With so many different needs; requirements, plans, activities and even thoughts and ideas have to be moveable and cant be fixed or ridge as being flexible creates the space for people to explore how to adapt. Within this concept of flexibility one teacher did highlight an important element to remember in terms of being adaptable. She said,

“We cannot be selfish and want something to be the way we want it, but in the same way, we shouldn't move too close to what another person wants either. There needs to be a middle ground, there needs to be respect of each other AND of ourselves - This the true nature of inclusion in the arts!”

In being adaptable, its important to not adapt towards one person’s needs so much that it affects who you are and what you can do. I think as this teacher says above, the idea of ‘meeting in the middle’ with a respect of others and of ourselves is the 'hallmark' of inclusive arts practice. Just like a Chameleon adapts naturally to its surroundings, we must also learn to adapt to each other as a natural process to enable successful inclusive arts practice to happen.

In my next blog I will begin to look at how my primary and secondary research links together and how I can begin to structure my findings to make the basis of a booklet for use within Epic Arts.