The American Arts Incubator is an international new media and digital arts exchange program developed by ZERO1 to support American artists and underserved populations working together to create impactful community-driven public art projects that address local social challenges. Partnered with the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, Elaine Cheung was one of five artists selected for this cultural exchange.
Elaine was selected to go to Moscow, Russia, partnering with GARAGE Museum of Contemporary Art to host the workshop and residency. The selected artists lead a training workshop, production lab, and public exhibition addressing a social challenge during a month-long exchange to each country. She addressed disability inclusion, working with those with physical or sensory impairments that in some way hinder or distort their ability to function, interact, and move through an able-bodied world. She engaged with disabled and able-bodied participants to use new media art practice as a way to cultivate awareness, initialize dialogue, and suggest actionable steps towards inclusion and accessibility in Russia. Through AAI’s experience-based learning methodology, participants engage in discussions, activities, and experiments around a social challenge of local importance. By applying creative practices to social challenges, community participants will develop their own arts-based solutions to bolster local economies, influence public policy, and further social change.
As the Incubator workshop concluded after two weekends of intensive learning, the Residency portion where teams build and produce their projects and prototypes was about to begin. This lasted for 2 weeks where the 4 teams of artists explored aspects of inclusion through creating design prototypes that speculate what future inclusive programs could look like in local Moscow communities. Each focused on a different aspect of inclusion: raising awareness about inclusive practices in museums; facilitating cooperation within communities; discovering new leisure opportunities; and developing new experiences for people with and without disabilities. This residency concluded with a showcase of Inclusive Art projects presented at GARAGE Museum of Contemporary Art on April 22, 2017.