Other modes of residency
JÚLIA AYERBE & SAVERIO CANTONI: NOBODY ARE SAME: WORKSHOPPING INSTITUTIONAL ACCESS ACCESS: PRACTICES AND HABITS
by
Workshop led by Júlia Ayerbe and Saverio Cantoni.
Date: Wednesday, September 23, 2026
Time: From 3.30 pm to 7.30 pm
Duration: 4 hours
Venue:
Sarean
Plaza Corazón de María, 4
48003-Bilbao
Accessibility: Wheelchair-accessible entrance and toilets
Registration and access needs: bulegoa@bulegoa.org
Nobody are same is a workshop by Júlia Ayerbe and Saverio Cantoni. It is a commission by Bulegoa z/b to Saverio Cantoni as part of access: practices and habits.*
NOBODY ARE SAME: WORKSHOPPING INSTITUTIONAL ACCESS
Nobody are same is a working session on institutional access. Over two blocks, we will draft Bulegoa z/b’s Accessibility Manifesto together: a document that articulates how the institution understands, negotiates, and commits to access in its programming and internal processes.
This work session aims to begin a collective effort to imagine what access means in that specific place. We will open space for questions and concerns such as: What do we actually offer for disabled folks? Who is doing the work of access, and who is being paid for it? What happens when two access needs conflict? How do we relate to access in the arts beyond a ramp and a toilet? Do we have/do we want to have disabled people working in our institution? Can we offer an accessible space for them?
The theoretical and practical bases of this workshop are the Disability Justice movement and decolonial crip studies, for whom access is not compliance, but a practice of interdependence, care, and redistribution. Reference material – academic texts, artists’ access riders, zines, audio, and short definitions – will be available in the space as if it was a reading room, and can be read, browsed, or ignored throughout the day. If you have materials of your own, please bring them: personal experiences, institutional documents, sticky notes, and dreams are equally welcome.
Who is this for
The workshop is open to anyone upon registration. It is also addressed specifically to the Bulegoa z/b team and to its circles of trusted collaborators and colleagues: art workers, curators, producers, mediators, educators, and organizers who hold, or want to hold, responsibility for access within the institutions and projects they work in. Disabled, crip, chronically ill, Mad, Deaf, and neurodivergent participants are especially welcome, and their expertise is central to this work. No previous knowledge of access practices is required.
Structure
Session 1 (2h) – Introduction and the task / therapy session
We start by situating ourselves and the task. We introduce the Accessibility Manifesto and the frameworks we work with. In this part, we will share problems, concerns, and practices. Then we start to envision the Access statement: a collective effort to imagine and communicate how access is/will be embraced by the institution – its commitments, its limits, and how it intends to keep learning.
Session 2 (2h) – Drafting
Working in small groups and in plenary, we draft the Access Manifesto itself. We move through the reading room, test language, and bring the personal into the institutional: what would each of us need in order to enter, stay, and leave this institution well? The aim is to end the day with a working draft that Bulegoa z/b and the participants can continue to use, edit, and take over.
Languages
The main spoken languages of the workshop will be English and Spanish. Whispering translation into Euskera and other languages is possible – please let us know at registration what you need. This is a place for language solidarity and negotiation: express yourself in the way you prefer, and we will work out together how to interpret, translate, or disperse our thoughts. Non-verbal forms of communication are equally welcome.
Access note
The workshop is open upon registration. Participants are welcome to send us their access needs by September 16, 2026, and we will ensure they are met. This might include interpretation, materials in specific formats, dietary needs, seating and lying options, breaks, quiet space, or anything else that would make your participation possible and comfortable.
BIOS
Júlia Ayerbe is a Spanish-Brazilian contemporary art researcher. Her work focuses on dissident corporealities, accessibility, and publishing practices. She is a PhD student in the Art History Department at Universidad Complutense de Madrid. Her research examines the practices of the Latin American artists Anita Malfatti, Lorenza Böttner, and Nazareth Pacheco through the methodological and theoretical frameworks of disability studies. She has collaborated as editor, writer, curator, and advisor in South America, Europe, and the US with institutions such as Pinacoteca de São Paulo, Sesc, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Quito, CA2M, Galerias Municipais de Lisboa, Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Bétonsalon, Museo Reina Sofía, San Diego Museum of Art, Council of Europe, among others. She is a disabled person and advocates for disability justice.
Saverio Cantoni is a white-passing cyborg, disabled – oral Deaf – artist based in Berlin. Situating their practice in sonics, from haptic experiences to assistive technologies, Saverio choreographs sounds in several forms, mixing texts, visuals, and audible experiences. In an ongoing exploration of the “aesthetics of access,” Saverio’s practice employs multiple materials to allow audiences to approach their work from different access points.
*The opposite of silence is a shockwave is commissioned by Bulegoa z/b as part of access: practices and habits, a long-term project in collaboration with If I Can’t Dance, I Don’t Want To Be Part Of Your Revolution (Amsterdam, The Netherlands) and Askeaton Contemporary Arts (Askeaton, Ireland), in which we aim to develop accessibility as a creative practice at the heart of our work as arts organisations. Access: practices and habits is co-funded by the European Union.
Co-funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or Creative Europe. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.