Join us for this online conversation with writer, artist, and editor Khairani Barokka, multidisciplinary artist and writer Ashokkumar Mistry, and artist, curator and writer Aidan Moesby, hosted by Ileana L. Selejan, Lecturer in Art History, Culture and Society at Edinburgh College of Art.

Can we speak of an aesthetics of disability? What does it look like? How does it feel? How could it be characterised, especially considering the many forms disability might become embodied as? Is it about form? Does it constitute a language? An aesthetic language? These are just some of the questions that we might ask in thinking about and with the diverse practices of disabled and chronically ill artists and writers, active now but also those who came before, many of whom have yet to gain recognition as such.

Discussions around the aesthetics of disability and chronic illness have come to the fore in recent years, not least through the organisation of exhibitions focused on these themes. While some curatorial proposals have explored different aspects of disabled and chronically ill individuals’ lives through the lens of art, others have sought to shift the conversation, bringing the makers own perspectives and their creative proposals into the foreground. These developments unfold within a context where on the one hand disabled and chronically ill artists are being more broadly recognised, yet also one where, at least in the UK, disabled citizens rights are threatened and essential services increasingly at risk. Is this recognition truly empowering? What does it bring in pragmatic terms? How can disabled and chronically ill artists prevent their work from being instrumentalised on behalf of other agendas?

The participating artists, curators and art critics have lived experience of disability and/or chronic illness and will be building upon this in addressing key themes such as disability justice, access in the arts, and whether we could speak of an aesthetic language of disability or disability aesthetics.

Khairani Barokka is a writer, artist, and editor from Jakarta, based in London and working internationally. She has a PhD by Practice in Visual Cultures, and has worked together with numerous institutions including Delfina Foundation, the Decolonising Arts Institute and UAL, the National Centre for Writing, and the Paul Mellon Centre. She has served as Editor of Modern Poetry in Translation and was shortlisted for the 2023 Asian Women of Achievement Awards. She has published extensively, most recently Annah, Infinite (Tilted Axis, 2025).

Ashokkumar Mistry is a Neurodivergent multidisciplinary artist and writer whose work interrogates trust and consent while advocating for equity in the arts. He is a co-founder of the Disability in British Art (DIBA) research group, and a co-founding member of the ONYX and Comrades disabled artists’ collectives. Mistry’s writing has been published through the British Art Network, Shape Arts, Unlimited and Disability Arts Online. He has exhibited at John Hansard Gallery, Southampton, and has received commissions from Ikon Gallery, DASH Arts and DaDaFest.

Aidan Moesby is a disabled and neurodivergent artist, curator and writer bringing an emotionally nuanced context to climate change and the deep inter-connectedness between the natural and social environments. Foregrounding care and accessibility, his practice includes both Disability Arts and mainstream representation He works nationally and internationally across physical and digital platforms. His curatorial work explores themes including climate change, identity, loneliness and connectivity through a lens of disability and intersectionality. Access and inclusion are at the heart of his exhibition design.

Image credit: ‘[Molekuler] PAPER MONEY’, Khairani Barokka, digital collage on photographic print, commissioned by Wellcome Collection, 2021. Image shows a digital collage of bright purple and neon red abstract squiggles, connecting images related to the military industrial complex's role in mismanaging the UK's Covid-19 response.'

Poster and graphics design credit: Colorblind Studio https://colorblind.ro/

Access

This event will have British Sign Language (BSL) interpretation.

Please let us know if you require any other types of support accessing this event by emailing eca.events@ed.ac.uk

NB: This event will be hosted on Zoom to accommodate BSL interpretation.