The four days in the creative lab showed me how much potential there is in inclusive collaboration – inspiring, enriching and full of new perspectives.
From 25 to 28 September 2025, around 30 artists and cultural professionals from all over Germany gathered at the Academy of Cultural Education in Remscheid to explore new perspectives on inclusive art education. The four-day creative laboratory brought together international experts from the fields of dance, art education and easy language with actors from the performing arts. The aim was to break down barriers, try out creative methods of participation and think of inclusion as a natural part of artistic processes.
This year, the British Stopgap Dance Company, plain language experts Natalie Dedreux and Anne Leichtfuß, and Prof. Dr. Nanna Lüth, art educator and expert in anti-discriminatory teaching methods, enriched the programme and provided valuable impetus for inclusive artistic practice.
Insights and inspiration from the workshops
In the creative laboratory, it was above all the collaborative work and the diversity of the participants that gave the days their special character. The workshops fostered an atmosphere of mutual respect, in which all perspectives were given space and ideas could be developed together. Experimentation, exchange and mutual inspiration made the four days a lively and enriching experience. At the same time, different approaches and questions for inclusive art education were discussed and tested:
Artistic audio description
Co-creative processes open up different channels of perception. Instead of pure translation, the focus is on the subjectivity of the audience. Inclusive teams form the basis for creating new aesthetic approaches and making diverse perspectives visible.
Participation
The early involvement of people with disabilities in production and work processes, as well as co-leadership, promote equal collaboration. Clear, written standards strengthen participation, make it comprehensible and support long-term inclusive structures in artistic practice.
Inspiration from role models
Methods from projects such as the TOUCHDOWN exhibition can also be applied to theatre and the visual arts. Particularly in the areas of awareness-raising and co-creation, they open up new approaches to breaking down barriers and considering accessibility from the outset.
We see the results as an invitation to think along, experiment and jointly develop new ways of accessibility.
About the speakers
Speakers from left to right: Prof. Dr. Nanna Lüth, Lily Norton (photo: Chris Parkes), Hannah Sampson (photo: Chris Parkes), Natalie Dedreux (photo: Britt Schilling), Anne Leichtfuß (photo: Britt Schilling)
Cover image: © Lived Fiction by Stopgap Dance Company (photo: Chris Parkes)
Prof. Dr. Nanna Lüth
Nanna Lüth, Dr. phil., works and conducts research in the fields of art, art education and media education. She is committed to contemporary artistic practice and deconstructive, inclusive educational work. After gaining a wide range of professional experience in art education and research, she was a junior professor of art didactics/gender studies at the Berlin University of the Arts (UdK) from 2013 to 2021. From 2018 to 2020, she held the professorship for art education at the University of Duisburg-Essen. Since 2021, she has been chair of the Berlin BDK – Professional Association for Art Education. In the winter semester 24/25, she held the W3 professorship for art didactics at the Berlin University of the Arts. Prior to that, she held a visiting professorship for discrimination-critical didactics in the field of the arts at the same university. Her work focuses on cooperative and interdisciplinary education; the development of contemporary didactic approaches to art; reflexivity on difference and humour in arts education.
Stopgap Dance Company – Lily Norton and Hannah Sampson
The Stopgap Dance Company is led by a diverse, creative team that uses dance as a movement for change. Its mission is to create an inclusive world in which diversity is not only accepted but actively promoted. A world in which no one is disadvantaged due to prejudice against deaf, disabled or neurodiverse people.
Stopgap’s activities:
Touring dance productions throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The current touring production, Lived Fiction, was awarded the One Dance UK Award for Artistic Innovation 2024.
Driving change in the dance sector for artists with disabilities through training, advocacy, collaboration and partnerships.
Building community through youth ensembles and outreach.
Lily Norton (they/them) Access Artist
Lily is an autistic dancer and visual artist. They play a key role in Stopgap’s online communications and ensure accessibility in artistic, educational and online projects. They are interested in developing creative methods of accessibility in dance and choreography.
Lily is a live audio describer, access artist and co-author of Stopgap’s latest production, Lived Fiction.
Hannah Sampson (she/they) Senior Dance Artist
Hannah has been a dancer with the Stopgap ensemble since 2016. Prior to that, she was a long-standing member of the youth company, later becoming an intern and trainee. She has toured nationally and internationally in numerous productions, most recently appearing in Stopgap’s latest award-winning indoor production, Lived Fiction. Hannah has Down syndrome and a passion for dance. She is committed to equality in the arts and hopes to be a pioneer and role model for other disabled artists.
Natalie Dedreux (she/her)
Natalie Dedreux is an activist and author for Ohrenkuss magazine. She loves writing about music and travel. She is an activist and advocates for the rights of people with Down syndrome. She is also a plain language auditor. Her first book was published in 2022: Mein Leben ist doch cool! (My life is cool after all!): Our world and what I have to say about it. Natalie Dedreux enjoys going to concerts and loves Bollywood films.
Anne Leichtfuß is a translator and interpreter for plain language. For more than 10 years, she has been working primarily at the intersection of plain language and art and culture. Together with colleagues, she founded the participatory research institute TOUCHDOWN 21. In 2023, she translated Anti·gone into plain language for the Munich Kammerspiele, the first play to be staged entirely in plain language. She plays the ukulele and collects glasses.
Save the date: Creative Laboratory 2026
The next Creative Lab will take place from Thursday, 7 May to Sunday, 10 May 2026 at the Academy of Cultural Education in Remscheid.
We are currently working intensively on the programme.
You can find an insight into the topics and focal points of previous Creative Labs here.
Funding
The continuing education and training programme is made possible by the Access Maker – Innovation Hub project.
