Carmen Papalia (born 1981) is a blind artist from Vancouver, British Columbia. His practice focuses on "creative wayfinding", the use of alternative modes of navigation without visual cues. Papalia is known for his performances. This includes a performance in Santa Ana, California where Papalia was guided only by a marching band playing predetermined audio cues for physical obstacles and navigation.[1] Papalia also conducts non-visual walking tours for sighted people.[2] In 2015, Papalia proposed an anti-policy approach to accessibility "rethinking of the terms on which all of us care for and coexist with one another"[3][4] in his Open Access conceptual framework.
Papalia filed a complaint against his landlord through the BC Human Rights Tribunal. His complaint involved his right to use cannabis for pain relief in a non-smoking household. The landlords objected due to their own disability, asthma. In December 2023 the BCHRT found the landlords did not discriminate. The panel found that this was a "disability on disability" matter and the landlords did not have to risk their own health to accommodate Papalia.[5][6]
Education
[edit]Papalia holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Simon Fraser University in Vancouver and a Master of Fine Arts from Portland State University.[7]
Career
[edit]Papalia has exhibited at the Whitney Museum,[8] Craft Contemporary, the Grand Central Art Center, the Cantor Fitzgerald Gallery at Haverford College, the Portland Art Museum,[9] the Columbus Museum of Art, the Vancouver Art Gallery[10] and the Museum of Modern Art in New York.[failed verification]
He has been artist in residence at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, and the Model Contemporary Arts Centre in Ireland.[2]
References
[edit]- ^ Tracey, Emma (9 March 2015). "'I ditched my cane for a marching band'". BBC News. Retrieved 20 January 2022.
- ^ a b "Carmen Papalia, blind Vancouver artist challenges artistic tradition". 23 April 2015. Retrieved 20 January 2022.
- ^ Papalia, Carmen. "An Accessibility Manifesto for the Arts". Canadian Art. Retrieved 2026-01-29.
- ^ "Wayback Machine" (PDF). trainingforthenotyet.net. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2024-06-24. Retrieved 2026-01-29.
- ^ Canlii https://www.canlii.org/en/bc/bchrt/doc/2023/2023bchrt233/2023bchrt233.html?resultId=05c1ac232e50446099afe40e563ba50f&searchId=2025-04-06T15:46:49:062/90e15734e4cb4aae96afe17d33c08c33.
}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ^ "Tenant loses human rights complaint after BC landlord prohibits medical cannabis". infotel.
- ^ "Carmen Papalia". CUE Art Foundation. 2013. Retrieved 20 January 2022.
- ^ "Carmen Papalia, See For Yourself". whitney.org. Retrieved 2022-01-21.
- ^ "Assembly Program #2: See You Again". Portland Art Museum. Retrieved 2022-01-21.
- ^ "Art Connects | On Listening, Art and Access". www.vanartgallery.bc.ca. Retrieved 2022-01-21.