Tom Walker visits the ‘Rage, Riot an Revolution’ opening exhibition for DaDaFest International 40 at Open Eye Gallery and catches up with photographer Jan Williams of the Caravan Gallery, along with some of the women featured in her portraits.

Launching on 8th March 2025, International Women’s Day, the exhibition celebrates the achievements of female activists, artists, leaders and champions of disability activism, highlighting their essential contributions to both local and global progress.

Tom interviews one of the women featured in the exhibition, Former CEO at DaDa and founder of the first DaDaFest, Ruth Fabby. Ruth gives an overview of why DaDa was and is still needed and how it came into being 40 years ago.

Ruth highlights that while some progress has been made in improving the landscape for disabled artists, “it's not been consistent” and so there is still a way to go.

Another ‘Rage, Riot and Revolution’ subject Amina Atiq chats with Tom after performing her DaDaFest commissioned poem “Unwoven” explaining how grief and rage came together to inspire her to write.

Playwright, dramaturg and theatre-maker Kaite O'Reilly is another of the women featured in the exhibition who tells Tom “It's the absolute era for rage with what's happening in the world”. Kaite goes on to reflect on her Rushton Lecture 'The Uses of Anger'.

Tom moves on to ‘Hand Ships Sail’, a projection of a beautiful piece by Cathy Mager which was shown on the Cunard Building for DDFI40 launch night. Talking to Mick Hirst an audio describer who gives an overview of the display showing a poetic conversation in British Sign Language (BSL) –two deaf women share their dreams for the future as they look out over the night sky And Tom also catches up with Chair of DaDa Rob Martin and DaDa CEO Zoe Partington who explains “I don't think it's second nature to think about disabled artists being commissioned for everything that we do on the main stages or in the main exhibitions or the galleries. I think disabled people have to fight and really promote themselves.”