Art jamming with cats and sensory tours: Celebrate disability inclusion at Enabling Lives Festival

Championing disability inclusion is the Enabling Lives Festival, which is back for its fourth edition. 

The four-day event, which starts on Nov 30 and is organised by SG Enable, aims to showcase the talents of the disability community. 

From pop-up markets and interactive workshops to accessible tours and artistic showcases, there will be numerous activities across 10 locations islandwide like the Enabling Village in Redhill, Esplanade and Gardens by the Bay.

The festival concludes on Dec 3 with the Goh Chok Tong Enable Awards ceremony to mark the International Day of Persons with Disabilities.

Enabling Village Open House 

The Enabling Village Open House is a one-day event on Nov 30 that allows the public to visit an inclusive gym, preschool and playground at Enabling Village in Lengkok Bahru, as well as learning more about assistive technology and inclusive accessibility.

Those looking to do some Christmas shopping can head over to the i'mable Gift Market, which will showcase more than 30 makers with disabilities. Shoppers can look forward to a wide selection of handcrafted treasures and F&B items.

Want to get creative? There will be a slew of interactive workshops where participants can learn how to make macrame wristlets, crochet flower bouquets and batik. 

Additionally, there is an artistic showcase, Inclusion in Motion: Moving Art Forward, that's curated by social impact organisation Art:Dis. From dance to theatre, there will be performances co-led by artists with disabilities. 

One example is Speaking of Which by NAC Young Artist Award recipient Zhuo Zihao. The performance explores stories of resilience, love and self-reflection through a spoken dance showcase by three writers with disabilities, brought to life by three emerging dancers.

Also by Art:Dis are inclusive storytelling sessions, as well as hands-on workshops on cyanotype and gelli-plate printing.

Art jam with kitties, sensory tours and more 

Throughout the rest of the Enabling Lives Festival, there are multiple activities to look forward to. 

One highlight is semi-guided art jamming with cats by Wildflower Studio. Participants will get to enjoy painting with guidance while the furry felines — who are all rescue cats — roam around the room freely. You'll also get to feed the cats lunch and have a "photoshoot" with the kitties. Tickets cost $48 per pax. 

Also by Wildflower Studio is Chill and Paint in Monochrome, where participants have to put on glasses that obscure their paint choices, inviting them to paint with intuition and spontaneity. This art jam option also allows you to spend some time with the rescue cats and tickets cost $40 per pax

The art jamming sessions by Wildflower Studio will be available across all four days of the festival at Enabling Village. 

There's also CAREforward event on Dec 1 at Punggol Regional Library that has activities like paper quilling workshops, healing journal workshops and a dance performance called Stacked Stories – A Balancing Act, which explores themes of equilibrium and relationships. 

In the atrium of the library is CAREcottage Bazaar, which will showcase works of art created by caregivers of special-needs persons who have turned their passion into purpose. 

Over at the Esplanade Mall, inclusive business Foreword Coffee will have a social impact pop-up on Nov 30 and Dec 1. 

This seeks to bring together people and social impact organisations to share their work while creating awareness for their initiatives through a pop-up market, coffee appreciation sessions for people with disabilities and their caregivers, and fireside chats where deaf artist Lily Goh will share lived experiences of deaf persons in Singapore.

Gardens by the Bay will host activities as well on Dec 2 and 3. 

Among them is a new tactile and sensory tour at Gardens by the Bay. This is a pilot programme to provide inclusive experiences for persons with visual impairment. 

Other activities include a guided walking tour for the hard-of-hearing community, a sensory-friendly tour for children with autism and craft workshops at the Flower Dome.

More information can be found at the Enabling Lives Festival 2024 website.

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