Exhibition

Arte X Igual Festival | Patagonia

Abstract textile art piece with embroidery, in pink and green

Four embroidery hoops, each with a unique, floral design on a different colour which were created by Quinza Ashraf

A print of a group of colourful figures in a line with arms outstretched.

Six Venture Arts artists will exhibit work in Patagonia during 2025 as part of an Outside In partnership with Cre-Arte, a disability arts charity in Argentina, to exhibit in their international festival Arte X Igual, or ‘Art is Equal’.

Cre-Arte is a non-profit association that has been working in Argentina since 1995 in non-formal education, generating spaces for transformation for people with disabilities through art. They develop educational proposals through more than 30 artistic-cultural disciplines, which have as their goal the professionalisation of artists with disabilities.

Arte X Igual is an international festival of art by people with disabilities. This will be the fourth edition of the festival and will run from May until November across multiple locations in Argentina’s southern Patagonia region, in the Province of Río Negro. Coinciding with the 30th anniversary of Cre-Arte, the festival will begin with inaugural conferences highlighting the contributions made by people with disabilities in culture.

The festival will also feature workshops and an exhibition showcasing the amazing work of disabled artists from across the world, including Chile, UK and Switzerland. Fifteen disabled Outside In artists will be exhibiting paintings, textiles, films and photographs.

Overall, the festival hopes to work towards increased awareness of the importance of equity and fairer representation as well as bolster international understanding of the barriers faced by disabled artists globally.

Featured in the exhibition are Outside In artists Cat Lee, Charlie Fitz, Corinne, ArtValeria, Joshua Henderson, Andrea Griffiths, Jay Ottewell, Sew n Sew, Elaine Preece Stanley, and including Venture Arts artists, Quinza Ashraf, Leslie Thompson, Andrew Johnstone, Emma Horton, Andrew Hylton and Bilal Khan.