Guest Columnist: Edel Murphy - Bounce festival

Bounce is a prominent annual showcase of art created by disabled people, challenging misconceptions around disabled people’s talents, identities and experiences.

The theme of Bounce 2025, ‘Not Just…’, is deliberately ambiguous, provoking conversations around perceptions of the arts and disability sector.

Bounce centres the voice of d/Deaf, disabled and neurodivergent artists, creating a space where we are Not Just on the margins, and Not Just programmed because of a disability, but for the power of our creative practice.

Inspired by the idea that labels can be both liberating and limiting, the theme ‘Not Just…’ reflects on the labels of disability. As a disabled-led arts festival, both Bounce staff and artists identify as disabled, d/Deaf or neurodivergent. Some artists choose to make work addressing their disability experience and others don’t. Our labels are our own, and sometimes they are invisible.

This year’s theme highlights the diversity within the arts and disability sector, showing that we are Not Just disabled, d/Deaf or neurodivergent, Not Just a tick box, Not Just one thing.

Bounce 2025 artists include people with a range of intersectional identities - people who are disabled and mothers, carers, queer, and from different cultural and socio-economic backgrounds.

The programme is built by disabled people whose creative practice challenges perceptions of who we are and how we want to be perceived. Through the arts we are re-writing our own labels.

A glimpse at some of this year’s programme highlights includes:

● Not Just BS (Breakfast Symposium) - a fantastic panel of artists in two locations across Belfast and Derry-Londonderry will lead conversations on the intersectional labels that define and shape who they are.

● London-based disability activists Julie Mac and Deni Francis liberate themes of sexuality in disability discourse through the theatre recital Rapture and Repulsion.

● Still Not Your Pity Party! engages spoken word disabled and neurodivergent artists identifying as LGBTQIA+. Their work collectively defies and rebels against labels of ‘pity’ and ‘brave’.

● The subject of motherhood and disability is narrated through a new dance commission in Tales from the Mother by Linda Fearon and Helen Hall.

● Foclóir Faoi Mhíchumus workshop addresses directly how language is important and the words we use can end up defining us. Disability language as Gaeilge will be creatively explored and reimagined by two disabled Irish language artists - Soso Ní Cheallaigh and Billí Mills.

Bounce 2025 takes place across Belfast and Derry-Londonderry from 2nd- 5th October, with 26 events and over 60 disabled, d/Deaf and neurodivergent artists programmed.

Whoever you are, whatever your label, I warmly invite you to be part of the conversation.

For further information and to book tickets for this year’s Bounce Festival, visit Bounce – University of Atypical.