Where Creation Begins with Being Able to Say “What I Need”
Interviewees: Delson Weekes (Co-Director), Vicki Hawkins (Co-Director), Siobhán Wedgeworth (Access and Inclusion Manager), Saja Altamimi (Access Administrator)
Date: March 3, 2026
At BLINK, accessibility is not positioned as a layer of accommodation placed before artistic creation. Rather, it shapes the very entrance into creation itself. Instead of simply adding support so that artists labeled with PMLD (Profound & Multiple Learning Disabilities) or neurodivergent artists can participate more easily, the space itself has been restructured—encompassing communication, ways of gathering, decision-making, and even the terms of contracts.
The “I Need Board,” creative check-ins using objects, clear and accessible language, multiple pathways of communication, and a dedicated home base—these are not supplementary tools designed to “include” someone. They are part of a carefully designed environment in which everyone is able to bring their own needs into the space from the outset.
Beginning with the Ability to Say What Is Needed
At BLINK, sessions begin with carefully established routines for entering the space. Members who arrive early help prepare the environment, make drinks, and gather together in a comfortable area. Then, they share their current condition and support needs through the I Need Board.
“Whenever we enter BLINK’s space, we use the I Need Board.
We use it for office work, rehearsals, meetings, and board meetings—every time.
It’s there to show how I’m feeling, and what kind of support I may need.”
The board allows people to express not only practical needs—such as I need support understanding, I need instructions, or I need encouragement—but also more immediate personal states, such as I’m tired, I’m in pain, or I’m not feeling good, but I don’t want to talk about it. If necessary, people can also choose to pass the check-in entirely.
At BLINK, verbal explanation is not the only way to communicate. Members can also choose objects and use them to express how they feel.
“We make drinks together and gather in a comfortable place. Then everyone chooses an object that represents how they are feeling today.
Often we don’t use much voice, though sometimes we do.”
What matters here is that this is not a system only for those identified as “needing help.” Feeling sleepy, exhausted, needing more explanation, or wanting reassurance—everyone arrives with a particular condition, and everyone may need something different that day. At BLINK, expressing those needs is not treated as a special request. It is understood as a basic part of entering the space.
Creating Multiple Pathways for Understanding
BLINK also shares clear principles around communication. Avoid complex language. Speak slowly and clearly. Use concrete examples. If someone struggles to focus, call their name so communication reaches them directly. And importantly, communicate not only through speech, but also through dance, drawing, objects, sound, and other methods.
“We use simple words and clear English. We don’t use big words just to sound clever.
We speak slowly and clearly, and we give examples. If someone can’t answer straight away, that’s okay. At BLINK, you can say, ‘Can I come back to this later?’”
This is not simply about making explanations easier to understand. It is a way of ensuring that responsibility for understanding does not rest solely on the individual. If something does not communicate clearly, another pathway can be created. If an immediate answer is difficult, there is space to return later. If speaking is hard, objects, images, or the body itself can become tools of communication.
This approach extends beyond the rehearsal space. BLINK also prepares Easy Read contracts specifically for artists people labeled with PMLD (Profound & Multiple Learning Disabilities), in addition to standard contracts. These include details such as photographs of staff members, helping artists more clearly understand who they will be working with and in what context. Accessibility, here, reaches beyond artistic process into the understanding of contracts, labor conditions, and professional relationships.
A Place Where Everyday Life Blends into Creation
For BLINK, having its own dedicated space marked a major turning point. Previously, they had to rent spaces, enter at fixed times, and leave when time was up. Now, however, people naturally gather everyday, and conversations, meals, and community life blend directly into creative work.
“Having our own space was huge. Conversations, meals, and community naturally become part of the work.
Before, we had to rent spaces and simply come in and leave at fixed times. Now we come here everyday, and the interactions that happen naturally become part of making performance.”
During the observed session, this feeling was especially visible. Around the theme of home, participants described highly specific places: a sofa, a plant by a window, an old passageway where a cat might walk through. These reflections were not forced into emotional depth. They unfolded gently, often accompanied by laughter. People did not need to speak if they did not want to. Objects and drawings could also be used instead.
This intimacy is not simply a matter of friendliness. The ability to drift, remain silent, leave, and return without pressure forms part of the relational conditions that support creation. BLINK’s collaborative practice is sustained not only by methods, but by the depth of these everyday relationships.
Deciding Together Through Objects and Sensory Experience
When speaking about making work, BLINK described its process as true co-creation. Rather than having a single director determine everything, sessions often involve sensory objects that can be approached through touch, weight, sound, color, or shape. These objects themselves may become sources of dance or narrative.
“This is true co-creation. One director does not decide everything.
In sessions, we use many different tools that stimulate the senses. Sometimes the object itself becomes the starting point for dance or storytelling.
We explore together, and we share decision-making.”
The objects and maps used for emotional check-ins are not simply tools for tracking wellbeing. They also become part of the creative vocabulary itself. In performance, for example, something as small as thread or a ball may gradually take on the image of an egg, becoming a sensory device through which audiences can experience emotion or narrative events.
At BLINK, everyday check-ins, communication support, creative material, and stage composition are not separated. Sensory cues—touching, choosing, moving, observing—connect the process from entering the space all the way to becoming performance.
■ Research Notes
What BLINK demonstrates is a way of embedding accessibility into the design of entry itself. The ability to say what one needs in the present moment. Refusing to place the burden of understanding solely on the individual, while developing multiple forms of communication. Allowing everyday conversations and shared meals to become part of creative work. These accumulated practices create the conditions for genuine co-creation.
In the Japanese context, perhaps the first question is not how do we enable someone to participate? but rather what kinds of entry does this space allow in the first place? BLINK’s practice offers a way to rethink accessibility—not as exceptional support, but as a technique for shaping the creative environment itself.