Patty Berne

As a disabled queer first-generation woman of Haitian and Japanese descent, I hope to create “liberated zones” that recognizes the sociopolitical economies of oppression and the cultural landscapes of marginalization. I feel specifically positioned to offer cultural leadership that uplifts all communities and people as valuable, contributing toward a vision of collective liberation.Honored to have co-founded Sins Invalid in 2006, I currently work as its executive and artistic director. Sins Invalid is a disability justice based performance project that centers artists with disabilities, featuring artists of color and LGBTQ and gender non-conforming artists as members of communities historically marginalized. I am beyond thrilled for this opportunity to develop work outside of an organizational context and to explore the edges and tensions between impairment, the social process of disablement, treatment/cure, and the bioethical constructions of a “quality life”.