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USA New York

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18:00–21:00 Uhr

Arts and Accessibility

Panel Discussion and Concert|Cultural Participation and Inclusion in the Arts

  • Goethe-Institut New York, New York, NY

  • Englisch
  • Kostenlos
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Article 30 of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) affirms the right of persons with disabilities to participate in cultural life on an equal basis, including access to cultural materials, activities, and venues. Therefore, accessibility and reasonable accommodation are essential to enable artistic, creative, and intellectual expression. Cultural participation is both a fundamental human right and a key driver of social inclusion, and artists with disabilities are vital in shaping cultural discourse, strengthening accessibility, and representation. However, persistent barriers remain across the arts sector, including physical, digital, and structural challenges in access, employment, and representation.

The German Government, in cooperation with the City of New York and the Goethe-Institut New York, invites you to participate in this event which will feature a panel discussion on “Arts and Accessibility: Cultural Participation and Inclusion in the Arts,” followed by a concert of the Berlin-based rapper and inclusion ambassador, Graf Fidi.

This event takes place in the context of the 19th Conference of State Parties to the UN CRPD, which will be held this year from June 9-11, 2026 at the UN Headquarters in New York. It will facilitate dialogue on accessibility in the cultural sector and share experiences by bringing together policymakers, cultural institutions, artists and representatives of the disability community to discuss practical approaches to improving accessibility in arts and performance venues.

Participants

  • Nisha Agarwal was appointed Commissioner of the New York City Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities by Mayor Mamdani in February 2026. Throughout her career in public service, advocacy, and law, Commissioner Agarwal has worked to advance equity and expand opportunity for New Yorkers. Most recently, she served as Executive Director for Policy and Communications at the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene in the Division of Mental Health. She previously served as Deputy Executive Director for Impact and Senior Advisor at the International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP), a global legal aid and advocacy organization.

    Under the de Blasio administration, Commissioner Agarwal led the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs, where she advanced major initiatives including IDNYC, the City’s municipal identification program, and Cities for Action, a national coalition of local elected officials advocating for immigrant communities. She also served as Senior Advisor to the Deputy Mayor for Strategic Policy Initiatives, supporting efforts to strengthen civic engagement and expand DemocracyNYC’s work across immigration, disability, and justice-involved communities.

    Prior to her service in City government, Commissioner Agarwal led the Health Justice Program at New York Lawyers for the Public Interest, served as Deputy Director and Co-Founder of the Center for Popular Democracy, and was Executive Director of the Immigrant Justice Corps.
    Commissioner Agarwal received her A.B., summa cum laude, in Social Studies from Harvard College. She was awarded a British Marshall Scholarship and earned a degree from the University of Oxford, St. Antony’s College. She later received her J.D. from Harvard Law School, where she was a Skadden Fellow.

  • Dr. Muhannad Al-Azzeh is a Jordanian politician, legal expert, and human-rights advocate. He is the Secretary-General of the Higher Council for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and a member of the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. From 2013 to 2016 he served as the youngest and first senator with disability in Jordanian senate.
    In 2025, he led Jordan’s delegation that co-hosted the Third Global Disability Summit in Berlin and also co-drafted the Amman-Berlin Declaration. He is a prominent writer, with influential articles on human rights, secularism, and public affairs shaping civil rights and cultural discourse. Over the years, he has worked in projects with USAID, Handicap International and others and has delivered 100+ human-rights workshops. Dr. Al-Azzeh studied law in Alexandria and earned a diploma in Public Policy at Erasmus University Rotterdam. Besides his political and legal work, he is a passionate musician and plays several instruments.

  • Graf Fidi serves as an inclusion ambassador, singer-songwriter, host, speaker, and expert in plain language. He proves that you can achieve anything not in spite of, but precisely because of physical limitations.
     
    Although he sees himself as a voice for people with disabilities and embodies inclusion both on and off stage, his musical repertoire is diverse and not solely focused on his disability. His motto is always: “I’ll do it with my left hand.”
     
    Since 2015, Fidi has served as vice chair of the board at the Lebenshilfe Berlin Foundation, where he advocates for the promotion and implementation of projects for people with disabilities.
     
    He is a trained social worker, a certified translator for plain language, and works as a media educator at Lebenshilfe Berlin.

    Graf Fidi Webpage

  • Lachi is a world touring recording artist, award winning music executive, Disability Culture champion, Recording Academy National Trustee, and producer of a GRAMMY-Nominated album. Born legally blind, Lachi created the organization RAMPD (Recording Artists and Music Professionals with Disabilities), a consultancy group, collaborating on disability-inclusive solutions with the likes of Netflix, Live Nation and more, while bringing opportunities to its growing global network of creative professionals with disabilities. Lachi is also the host of PBS American Masters series Renegades, which celebrates unsung American heroes with disabilities. Lachi's latest book, I Identify as Blind (Penguin Random House / Tiny Reparations Books), is a collection of essays using humor, straight talk, and celebrity interviews to celebrate and amplify Disability Culture, identity, and power to mainstream discussion.

  • Prof. Dr. Annette von Kalckreuth, LL.M., is Director-General at the German Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs. She studied law in Hamburg, Halifax and Augsburg and earned a Master of Laws in Canada and a doctorate in constitutional media law. She is an honorary professor at the Faculty of Law at Humboldt University in Berlin.

    Ms. von Kalckreuth held various ministerial positions, including head of the division responsible for social policy issues. From 2015 until 2018, she served at the Federal Chancellery, heading the task force of the Independent Commissioner and the office of the State Minister for Migration, Integration and Refugees. She then became State Secretary and Representative of the City of Hamburg responsible for international affairs. In 2019, she returned to the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, as Head of the Directorate-General responsible for the participation of persons with disabilities, social compensation and social assistance.

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