Ge Huichao: Building Body On&On and Making Access

In this episode, we stay with the Beijing-based curator and producer Ge Huichao 葛慧超, also known as Dew Ge, the founder of Body On&On (身身不息). The episode frames her work through a simple but consequential proposition: access is not an add-on to art, but a craft that shapes how public culture is made. Read through the lens of regenerative aesthetics, access becomes an aesthetic practice of livability—pacing, legibility, rest, and multiple modes of communication—so that different bodies can remain in the room together.Moving through Body On&On’s programs, the episode traces how inclusive arts are built as infrastructure rather than isolated events: the Luminous Festival and its workshops, the exhibition To See the Other at Drum Tower West Theater, and the development of the China/UK/Singapore d Monologues, presented as And Suddenly I Disappear, where aesthetics of access become part of performance form. It also follows Dew Ge’s field-building work through the UK–China Disability Arts Forum and the Access for Change platform, and highlights major productions such as Handling Hands. The episode closes by considering Body On&On’s recent programming at the intersection of climate, mental health, and cultural participation, including the Down to Earth theme and the staging of Latour and Aït-Touati’s Terrestrial Trilogy, asking what kinds of public life become possible when access is treated as a shared social practice.KeywordsGe Huichao 葛慧超, Dew Ge, Body On&On 身身不息, inclusive arts, disability arts, accessibility, aesthetics of access, regenerative aesthetics, Luminous Festival 星空艺术节, To See the Other 看见他者, Drum Tower West Theater 鼓楼西剧场, sign language poetry, sensory integration, d Monologues, And Suddenly I Disappear, Touch Contact Improvisation Festival, UK–China Disability Arts Forum, Access for Change 艺术无障碍, Handling Hands, Terrestrial Trilogy, Down to Earth, Women In Motion at West Bund, Body MattersKey references British Council. “And Suddenly I Disappear: The Singapore ‘d’ Monologues.”  https://www.britishcouncil.cn/en/ccu/arts/theatre-kaite.British Council. “The 5th UK–China Disability Arts Forum Launched in Guangzhou.” December 2, 2023.  https://www.britishcouncil.cn/en/about/press/5th-uk-china-disability-arts-forum-launched-guangzhou.Cheng, Yuezhu. “Beijing Exhibition Celebrates Inclusive Arts and Cultural Exchange.” China Daily, May 20, 2024. Cheng, Yuezhu. “Cross-cultural Collaboration Takes Center Stage.” China Daily, July 5, 2024.  Cheng, Yuezhu. “Luminous Festival Lights Up Beijing.” China Daily, August 28, 2024. Hamraie, Aimi. Building Access: Universal Design and the Politics of Disability. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2017.Kering. “Kering Announces the 3rd Edition of Women In Motion at West Bund Initiative, in Partnership with the West Bund Museum, Celebrating Women’s Creativity in Choreography.” September 6, 2024. Latour, Bruno. Down to Earth: Politics in the New Climatic Regime. Translated by Catherine Porter. Cambridge: Polity, 2018.Lu, Jiajun. “Art from the Heart.” Beijing Review, December 13, 2023.  https://www.bjreview.com/Lifestyle/202312/t20231213_800351716.html.UCCA Center for Contemporary Art. “The 5th Luminous Festival Series of Events” [UCCA × 第五届星空艺术节系列活动].  https://ucca.org.cn/program/the-fifth-luminous-festival/.My academic website: http://csun.academia.edu/MeiqinWang