Access as Contract: A Rider Writing Workshop

In-person only workshop.

Access Rider Studio is a practical workshop focused on writing about the conditions that make participation possible, without requiring personal disclosure. Together we’ll develop small, modular “rider fragments” that can be reused across different contexts (talks, exhibitions, residencies, collaborations, travel, deadlines and documentation).

We’ll work with prompts that cover space, time, communication, sensory needs, care, money and power. Participants can write in first person, third person or in neutral template language. We’ll then practise negotiation, using short role-play scenarios with institutions, collaborators and funders, and build a shared language bank of phrases that help you ask for what you need clearly and confidently.

The session is designed for multiple ways of contributing (speaking, writing, drawing, chat), with breaks and opt-out routes. Participants leave with a set of rider templates, negotiation phrases and a draft rider fragment pack they can adapt for their own practice.

90 minutes

• 0–10: welcome, agreements, what a rider can be

• 10–30: write rider fragments (prompt sheets)

• 30–55: swap + refine (small groups/chat)

• 55–75: negotiation practice (scenario cards)

• 75–90: share language bank and close

Roo Dhissou biography

Artist and researcher, Roo Dhissou's practice spans sculpture, installation, moving image, craft and community-engaged collaboration. Rooted in care, cultural context and integrity, her work challenges dominant narratives and reflects deeply on disability, lived experience, social, environmental and material justice. Through reflective processes and ethical research, Dhissou values relationship building and intuition, prioritising process over product to create thoughtful, impactful work. Dhissou is currently working towards submitting her practice-based PhD.

After exhibiting widely across the UK, Dhissou received the Serpentine Galleries’ Support Structures fellowship in 2024, recognising social justice-driven visual art.

✖ Live captioning

✔ Hearing loop available (please contact [email protected])

✔ Level access to workshop space. A portable ramp can be deployed to enable wheelchair access. Ring the bell on the right-hand railings outside the main door at number 16 if required. Please contact [email protected] if ramp is needed.

✔ One accessible toilet on the ground floor

✖ Livestreamed

✖ Sign language interpretation

✖ Recorded

If you wish to inform us of any access requirements, please email events@paul-mellon-centre.

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Host or Publisher Paul Mellon Centre