Teesside academic’s work helps to celebrate disability in sport and arts

An internationally known artist from Teesside University is taking his world renowned exhibition which featured as part of last year’s Paralympics to the Liberty Festival in London.

Simon McKeown, a reader in post-production and animation, will be showing his work at the festival in London on 7 September.

This year, the Liberty Festival will be staged at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and will help mark ten years of National Paralympic Day.

Simon’s work, Motion Disabled Unlimited, is a stunning digital installation which uses animation to showcase how disabled athletes move and will be an integral part of this year’s Liberty Festival.

The festival is a free event aimed at disabled and non-disabled people and includes art installations, sculptures, aerial shows and live music - all helping to celebrate the end of the first anniversary of the London 2012 Games.

At the entrance to the festival, Simon has placed his 10 metre tall inflatable sculpture which will form a stunning opening to the event.

Simon, who is himself disabled, has worked at Teesside University since 2004 in the School of Computing. He was born with osteogenesis imperfecta, a condition causing extremely fragile bones.

He said: 'I’ve probably broken over 100 bones, but my condition has made me what I am. It has made me artistic and patient and I have grown and developed what I do because of this.

'People are often embarrassed to look at people with disabilities and there is still a cultural taboo around disability which is a big issue in the UK.'

As part of Liberty and National Paralympic Day people will be able to view Simon’s work, which is based on Mat Fraser, the UK's most famous disabled thalidomide affected person, who is also a musician, artist, comedian, compere and athlete.

Simon added: 'Disability is an integral, complex part of the fabric of our society and Motion Disabled Unlimited looks at disabilities and bodies in both sport and day to day life.'

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For more information about Simon and Motion Disabled Unlimited