April, 2019
Reconference was a three-day conference in Kathmandu, Nepal from April 9, 2019 to April 12, 2019. There were over 500 of us that came together representing over 50 countries.
Rising Flame was one of the organisations that led and curated the disability space. The disability space was curated to challenge norms around bodies, ability and sexuality. The disability track pushes many boundaries. It was a hope to reimagine disability through art and performance, with artists and counter narratives. The curated space opened conversations on some profound fault lines that have so far limited cross-movement alliance building on the issue of disability and abortion and the intersections of queer and disability movements.
Rising Flame played an active role in pulling together the participants. We presented our work from My Tale Too as well as convened panels on queering the disability movement. Nidhi Goyal, founder-director, also spoke about the access to desire for people to disabilities. She addressed the fact that for women with disabilities, desire and sexiness are so boxed. We also participated in conversations legal capacities of people with disabilities especially those who live with mental health conditions, psycho- social disabilities and intellectual disabilities.
Nidhi Goyal was also part of other panels on consent where she spoke about women with disabilities and the negotiation of consent.