Shivanya Ra (she/they) is an Autistic-disabled emerging multidisciplinary artist, curator, and disability advocate from the Okanagan Valley on unceded Syilx territory, now based on Treaty 1 Territory in Winnipeg. They are completing an MA in Cultural Studies (Curatorial Practices) at the University of Winnipeg. Living with ADHD, aphantasia, and mental illness, Ra grounds their practice in the lived experience of disability—centering disabled presence, agency, autonomy,
and reclamation.
Ra’s work explores themes of isolation, resistance, and disabled maturity alongside joy, beauty, and reconfiguration – from a crip lens. Shaped early by perceived “disadvantages,” their practice reclaims identity and challenges dominant narratives. Through disjunction and curiosity, Ra disrupts normative boundaries of space, interaction, and perception, inviting new ways of connecting and being.
For Ra, disability is both a connector and a disconnector. Art becomes a tool to activate,
translate, and bridge experiences. Art is access—to diverse worlds, ways of being, kinship, and
reimagined possibilities that cultivate belonging.
For me, the Sync program and residency serve as a communal launchpad for exploration, connection, and relearning—from each other, the coaches, and fellow artists.
It offers space and care for individual growth through revision, experimentation and play about what disability-led, Deaf , and disability art means to each artist – and the communities and lived experiences they bring.
It’s an opportunity to activate access and bring those meanings into the world through authentic voices and creations.