The Essl Foundation supports inclusive art projects and, with the Zero Project, is searching worldwide for innovations that enable people with disabilities to create and experience art.
The Essl Foundation MGE non-profit private foundation was founded in 2007 by Martin and Gerda Essl and their children to support people in need, with a particular focus on people with disabilities. In 2008, the Essl Foundation launched the Zero Project, which has become the foundation's most important program in recent years.
The mission of the Zero Project is to create a world without barriers (with zero barriers) in which people with and without disabilities can live together on an equal footing. Art plays a central role in this. According to Martin Essl: "Inclusive art and culture promotes vibrant, inclusive communities of people with and without disabilities, independent living and encourages entrepreneurial initiative."
Inclusion as a Global Mission
The Zero Project is therefore strongly committed to removing barriers that prevent people with disabilities from accessing the arts, starting with the accessibility of buildings and information, through education and training, to employment opportunities in this field.
The Zero Project is thus contributing to the implementation of the goals of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which guarantees equal opportunities in society for all people, regardless of disability. This convention has been ratified by over 180 states since 2007. To support this goal, the Zero Project has developed a unique methodology based on three pillars:
• Finding and selecting exemplary solutions based on the three criteria of innovation, impact and scalability;
• Organising a global, diverse network of thousands of people with and without disabilities to develop these solutions;
• Dissemination and support of these solutions.
The Zero Project's work focuses on four central themes: education, employment, accessibility, independent living and political participation. Each year, a global research and communication program is implemented in one of these areas. In addition, technology and art are themes of the global nomination calls every year.
World's largest platform for inclusion
More than 900 innovative solutions from around 150 countries have already been selected, prepared and supported from the submissions. More than 10,000 experts with and without disabilities, organizations and companies from all over the world were involved. These initiatives were and are presented at the Zero Project Conference, which takes place every year in spring in the UNO City in Vienna and is regularly attended by around 1,500 people with and without disabilities from 100 countries. The three-day meeting serves to network with other participants and to facilitate mutual knowledge transfer. The opening event has been held in the plenary hall of the Austrian Parliament for several years. The Zero Project Conference is also accessible online and is supported by a variety of accessibility measures.
ideas to imitate
Many of the solutions that received an award at the Zero Project Conference deal with the topic of art and art education. In 2018, for example, the Museum of Modern Art (MoMa) in New York was honored for offering thousands of people with various disabilities the opportunity to experience art every year with its "Access Programs".
In 2020, one of the awardees was the ARCHES (“Accessible Resources for Cultural Heritage EcoSystems”) project, in which twelve European partners from the fields of culture - including six of the leading museums -, technology and science, as well as people with disabilities took part to jointly develop and implement solutions to improve the accessibility of cultural institutions and enable people with various disabilities to experience art independently. From Austria, the Kunsthistorisches Museum (KHM) was involved in ARCHES, which is itself an internationally recognized pioneer of inclusive art education.
Inclusive creative
But people with disabilities are also creative themselves. One inclusive art project is the White Hand Chorus Nippon from Japan. The choir consists of children with and without disabilities who perform music with their voices as well as with their hands and their facial expressions through gestures. In 2024, the inclusive music project was not only awarded, the White Hand Chorus also performed several times in Austria, including at the start of the Zero Project Conference in the plenary hall of the parliament.