Empirical Study of the Experiences of Nigerian Disabled Artists in the Professional Creative Arts Sector

Artists with disabilities face distinctive barriers to participation in the professional creative arts ecosystem, including inaccessible exhibition and performance spaces, inadequate documentation and promotion support, and systemic marginalisation in arts funding, and empirically characterising these experiences in Nigeria fills an important gap in both disability studies and creative arts equity research. This study empirically examined the professional experiences of Nigerian artists with disabilities working across visual arts, music, theatre, and film, with research conducted in Lagos, Enugu, and Kaduna, representing South West, South East, and North West zones. A qualitative research design was employed, with in-depth interviews conducted with 30 professional artists with physical, sensory, and other disabilities identified through disability arts networks and snowball referral. Thematic analysis was applied to interview transcripts. Results identified four dominant experience themes: physical inaccessibility of arts venues and studios (reported by 93.3 percent), invisibility in arts funding and support programmes (reported by 86.7 percent), patronising audience reception that reduces artistic work to disability narrative (reported by 76.7 percent), and peer solidarity as the primary support resource in the absence of institutional inclusion (reported by 83.3 percent). Assistive technology access had enabled new creative possibilities for 43.3 percent of respondents, particularly digital visual artists and musicians with physical disabilities. The study provides the first systematic empirical evidence base for disability inclusion in the Nigerian creative arts sector and recommends mandatory accessibility standards, dedicated arts funding for disabled artists, and disability representation requirements in public arts commissioning.