This article was written by Isabel Jones and Kevin Hodgetts about Living Room - it was presented at the Common Work April 2007 at the Tramway in Glasgow. The Living Room is a brand new art experience developed over years by artistic director Isabel Jones and associates at Salamanda Tandem including: Lee Parkinson Mick Wallis, Stuart Collinson, Duncan Chapman, Geoffrey Fielding, Kevin Hodgetts, Lisa Craddock, Julie Hood and Andy Eathorne âOur team of dancers, musicians and film makers are trained to respond to a wide spectrum of people who visit the space. Living Room is particularly designed to engage profoundly disabled people and those with autism and other learning disabilities at the centre of a new work of art that they have the power to shape and change. As participants enter, we read their reaction, and through music, sound, movement and visuals we support them to take control over the environment, and then go wherever their imagination takes us!â The Living Room doesnât fit easily into existing definitions of art practice yet its benefits are vast and it contains moments of outstanding beauty and integrity. It is an original creative experience that can be brought to community groups across the country, with the Salamanda team able to tailor the process according to different needs. Isabel tells: âFor all its spontaneity, at the foundation of The Living Room lies a carefully designed programme of creativity, built on our many years of experience and expertise. People think itâs easy to create, a stimulating and relaxed atmosphere. Itâs not! With The Living Room we have managed to create a visual and sensory art environment that does a vital job for people with disabilities.â Kevin Hodgetts of learning disabled arts organisation Arty Party, Telford said: âSalamanda Tandem has developed an artistic environment that allows people with learning disabilities the chance to contribute to, and collaborate in, a new kind of performance on their own terms. âLiving Room is about defending the rare and sacred ground on which people with disabilities are allowed to have âtheir moment.â It is a moment under threat by all sorts of things â overbearing support workers, other peopleâs expectations, and the barriers of everyday life. There is much to guard against. The Living Room is about more than giving people with disabilities access to the arts, itâs about what it means for them to be an active human being in the contemporary world.