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4 Deaf Futures Revisited

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4 Deaf Futures Revisited In addition to problems at the interface of the Deaf and hearing worlds, there are issues for the Deaf community itself. Wendy Daunt, in an article entitled 'Do we have a Dream?' published in British Deaf News, November 1992, highlights the lack of support for Deaf professionals or leaders within the Deaf community. Are we really proud of our community and are we really proud to receive young children in our midst? Have we got anything to give them in the same way that our heritage was given to us by our forebears? Or did they, our forebears, perhaps take too much to their graves? With oppression lessening, there is no need, or reason, for us to wash our dirty linen in public. At various functions that I have attended recently I have noticed 'back stabbing' among participants. People do not seem to be ready to offer credit where credit is due. Perhaps this is because in the old dark times Deaf people were not allowed to show fully what they could do themselves, so the congratulations, if any, went to hearing people. Deaf people have never had the encouragement to dream of a better future but now the time is here and the dream should become a reality. Some of the Deaf people who have done well and are respected in the Deaf world are seriously considering moving overseas. This would be a serious blow to the Deaf community in this country. We need to encourage each other to think back to the old days-think how we 'rallied' to each other because we were under threat from the outside. There is no need for the different factions emerging in the Deaf world. We are all Deaf, we should be proud and we should be united. 4 Deaf futures revisited Having considered various developments affecting the Deaf Community, we shall now look at three areas likely to influence its future: art, technology and political activities. 4.1 Deaf culture You may remember Kavita and Sheila describing a Deaf Cultural festival held in Derby. This took place in September 1993 and was attended by 1,600 people, far more than the organizers had anticipated. There were performers from the Deaf Comedians, Peter Brain's 'History of Deaf Teachers of the Deaf', Barry Curtis signing Deaf poetry, and the Newcastle Theatre of the Deaf. There was also a 'soapbox' which enabled individuals to put forward their own views, and a number of exhibitions and stalls. In reporting the conference, British Deaf News included the following comments: It is great to see so many Deaf performers coming here today-more than I've ever seen before. I can see very young Deaf children wanting to participate as well. (Tony Nabarro, a Deaf juggler) It is wonderful to see so many people enjoying themselves at this Festival-there seems to have been a hunger for this-it can't be compared to the BDA conference. I hope it will be an annual event or held every two years for the sake of the younger generations. (Doreen Naylor, a member of the BDA executive) (in Silo, 1993) This festival was followed by a more specific event in June 1994, which took as its focus Deaf History. As well as stalls and exhibitions, there was a performance (repeated three times) portraying events in Deaf History- these included items about Deaf teachers of the deaf, human rights and Deaf people throughout the world, and Queen Alexandra, a deaf Danish princess. There was also a tribute to Dorothy Miles, the Deaf poet, who tragically died m January 1993. She CO-authoredUnit 3 of this course, contributed a BSLIEnglish poem, which she performs on Video Two, and wrote an account of her personal experiences which is included in Reader One, Being Deaf: Her untimely death has left us with a sense of great loss. In remembering her, Paddy Ladd wrote: Imagine my amazement to find out there was such a thing as Sign Poetry, that puppets could be made which used sign to communicate, that Deaf people could actually write plays about their community and still be respected! These and many other mind blowing ideas, were what Dot brought to us. For she was the one who created Sign Poetry and all that now exists descends from her, the Grandmother of us all. (Ladd, 1993) 4.1.1 What is Deaf art? What is art? This question is the subject of much debate and many texts, and we do not intend to pursue it here. Instead, we shall offer a broad definition of art as a creative human activity that encompasses painting, poetry, music, sculpture and different forms of drama-including mime and comedy. Having avoided (hopefully) the pitfalls that could occur in a debate on the nature of art, the next question to ask is: 'What is Deaf art?' Our definition of Deaf art is that it is a form of cultural expression of the Deaf community, a Deaf perspective on both the Deaf and hearing worlds, an artistic interpretation that stems from the experience of being deaf, whether it be an original work or an adaptation of something generally available to hearing people. What this definition means is that Deaf art cannot be the same as art by hearing people, with the addition that the artist just happened to be deaf. For example, under this definition neither a straightforward translation of Hamlet into sign language for a deaf audience, nor the performance by a deaf artist in a hearing play for a hearing audience, such as that of the deaf actress Elizabeth Quinn as Hedda Gabler, would constitute Deaf art. There are many examples of Deaf artists, both currently working and from the past. However, finding out about them is difficult and little has been published. An exception to this is the recent book Britain's Deaf Heritage by Peter Jackson (1990)) which discusses a number of British Deaf artists of the past and present. A further source of information is Arthur Dimmock, a regular columnist in the British Deaf News, who for many years has compiled details of Deaf artists. ITQ Why do you think it is so difficult to find information about Deaf artists? 4 Read~ng Now read pages 1 1 to 13 of the Set Book Br~t~shS~gn Language by M~les,about the Spanish art~stJuan Fernandez de Navarrete (El Mudo-The Mute) 4 According to Jackson, the centuries since the life of El Mudo have seen a number of deaf artists, particularly in the British Isles. Sir John Gaudy (1639-1705) and Framlingham Gaudy (1642-1673)) for example, both described as fine painters, were deaf brothers who communicated through sign language. Benjamin Ferrers (circa 1607-1732) is known as the father of Deaf art, and, although later than the Gaudy brothers, is generally held to be the first British deaf artist to receive uublic acclaim. He lived and worked for many years in Westminster, where he specialized in painting Chancery Court scenes. Charles Shirreff (1750-1831), Richard Cross (1742-1810) and Sampson Towgood Roche (1759-1847) were all deaf and all successful miniature portrait painters. Shirreff exhibited in many prestigious forums, including the Royal Academy; Cross was a prolific painter, held in high regard, who earned an excellent income from his art; and Roche, who came from Ireland, spent most of his adult years in Bath where he plied a flourishing trade in his art. After the war his standing reached heights beyond his wildest dreams. Commissions were too numerous so he chose only the plum jobs. He proved himself to be the leading specialist in the difficult art of composite groups. This won him a commission to do the interior of the House of Commons during a sitting and thereby become the first person m history to be allowed to do this. A painting of the House of Lords followed. Another picture, now famous, is that of the RAF Commemorative Dinner in which the Queen, Prince Philip and many dignitaries are featured. Members of the Royal Family, even the Queen, ministers and many well known figures came to his studio to be painted. (A. Dimmock, 1990, personal communication) 4.1.2 In what way is Deaf art different? 4 V~deo Now re-watch the poem by Dorothy M~lesIn Sequence 6 of V~deoTwo and re-read Sect~on5 of Un~t3 wh~ch~ncludes a wr~ttenverslon of the poem 4 Comment Sect~on5 of Un~t3 deals w~ththe lhngu~st~caspects of the poem The po~ntwe w~sh to make here IS that of the 'd~fferentness'of the performed verslon compared w~ththe spoken and wr~ttenverslons It could be argued that the spoken and wr~ttenverslons, however well presented, are s~mplytranslat~ons of the performed work And, therefore, only the poem as ~t IS performed In BSL embod~esand expresses the full range of the thoughts and emot~onsof the creator 4 Now read Artlcle 27, 'S~gnS~nger' by Col~nThomson and L~ndaJanes In Reader OneReading How IS Deaf art descr~bedand how IS ~t def~nedas d~fferentfrom hearmg art2 m Make some notes before contlnulng 4 There are a number of points in the article you have just read that suggest a definition of Deaf art, and indicate where it may be different. When Colin Thomson performs, as well as using sign language and gesture, he locates his whole performance within a visual mode, and his material is chosen to reflect the experience of deafness.
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