Klimt for everyone, international week of the deaf

By: @monytodoterreno

The last week of September has been established worldwide as Deaf People’s Week, this seeks to make visible and vindicate the rights of deaf people, carrying out activities that promote the elimination of linguistic barriers, through, for example, raising awareness about the importance of Sign Language (which commemorates its day also this week, just last September 23).

There are innumerable actions that we still have to carry out to achieve full inclusion of deaf people, in my opinion one of the main ones is the teaching of Mexican Sign Language (LSM) to teachers, since through them Access to education is guaranteed and by not speaking Sign Language, in a certain way deaf boys and girls are being denied access to quality education and as a consequence their current and future social inclusion is affected.

Despite the long road and the enormous debt we owe to the deaf community, in this article I would like to focus on a place that is constantly renewed to show that the world can be a place for everyone, this place is museums.

Museums, being a door to history and knowledge, are committed to guaranteeing that all their visitors, without exception, have access.

As an example, this time I want to talk to you about the Belvedere Gallery museum, which contains one of the most iconic pieces in Vienna: “The Kiss” by the famous painter Gustav Klimt.

In collaboration with experts and groups focused on people with disabilities, in the Belvedere use they have programs that allow them to put “inclusion into action” when experiencing the exhibits.

For blind and visually impaired visitors, the gallery has tactile models with works by Klimt, Schile, Meister IP and Messerschmidt.

The programs/tours they currently have are:

Timeless Beauty: Art for people with Dementia and memory loss

The tour is carefully designed to provide an artistic experience with a respectful and sensitive approach. The materials provided allow you to immerse yourself in the works of art in a relaxed environment where you can freely share your thoughts and feelings evoked by the works.

The tour is done by reservation only and can be private (minimum two people, in case they have an assistant or caregiver) or in a group with a maximum of 16 people, ideal for institutions.

Seeing differently: Love, Death and Life

Considered the stars of Modernism (and also the stars of the museum), Gustav Klimt and Egon Schile, explored and painted in their works the central themes of human existence through a unique style and technique. On this tour, the computer-generated reliefs “Klimt’s Kiss” and “Schile’s Family” will convey the artistic relationship between these two painters.

This tour is a look at inclusive art, focusing on multi-sensory experiences for blind and visually impaired people.

Plain language: Art is for everyone!

Curious about art? On this tour, deaf people will see the works on their own, except that they will be able to comment on their ideas and questions in Sign Language. Together with the museum guides, you will find clear words and personal connections. The center of this tour is the exchange of ideas!

Any of the tours require reservations and are available for a minimum of 2 people (including an assistant).

Since we saw an example of how museums can contribute to the inclusion of people with disabilities, Mexico City, currently being the second city in the world with the most museums, has many inclusive options such as the MUNAL, the National Museum of Watercolor, the Diego Rivera Mural, Universum, among many more! We would like to read your experience if you have visited them.

Lastly, I want to share some Interesting facts about Mexican Sign Language:

• The community of deaf people is made up of both hearing people (relatives, friends, educators, etc.) and deaf people, they have a language (which is different in each region, country, state, even a colony!) and they have a culture mostly visual.
• The families of deaf people are diverse, there are deaf couples with hearing children (CODA), hearing couples with deaf daughters and sons and deaf families where both parents and children speak in Sign Language like @thatdeafamily .
• In Mexico, sign language has been an official language recognized as such since July 10, 2005 and its name is Lengua de Señas Mexicana or LSM.
• LSM goes beyond hand signs, it is considered a three-dimensional language, as it uses movement, direction, position and space using hands, gestures and gaze.
• The term deaf is incorrect, currently the correct term is deaf person or deaf, it is worth mentioning that deaf people do speak, and they do so through Sign Language.
• Each deaf person has their own sign, hearing people can also have one when learning Sign Language (at least in the deaf community in Mexico City), it can only be assigned by a deaf person, such as a godfather or godmother. .
• Not all people who speak LSM know Spanish, so it should not be assumed that they know how to read and write, Sign Language relies on other tools such as images and keywords.

If you want to start supporting the deaf community, you can start by learning LSM, attending deaf plays, attending, going on museum tours and making friends from the community in general.