Bowery ASL PoetrySlam
Joseph Grigely
Dorothy Miles
Wolfgang Muller
Roman Signer
Barbara Stauss
The Flying Words Project
Die Todliche Doris
Gunter Trube
Clayton Valli
Yoel Diaz Vazques
Ming Wong
An Paenhuysen
Wolfgang Muller
The exhibition project shows both the work of (deaf/hearing) artists, dealing with sound, music and their artistic potential as well as works by (deaf/hearing) artists that investigate sign language and its inherent artistic potential.
curated by An Paenhuysen and Wolfgang Müller
An exhibition project by Kunstraum Kreuzberg/Bethanien. Curated by An
Paenhuysen and Wolfgang Müller, in collaboration with Stéphane Bauer.
Funded by Hauptstadtkulturfonds
The exhibition "Sign, Gesture and Art" presents for the first time
artistic forms that evade simple category and move within the field of the
cultural deaf minority and hearing majority. The exhibition shows both the
work of (deaf/hearing) artists, dealing with sound, music and their
artistic potential as well as works by (deaf/hearing) artists that
investigate sign language and its inherent artistic potential. This
interdisciplinary exhibition crosses new terrain - by means of signing,
gestures and interactions, unknown art forms enter the stage. It
interactively explores the boundaries between dance, performance,
pantomime, literature and painting.
‘Sign, Gesture and Art’ will probably be the world's first exhibition to
show the artistic potential rising from sign languages.
The project intends to make the quality of Deaf poetry and Deaf arts
accessible for the first time to a wider public. The curators are
conscious that they are part of the hearing majority, thus the negotiation
"hearing perspective" and "non-hearing perspective" is an important
element in their considerations. „Non-hearing “ or "deafness“ are not the
central themes, but rather the cultural possibilities provided when sign
language culture is mediated to a hearing public. Our interest is directed
towards the work of internationally renowned Deaf poetry artists, such as
Gunter Trube, Clayton Valli and Dorothy Miles. They play a particularly
important role within the Deaf and sign language culture. The exhibition
project poses the question, which fields, connections and interactions
exist in the strictly separated worlds of deaf/hearing. The increasing
number of young Deaf artists, who have, for example, redesigned Deaf
poetry (in particular in the field of Hip Hop), proves that current pop
music hearing/deaf worlds have already been interacting with one another
for over twenty years.
In Germany, the sign language performer Gunter Trube (1960-2008) played a
prominent role as an activist and artist in the struggle for the
recognition of sign language speech culture. The co-curator of this
project, Wolfgang Müller has worked closely with Gunter Trube since 1980,
for example, at Berlin’s Volksbühne and for a Channel 4 film production,
London.
Artists: Bowery ASL PoetrySlam, Joseph Grigely, Dorothy Miles, Wolfgang
Müller, Roman Signer, Barbara Stauss, The Flying Words Project, Die
Tödliche Doris, Gunter Trube, Clayton Valli, Yoel Diaz Vazques, Ming Wong.
Press contact:
Stéphane Bauer Tel: 030-90298-1455 Fax: 90298-1453 bauer@kunstraumkreuzberg.de
Opening: 9th November 2012, from 7 pm
Kunstraum Kreuzberg/Bethanien
Mariannenplatz, 2- Berlin
Hours: tue-sun 12-19
Free Admission