THEn a society immersed in noise, polluted (also) from a sound point of view, silence is, first and foremost, the absence of noise. A free space, a void. But it can also be something else, as he explains Maura Di Vietridancer and among the organizers of Festival of Silence. A performing arts festival with a – natural – focus on deaf signing culture and sign languages. «In silence, where sound languages do not exist, visual signs, gestures, images acquire importance and allow us to communicate. The festival is this, a space-time bubble in which silence becomes value.” It happens on the three days ofevent organized in Milan (from 15 September) by the Fattoria Vittadini dance company together withFedora cultural association, which promotes accessibility in the cultural field for people with sensory disabilities. It is a festival open to all, which does not need translations, in which native signers who use Sign Language as their mother tongue also take part.
The Festival of Silence, to discover the “deaf culture” and the poetry of sign language
Now in its fifth edition and awarded the Medal of the President of the Republic, the Festival of Silence is an experience. A space and time in which different artistic and performative forms but also different forms of communication meet. It will be held from Friday 15th to Sunday 17th September at the Farm Space inside the Steam Factory of Milan (Via Giulio Cesare Procaccini 4) and, as Di Vietri explains, includes shows and meetings. But also workshops with special attention to the involvement of deaf and hearing people in a shared experience.
In the rich calendar, it is worth starting with the Meeting to raise awareness of LIS (free) curated by deaf artist Daniel Bongioanni. An invitation to explore a new way of communication and expression (Friday 15 September to 6.00 pm).
Feminism and deafness, women speak
A moment not to be missed is Saturday 16th at 3pm. Feminism, Rights, Education and Deafness is the theme of the meeting which will involve various women’s voices. As Anna Folchiactivist, teacher, researcher and popularizer on LIS, the culture and history of the deaf. OR Chiara Pennettathe.UnDeaf (as she defines herself: the “non-deaf”). That she has two cochlear implants (which make her «a little more hearing», and more aware of her «deaf identity», a degree in Classics and two specializations. In teaching Italian as a foreign language and accessibility of communication and cultural contents. They will also participate in the meeting “The Mimosas”an informal group made up of deaf women born from the desire to share and disseminate themes and reflections around the feminine.
The laboratories, to get involved
On the last day of the festival, Sunday 17 September, you can decide to question yourself with a laboratory. Open to deaf and hearing people, Eyes and Hands was born from an idea of deaf artists Daniel Bongioanni and Nikita Lymar, in collaboration with Diana Anselmo. It is divided into two parts, first a theoretical part on the basis of deaf culture and sign languages. Then a practical part that explores the link between vision and art (at 1.30 pm, duration 3 hours).
Always Sunday Serena Crocco leads “Silent Traces”, a site-specific workshop/performance that challenges perception (4.30pm and 6.30pm). Equipped with noise-cancelling headphones, participants will take a silent walk, leaving traces along the way through performative actions. A shared silence and a reconnection with the environment. During the walk, the indications of all the actions will be given in written form, through a notebook worn by each participant, or in Italian sign language by the leader, in a modality accessible to all.
From the show “Geometries of life – The story of absurd everyday life” by I(l)limitati, at the Festival of Silence on September 15th at 9pm.
You Have to Be Deaf to Understand
TOAt 9pm it will be time to return to the audience and watch You Have to Be Deaf to Understand by Diana Anselmo, Daniel Bongioanni and Nikita Lymar, produced by Fattoria Vittadini. A show inspired by the poem of the same name written in 1971 by Willard J. Madsen, a deaf professor of English literature at Gallaudet University which addresses the theme of translation, an act that may appear harmless when it is not. And it can hide phonocentrism and cultural appropriation.
The show was born within Beyond Signs, European project for the social integration of deaf people through artistic cooperation and mobility in EU countries. And it debuts at the Festival of Silence in an extended version that is perfectly enjoyable even for those who don’t know any sign language. The three performers through the Visual Sign, poetic form of sign languages, they make an exposition of the imaginative content of the constructed and constituted figurations. A sort of very live vivisection: linguistic, cultural and artistic.
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