Miss-Delectable
New Member
- Joined
- Apr 18, 2004
- Messages
- 17,160
- Reaction score
- 7
Festival celebrates our deaf culture
Guillaume Chastel donned a black T-shirt Saturday afternoon at the annual Deaf Culture Festival, a show of support for international sign language.
Across the world, those involved with the deaf community were encouraged to wear black to take a stand against what Chastel said many view as a gradual oppression of sign language, considered by many in the deaf community to be culturally significant.
The topic was an important one at last summer's meeting of the World Federation of the Deaf, leading to the first ever international sign language day Saturday. The vast majority of deaf students worldwide, Chastel said, are being educated through some kind of oral method, such as lip-reading, rather than through sign language. "Children have a right to their own native sign language and to access their education that way," he said, speaking through an interpreter.
"When you oppress the language, you oppress the culture."
Chastel spoke at the annual Deaf Cultural Festival at the Maine Educational Center for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, formerly called the Governor Baxter School for the Deaf, on Mackworth Island.
The festival, said organizer Roxanne Baker, gives everyone a glimpse into the varied aspects of deaf culture and concludes Deaf Awareness Week, recognized nationwide during the final week in September. Saturday's festival featured the Maine Deaf Bikers Motorcycle show, the "Let Your Hands do the Talking" art show, activities and an informational expo, connecting vendors with the deaf community. The displayed artwork was created by students at Baxter.
Deaf culture artwork, a specific type termed Di'VIA, or Deaf View/Image Art, is different from mainstream art, often featuring an emphasis on facial features or hands and vivid colors, Baker said, speaking through an interpreter.
"It gives you an idea of how we see the world through our eyes," she said.
There are about 750 deaf or hard of hearing students in the state and all have some kind of interaction with Baxter, through support services, educational programming or other services. For many Baxter alums, the festival is like a homecoming reunion. "This is my home away from home," said Baker, who is a member of the school board at Baxter.
Saturday's festival was also for the hearing. Isabel Parkinson, a junior at Waynflete School in Portland, takes an American Sign Language course at school taught by Baker. Coming to the festival, she said, offered an opportunity to learn about the deaf community outside of the classroom environment.
"It gives you an opportunity to communicate," she said.
The ASL storytelling portion of the day provided an open forum for anyone to use sign language without an interpreter, a way to feature the language.
"The backbone of the (American deaf) culture is ASL," Baker said.
"That's how we pass on history and culture."
The festival wrapped up Saturday night, when deaf performers and a married couple, Theron Parker and Mindy Moore, were scheduled to perform sketches, which Parker said had a "Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus"-type theme.
Outside of live performances, Parker and Moore, who perform nationwide, have also created two ASL movies.
Guillaume Chastel donned a black T-shirt Saturday afternoon at the annual Deaf Culture Festival, a show of support for international sign language.
Across the world, those involved with the deaf community were encouraged to wear black to take a stand against what Chastel said many view as a gradual oppression of sign language, considered by many in the deaf community to be culturally significant.
The topic was an important one at last summer's meeting of the World Federation of the Deaf, leading to the first ever international sign language day Saturday. The vast majority of deaf students worldwide, Chastel said, are being educated through some kind of oral method, such as lip-reading, rather than through sign language. "Children have a right to their own native sign language and to access their education that way," he said, speaking through an interpreter.
"When you oppress the language, you oppress the culture."
Chastel spoke at the annual Deaf Cultural Festival at the Maine Educational Center for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, formerly called the Governor Baxter School for the Deaf, on Mackworth Island.
The festival, said organizer Roxanne Baker, gives everyone a glimpse into the varied aspects of deaf culture and concludes Deaf Awareness Week, recognized nationwide during the final week in September. Saturday's festival featured the Maine Deaf Bikers Motorcycle show, the "Let Your Hands do the Talking" art show, activities and an informational expo, connecting vendors with the deaf community. The displayed artwork was created by students at Baxter.
Deaf culture artwork, a specific type termed Di'VIA, or Deaf View/Image Art, is different from mainstream art, often featuring an emphasis on facial features or hands and vivid colors, Baker said, speaking through an interpreter.
"It gives you an idea of how we see the world through our eyes," she said.
There are about 750 deaf or hard of hearing students in the state and all have some kind of interaction with Baxter, through support services, educational programming or other services. For many Baxter alums, the festival is like a homecoming reunion. "This is my home away from home," said Baker, who is a member of the school board at Baxter.
Saturday's festival was also for the hearing. Isabel Parkinson, a junior at Waynflete School in Portland, takes an American Sign Language course at school taught by Baker. Coming to the festival, she said, offered an opportunity to learn about the deaf community outside of the classroom environment.
"It gives you an opportunity to communicate," she said.
The ASL storytelling portion of the day provided an open forum for anyone to use sign language without an interpreter, a way to feature the language.
"The backbone of the (American deaf) culture is ASL," Baker said.
"That's how we pass on history and culture."
The festival wrapped up Saturday night, when deaf performers and a married couple, Theron Parker and Mindy Moore, were scheduled to perform sketches, which Parker said had a "Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus"-type theme.
Outside of live performances, Parker and Moore, who perform nationwide, have also created two ASL movies.