Trudi Collier: What is deaf heritage?

I started working part-time for Solar Bear in April 2020 as the Project Co-ordinator for the ‘Solar Flares: Deaf Heritage project’.

Over the course of 3 years we will be developing 8 new digital art projects about Scottish deaf heritage and sharing them with a wide audience. This could include films, photos or digital art. We want to include as many people from deaf communities as possible not just for research but to create and lead on these projects.
It is a big challenge but also really exciting!

So far it has been an interesting journey. At first, I thought ‘heritage’ was just about the history of buildings, archaeology or architecture like those protected by UNSECO’S World Heritage, for example Edinburgh Castle or Big Ben in London. However, heritage is about more than just bricks and old things. It is also a person’s unique inherited sense of family, values, language, traditions and artifacts; and includes ethnic, cultural or national identity. By understanding heritage, we understand who we are and where we are going.

So yes, whilst deaf heritage is about learning about historic deaf schools or deaf clubs, what is as important are the people that worked, lived or studied there. From my research it is clear there are so many amazing stories waiting to be told – stories full of humour, values and traditions that are unique and worth celebrating.

It has also been a real joy learning about and exploring what other organisations have been doing to capture and celebrate deaf heritage. This includes the BDA, Deaf Scotland and BSL Zone who have created books, films and put on events. I was particularly interested to learn about a project by DeafWay’s, ‘Signed Voices’ which focusses on deaf people from North West England talking about their experiences. These video clips can be found on YouTube.

Historically the deaf community have been at a disadvantage when capturing and sharing their heritage. Peter Jackson, in his book, Britain’s Deaf Heritage (1990) stated:

‘A heritage that relies largely on the visual does not have a long history unless it is written about, or painted, or built as a permanent structure, and herein lies the greatest difficulty in looking at the history of deaf people for their language, BSL (British Sign Language) is a visual gestural language where no written form exists like Ancient Greek, Latin or any other ancient language’ (p1).

Taking advantage of the digital age we now live in, Solar Flares: Deaf Heritage project is looking to capture our heritage using visual mediums such as filmmaking. We also want to make the projects accessible and interactive. The success of the project will not just be about creating the work but also about what we do with it, and how we share it.

It is important to understand heritage as something that is happening right now. For example, we are currently living in a pandemic with COVID19 – what is this like for deaf people? In 5, 10 or 100 years will the deaf communities’ experience of the pandemic be forgotten, or will we have a record of what happened to perhaps help, educate and inspire future generations.

These aren’t the only questions I hope we’ll explore. The word deaf can mean many things including – deaf, hard of hearing, deafened, deafblind etc. I’m curious whether all people that identify as deaf share the same deaf heritage? Or if by ‘deaf heritage’ there is an automatic assumption that this only includes people that use sign language? What are the differences between older and younger deaf people, is their understanding of their own identity and heritage the same or different? Do we need to consider the possibility of lots of smaller groups or categories within deaf heritage rather than one single body?

We’re currently developing and working with people to create the first 2 projects about deaf clubs, technology or young deaf people. It is exciting and it is part of a journey. I believe it is an important journey that I hope you can join us on!

If you have any information you would like to share or just want to learn more about the project email trudi@solarbear.org.uk or join our Facebook group.

By Trudi Collier, Project Coordinator – Solar Flares: Deaf Heritage Project. You can also find out more at www.solarbear.org.uk.

Trudi says: I am a native BSL user, from a deaf family that was strongly involved in RAD’s deaf clubs in London during my childhood. I attended deaf clubs/events during my teenage years. I have been a MBACP Accredited Psychological Therapist for over 20 years and I provide couple counselling, supervision, approved tutoring in Mental Health First Aid, mentoring, advocacy, facilitator, trainer, and art tour guide.