Act 36 Wunderbar Festival 2011,BALTIC,Gateshead

 

Act 36 To Reverse The Usual order of Things,a recitation placing Sign at the centre of communication

This compelling recitation took place in Wunderbar Festival 2011 at BALTIC Centre For Contemporary Art, Gateshead, at 7.00pm on Wednesday 02 November 2011

one person in a thousand uses a national sign language as a first language, equivalent to around half a million people in the EU. As well as deaf people, for whom a sign language may be their mother tongue, sign language speakers include the hearing impaired, their friends and family, and others who use sign language as a second or third language. Anniversary — an act of memory is a multi-lingual project and thanks to the United Nation’s UDHR translation project to date more than 300 people have been able to take part by choosing an Article to recite from memory from one of the 400 spoken languages translated on the UN site.



For Wunderbar Festival 2011 the aim was to reverse the usual order of things and present a collective recitation primarily in Sign.
Please click on the image on the left to see a Signed Introduction





Article 2 Cath Tyler
Article 3 Dawn Morley
Article 4 Erica King
Article 5 Helen Foster
Article 6 Kate Parkin
Article 7 Rosemary Spencer
Article 8 Caroline Cornwell
Article 10 Alanna Bentley
Article 11 Monica Ross and Lynn Jordan
Article 13 Erica King
Article 15 Val Hofmann
Article 16 Val Hofmann
Article 17 Jennifer Cottam
Article 18 Katie Elliot
Article 19 Alanna Bentley
Article 20 Article 11 Monica Ross and Lynn Jordan
Article 22 Joe Jones
Article 22 Joe Jones
Article 23.2 Dawn Morley
Article 23.3 Jacqueline Apperley
Article 23.4 Caroline Cornwell
Article 24 Jacqueline Apperley
Article 25 Monica Ross and Annie Brotherton
Article 26 Rosemary Spencer
Article 26 Rosemary Spencer
Article 27 Joe Jones
Article 28 Katie Elliott
Article 29 Monica Ross and Lynn Jordan

Preamble Monica Ross spoken, with Annie Brotherton, British Sign Language Interpreter
Article 1 Monica Ross spoken, with Annie Brotherton, British Sign Language Interpreter
Article 2Cath Tyler British Sign Language
Article 3Dawn Morley British Sign Language
Article 4 Erica King British Sign Language
Article 5Helen Foster British Sign Language
Article 6Kate Parkin British Sign Language
Article 7 Rosemary Spencer British Sign Language
Article 8 Caroline Cornwell British Sign Language
 Article 9 Caroline Cornwell British Sign Language
Article 10 Alanna Bentley British Sign Language
Article 11 Monica Ross spoken,with Lynn Jordan, British Sign Language Interpreter
Article 12 Dawn Morley British Sign Language
Article 13 Erica King British Sign Language
Article 14 Monica Ross spoken, with Annie Brotherton, British Sign Language Interpreter
Article 15Val Hofmann British Sign Language
Article 16Val Hofmann British Sign Language
Article 17 Jennifer Cottam British Sign Language
Article 18 Katie Elliott British Sign Language
Article 19 Alanna BentleyBritish Sign Language
Article 20 Monica Ross spoken, with Lynn Jordan, British Sign Language Interpreter
 Article 21Monica Ross spoken, with Lynn Jordan, British Sign Language Interpreter
Article 22Joe Jones British Sign Language
Article 23.1 Jacqueline Apperley British Sign Language
Article 23.2 Dawn Morley British Sign Language
Article 23.3 Jacqueline Apperley British Sign Language
Article 23.4 Caroline Cornwell British Sign Language
Article 24 Jaqueline Apperley British Sign Language
Article 25 Monica Ross spoken, with Annie Brotherton, British Sign Language Interpreter
Article 26 Rosemary Spencer British Sign Language
 Article 27Joe Jones British Sign Language
 Article 28Katie Elliott British Sign Language
Article 29 Monica Ross spoken, with Lynn Jordan, British Sign LanguageInterpreter
Article 30 Monica Ross spoken, with Lynn Jordan, British Sign LanguageInterpreter

Photographs Bernard G Mills

Thanks and Admiration to
All the Signers for their grace, style and courage; The Signature Level 3 NVQ Certificate in British Sign Language Course at Newcastle College; Jackie Gates and Scott Donohue, and tutors Julia Carr and Keith Reed, for their support of the students who took part; Faye Stewart at Arts Council South West who supported Kate Parkin at Arts Council North East to learn Sign via video conference; and, last but by no means least, many thanks to Annie Brotherton and Lynn Jordan whose expertise and panache carried the day.

Act 36 was produced Thanks to:
The leadership and commitment of Act of Memory’s producer Michelle Hirschhorn and Ilana Mitchell, Director of Wunderbar; the tireless patience and sensitivity of assistant Wunderbar producer Hannah Marsden; the support of Cath Tyler, Beckie Darlington and all at Wunderbar; Sue Maclaine for signing the introductory video; the commitment and generous support of Alessandro Vincentelli, Emma Thomas, Karen Davies, Dave Pipkin, Sarah Boutelle, Gary Malkin and all at BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art who hosted and presented the introductory talk, the performance and reception.

Thanks For
The encouragement, advice and support of Jenny Sealey MBE, Director of Graeae Theatre; Sue Maclaine; Adele Hopper, Christopher Luke, Tom Chittenden and all at ITV SignPost; Michelle Quayle, Community Development Officer of the British Deaf Association; Caroline Ryan; Rob Latham, Tyne and Wear Museums; Geoff Armstrong, Arcadea; Alison Smith, Pesky People, Christine de Blase and Signdance Theatre International, Bernard G Mills for photographs and Sarah Boutelle and Gary Malkin at Baltic Library and Archive for video
  • Click here to see SIGNED and Plain English Versions of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
A Partnership Project between Wunderbar Festivaland BALTIC

WUNDERBAR FESTIVAL  31 October – 6 November 2011
Wunderbar is a dynamic biennial festival of contemporary performances, visual art, and extraordinary happenings for the North East of England, that places the audience at the heart of the experience. Everyday places, traditional venues, disused spaces, the internet and the ether are the sites for Wunderbar’s eclectic programme of new commissions and collaborations. International meets regional in work that is remarkable, playful, brave and mischievous and across every scale, from the minutest of interactions to some grand city centre spectaculars. Wunderbar’s aim is to explore participation and social interaction to their limits, and takes inspiration from the curiosity of its audiences. Wunderbar is a place for activity, spontaneity, society, interaction, dialogue and play – and is a festival with festivity at its heart

7 Responses to “ Act 36 Wunderbar Festival 2011,BALTIC,Gateshead ”

  1. Kate Parkin on 19/10/2011 at 12:50

    Hi everyone

    I’m attempting to recite and BSL Article 6: Everyone has a right to recognition everywhere as a person before the law.

    The thing is I’ve never used BSL previously. My colleague/friend in Exeter is trying to help via the power of Skype.

    However, if anyone has any top tips or face to face help on how I can learn this phrase in less than two weeks I would be very grateful. It’s going to be a challenge!!!

    Thanks (from a terrified) Kate

    • monica on 19/10/2011 at 15:16

      hi kate- thanks for being so honest about being terrified! i am sure quite a few people practising for this recitation, and anyone who has taken part in previous ones, knows exactly what you mean.
      for my part, have to say i’m often terrified of this work too!

      hope it helps to remember that it is the attempt to do this that matters more than performing it perfectly ?- this is what the work is about and where it began: as a response to the question of how we manage to uphold human rights when under pressure….

      and mistakes, doubts, hesitations,having to go back and start again are all part of the process
      best, monica

  2. cath tyler on 14/10/2011 at 12:32

    Hello! I’ve been acting as a consultant on this project, act of memory thirty six, but I’m also hoping to recite. Something that has struck me very clearly through this project is the enormity of the task of making this a UNIVERSAL declaration. All these rights for everyone who is everyone. I’m working on learning article twenty eight and article two for this reason. I would also like to recite article twenty five, but i’m not sure my signing skills could do that one justice. I’m still working! I’ve been acting as an ‘eye opener’ for the project so far, but have been learning loads and loads, and been inspired to think even more about how i perceive society, culture and community, and how people work within them. And learning how much more open my eyes can be, and how much better i could be at BSL!
    here’s to a great act!
    - cath tyler

    • monica on 17/10/2011 at 18:28

      hi cath,
      thank you very much for your message and for taking on these 2 Articles! maybe someone else will take on 25?- this is a right that is really on the edge in the current economic climate – the right to housing, to healthcare and to social services for everyone; and of the rights of all children to equal care and protection.

  3. monica on 05/10/2011 at 18:13

    Thanks to everyone who came to the talk at Baltic and who made it such a successful and interesting evening. Especially warm thanks to those of you who travelled all the way from Derby and Edinburgh!
    I really look forward to meeting you all again on 02 November for the recitation and wish you the best of luck in between for memorising your chosen articles. Meantime if you have any questions please email Hannah at Wunderbar Festival or post your comments or thoughts here.
    A video of the talk will be ready for viewing soon. If you would like to see or share it with someone who would like to take part but wasn’t able to attend please contact Hannah at : takepart@wunderbarfestival.co.uk
    and many thanks to Team Wunderbar and all at Baltic for such a great evening.
    all the best, monica

  4. Hannah Marsden on 20/09/2011 at 19:01

    I’ve just discovered that it is International Week of the Deaf – is anyone doing anything to mark the occasion?

    http://www.wfdeaf.org/news/international-week-of-the-deaf-2011

    Check out the World Federation of the Deaf http://www.wfdeaf.org/ They are doing some amazing work to promote Human Rights.

  5. Hannah Marsden on 13/09/2011 at 18:29

    Hello, and welcome to the recitors forum for Anniversary – an act of memory. Please use this space to connect with other participants. You can talk about your chosen Article and share your experience of learning it from memory. You can also post any thoughts, comments or questions you have about the project, about Human Rights, about language and communication, or anything else this project inspires you to share. Wunderbar is so pleased to be a part of this dialogue and we look forward to developing this exciting project with you…!
    All the best,
    Hannah, at Team Wunderbar.