Sign language poetry festival highlights work of deaf poets

With performances from British deaf poets John Wilson and Paul Scott, the Signing Hands Across the Water 2 Festival delivered on its promise of offering the best from the sign language community. The event was hosted by the University of the Witwatersrand and was aimed at celebrating deaf poetry both in South Africa and worldwide.

According to Dr. Michiko Kaneko, Head of Department at the South African Sign Language School of Literature, Language & Media, the festival was also aimed at highlighting the South African sign language community and placing them on the map.

“The aim was also to invite renowned deaf poets from different countries to support local deaf people in the host country as they create stories and poems in their own sign language,”she explained.

The three day event, part of a series of international festivals taking place, also included a workshop on 12 April and a discussion panel that took place on 14 April.

The segment that took place on 13 April included performances from established poets such as Wilson, Dr Johanna Mesch from Sweden and performances from aspiring local poets.

Kaneko had nothing but praise for the three day segment of the festival, calling it a success and a major milestone in the sign language community. She also praised the participation of local sign language poets, saying that the response from them was positive.

“When we put the festival together, it was our way of giving back to the sign language community and one of the best ways to showcase the work done by local poets,” Kaneko said.

She also added that she hoped that more festivals of this nature would be held as it gave local deaf poets a platform.

“We need more funding of course but we saw that clearly there is an interest in this sort of thing,” she added.

The festival took place at the Downstairs Theatre located at the university and was hosted and sponsored by the Department of South African Sign Language. Poetry performances began at 11pm.