A Visual Language

The project promotes and celebrates the use of BSL (British Sign Language) within the deaf community, highlighting the use of this beautiful but often overlooked language using imagery and text to create a mixed media artwork. We wanted to celebrate BSL Awareness week in March 2024 (supported by British Deaf Association) We worked on the project over 12 workshop sessions, each offering different textile techniques to develop and produce parts of the final piece. The piece of artwork created combined felt making, embroidery, applique and tapestry and has been hung in the entrance to The Deaf Cultural Centre in Ladywood. It has become a focal point for those using the building and the people involved are immensely proud of what they created. Most people who attended the sessions used BSL to communicate, they often can’t access other projects without an interpreter as instructions are missed or not understood making it harder to participate.
The project was kindly funded by Ladywood NNS