Text from brochure below:
De’VIA
What: Deaf View/Image Art = De’VIA.
A visual art movement intended to
express Deaf experiences
Where: Washburn Arts Center.
Gallaudet University
When: 1989 before Deaf Way I
Why: A group of Deaf artists and
scholars created a manifesto because
they wanted to put a name to works
about Deaf experiences
Who: a small group of Deaf artists &
an art historian
Betty G Miller, Ed.D., painter; Paul
Johnston, Ph.D., sculptor; Deborah M.
Sonnenstrahl, Ph.D., art historian;
Chuck Baird, painter; Guy Wonder,
sculptor; Alex Wilhite, painter; Sandi
Inches-Vasnick, fiber artist; Nancy
Creighton, fiber artist; and Lai-Yok Ho,
visual artist.
Image: Betty G. Miller’s infamous Ameslan Prohibited illustration – black ink on white paper of two hands with broken fingers and shackles at the wrist)
Betty G. Miller and Chuck Baird are
often referred to as the Mother and
Father of De’VIA because of their
tireless and steadfast work in
promoting De’VIA. Many other artists
created works about Deaf experiences
before De’VIA was coined or before
they were aware of this art movement;
such as: Ralph Miller, Ann Silver, Tony
McGregor, Susan Dupor and more.
To see the De’VIA Manifesto, videos
explaining motifs, infomon De’VIA
artists, art lesson plan activities and
Surdism manifesto go to:
https://deviacurr.wordpress.com/
To learn about more Deaf artists go
to https://deaf-art.org/.
Surdism
What: collective movement to bring about
social justice via artistic and literary
expressions of Deaf experiences
Where: began in France but intended to be
global
When: 2009
Why: need for ARTivism (artists engaging in
activism) to bring about Deaf liberation
Who: Arnaud Balard, French DeafBlind artist
who also created the Sign Union Flag in 2013
The term Surdism comes from the French word for Deaf =
Sourd and “ism” as an a school of thought / art movement
(i.e. cubism, impressionism, expressionism, surrealism)
Surdism:
-is an international collective movement which
carries a positive, constructive, militant and
inclusive philosophy
-aims to gather all artists (sculpture, painting,
photography, literature, signed poetry, cinema,
theater, installations, videos…) to strengthen the
focus on the existence of the Deaf world.
-claims that our movement carries creativity,
inclusion, complementarity, and mutual
enrichment.
-promotes artistic expression about, of and through
Sign Language which serves a unifying social link
–not as something causing linguistic and cultural
division.
Audism denigrates, Deafhood welcomes, Surdism
reveals. ~ Surdism Manifesto 2009
The sign for Surdism is an
index finger pointing at a
3rd eye and then pointing
at an open palm.
Sign Union Flag
The Sign Union Flag was designed by
Arnaud Balard in 2013 after several
years of studying vexillology. The flag
has a turquoise handshape to signify our
natural sign languages, which binds us
together as a community, and the yellow
outline indicates light, hope,
enlightenment and represents a hand
upon a hand for protactile sign language.
Dark blue represents humanity and
Deafhood where audism is challenged
and Deaf gain is celebrated.
The sign Union flag has been raised at
Deaf schools and in major cities around
the world. For more information about
the flag go to:
https://surdistsunited.com/sign-union-fl
ag-by-a-balard/
Surdists United is a non-profit
organization committed to social
justice via Deaf centered creative
expressions. For more info on
Surdists United’s Deaf related
books and activities go to:
https://surdistsunited.com/
Brochure to download