Over 2,000 people came together on Saturday 15th April for the 25th annual Deaf Day at City Lit. The event was a fantastic occasion and an opportunity for the Deaf community to meet, socialise and network with organisations and charities from across the UK.
Long history of supporting deaf students
City Lit has a long history of supporting deaf students, some of its very first courses back in 1919 were lipreading courses for deafened soldiers who came back from WW1. Today it is Europe’s largest centre for deaf education.
Made possible by our sponsors Signature, Lipspeaker UK, SignVideo by Sorenson and City and Guilds this one-day event had a jam-packed schedule.
Video: Deaf Day 2023 in full swing
A love letter to the Deaf Community
On display in the City Lit Gallery, deaf photographer and former student Stephen Iliffe’s marvellous Deaf Mosaic exhibition showcased stunning images of Deaf people from across the country.
My exhibition is Deaf Mosaic and it’s my ‘love letter’ to the Deaf wonderful community which gave me confidence and purpose in life. It’s a series of photographic portraits of Deaf people from all walks of life; different ethnicities, cultures, occupations and interests.
This year’s exhibition featured new additions including a portrait of world-leading percussionist, Dame Evelyn Glennie, who received a City Lit Lifetime Fellowship last year. The exhibition remains on display until 27th April in the City Lit Gallery.
A huge variety of organisations also attended the event, including deaf colleges and universities such as Wolverhampton and Heriot-Watt, arts organisations like Deafinitely Theatre and Deaf Rave, and professional associations including the British Deaf Association and the Association of Lipspeakers.
Throughout the day, there were taster sessions and workshops from a variety of the college’s courses. These were hugely popular and included:
British Sign Language – The session provided an introductory session to learn some basic vocabulary and grammar in British Sign Language.
Lipreading – the taster was an interactive session for people to try out lipreading. The session was taught in spoken English with a BSL interpreter.
Yoga for Deaf people - This yoga workshop was taught in sign language to help develop an awareness and practice of Yoga by going into more depth with basic postures and learn new ones.
Alongside the taster sessions, the Cultureplex hosted sell-out lectures and interviews throughout the day. City Lit BSL tutor and deaf historian Peter Brown gave a lecture on deaf history, and Mark Hopkinson, Head of City Lit’s Centre for Deaf Education, interviewed Stephen Iliffe and asked him to explain the stories behind his photos. The talks were hugely inspiring and informative, a fantastic way to reflect the rich and vibrant Deaf culture.
We’re proud to play such an important part in the UK's Deaf community, Deaf Day has grown to become a key event in the annual deaf calendar. It was brilliant to see the huge diversity of the Deaf community and be able to come together and have a welcoming and open space to meet friends and catch up.
Centre for Deaf Education at City Lit
City Lit has provided support for deaf people at its heart right from our establishment, in 1919. Some of the first courses offered by City Lit were lipreading classes for deafened soldiers returning from World War I. Over the years, we have grown to become an internationally-renowned centre of a wide range of provision - it is the largest centre of its kind in Europe.
Video: Introduction to Centre for Deaf Education at City Lit
