Museums should be more inclusive, receiving visitors (employing workers) from target groups which are now mostly absent in our museums. By producing multi-media productions, workshops, apps, games etc in a European Sign Language in cooperation with people out of the deaf communities, young creative people from art schools and universities and professionals in the museums, we inspire museums to actively attract visitors and workers from the deaf communities, but also from other groups of disabled persons or people with less chances.. We are convinced that deaf people can inspire creative young people and vice versa with Sign Language as a tool in European perspective. The project is a result of two parallel developments. The first is the positive, inspiring experience of working together in the KA2 project Inclusive Museums, stimulating to become more inclusive museums by working with volunteers from minorities in a broader sense. The second development is the experience of the COVID-19 crisis, which started just after our successfull second event in Finland. From that moment on we experienced a.o. the importance of digitalisation, of multi media of innovation and creativity. We also saw and experienced the use of sign language in national press conferences about corona. (In the Netherlands it resulted in the popularty of Irma, one of the sign language interpreters and as an effect in the rise of students for Sign Language in Higher Education). As three museums we decided to apply for this extra call, because the topics coincide perfectly with what we are doing and planning to do. The focus will be on deaf people, because of the Sign Language and the fact that partner Muzeum Slaskie is already working with this group for years. But by using sign language and by cooperating with the targethroup and young creative people from art schools, we will be able to widen the scope to much more people and creating new groups of visitors to our museums of cultural heritage and educating and training more people in the cultural history of our societies. With three participants from three museums (representing the various aspects), the project is small. We are sure that even though this is a small project, it can have a big impact, because we can work effectively together and cooperate with various stakeholders.
We wanted to have a basic idea about how to use International Sign Language in applications and to really have some films to use in our museums to start involving deaf people. The project was based on the desired impact we had (and still have) in mind: giving deaf people their place in society they deserve, the possibility to develop, to learn to work and to enjoy visiting all kinds of cultural activities, like museums. The expected outcome of the project aimed at the combination of building up a network of deaf, creative and museum people in which their is respect and cooperation together with instruments like films and apps as means of communication with deaf people. The output aimed to be a number of films and apps to be used in our museums as examples of creative digital tools to optimize communication with deaf (and hardhearing) people. Although we didn't know what the exact output would be we planned and realised activities to get to know the deaf organisations, their language, their experiences in all three countries. Sometimes more or less the same, sometimes quite different. The activities in the second half of the project were aimed at translating our knowledge into films and apps with creative designers.
A few years ago the three partners in this project were involved in the Erasmus+ project Inclusive Museums, with HISTORIES in Belgium and a Spanish institute for adult education. We wanted to become more precise in inclusiveness and concentrate on the deaf people. Muzeum Slaskie already had some experience in involving deaf people and together we wanted to find out how we could make our museums more accessible for deaf people by using (International) Sign Language. In general museums don't get (many) deaf.