VISITORS to Dudley’s Black Country Living Museum during half term will meet ‘David Smith’, a new historic character.
He represents real people’s memories sharing the importance of the deaf community and how deaf clubs flourished during the 1960s, as well as the barriers in society that they have historically faced.
David has been developed as part of Curating for Change, funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, This ground-breaking project, delivered by Screen South through the Accentuate Programme, creates strong career pathways for deaf, disabled and neurodivergent curators, who are currently under-represented in museums.
During May half term visitors to the museum alongside the Dudley Canal & Caverns will find out more about David’s life in the Black Country in the 1960s as well as his childhood memories. He will be portrayed by deaf actors and use a combination of British Sign Language (BSL) and ‘home signs’ to communicate with a hearing family member, who will be played by interpreters from Birmingham-based TheSignLife.
Robert Buckley, who will be one of the deaf actors portraying David, said: “It’s a good opportunity to raise awareness of what life was life for deaf people in the past, and sometimes, even now.“
Collections manager Chloe Taylor explained the importance of the creation of this character: “Our Curating for Change Fellows have been re-examining and exploring the Museum’s collections through a new lens, uncovering stories of disabled people through objects in our collections that have perhaps been hidden or overlooked due to lack of information.”
PHOTO: BCLM
