Chronicle Editor
Sipepisiwe Moyo
DEAF Arts is not just a group of artists, but a movement of expression and empowerment. Through various forms of art, such as drama, film, poetry and music, they share their stories, struggles, perspectives and solutions on the matters that touch their lives.
On 23 February, they joined forces with the Ministry of Women Affairs, Community, Small to Medium Enterprises, Department of Development, to showcase their talents and interact with their audience. It was a memorable event that celebrated the diversity, creativity and resilience of the deaf community.
The drama highlighted the challenges faced by the deaf in their daily lives, such as the lack of interpreters in crucial sectors like health, council and others.
Rosemary Zhira, who works with the Deaf Culture Entertainment group, said that they will go around the country raising awareness on these challenges through drama, hoping that this will influence policy on the differently abled persons.
Rosemary also emphasised the need for sign language interpreters to be provided in every office, to avoid communication breakdown and to increase the employment opportunities for the deaf.
She said that many of them have lost jobs because of the communication barrier with their prospective employers due to the absence of interpreters.
Tsungirirai Tsikira, who is the manager of Deaf Arts, expressed her joy as she said that this is the first time to have an all deaf group participate in theatre and that this is an empowering project.
“Most of the times, the members of the deaf community do their dramas in schools and in institutions where they learn and fail to pursue this as a career, but now they will be able to pursue a career in arts.
“This group can now go and perform in weddings, and other places, so this is also an income generating project, so ,economically they have been empowered, this also offers the deaf inclusivity in terms of entertainment because most of the times they were excluded in terms of entertainment as there will be no element of sign language. Now they have their own drama group that they can go and watch and be entertained,” she said.
Tsikira, also said that they are setting an example for the art industry, as they did not only act out their drama in sign language, but they also provided an interpreter so that those who cannot understand their language can benefit and enjoy with them.
Stix Mhlanga, who is a writer, director, coaching actor and novelist by profession, also worked closely with the group and said that he was pleased that the all deaf art group has succeeded in this field of theatre.
He said that he was motivated by the fact that this is new content and that he felt the urge to be a part of the deaf culture.
“I have been with them for two weeks but this is a group which is different and unique from the groups I have worked with before. The tools of an artist are the body, voice and imagination but this group does not possess the voice.
The absence of voice made this group to have high levels of imagination as they compensate for the voice element unlike most actors I have worked with, who tend to hide their imagination and they end up producing inorganic work,” he said.
The group is also going to showcase their talent in Beitbridge, Gweru and many other places. Tsikira also expressed her gratitude to those who assisted them in various ways in this project.
“I would like to thank Barberton Gym who are assisting us with physical fitness and they offered their services for a very minimal charge which I consider to be free, the Culture Fund for financing the project through their delegation in Zimbabwe, Sign Language Interpreters who are the voice when we are doing our performances, they provide the voice over and even when we are going round doing our bookings.
“We have an interpreting agency that we are working with, we thank our choreographer who is also deaf and has been teaching us how to dance,” she said.
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