Abecedarium. The Ocean in Sign Language

Sign languages, globally, lack sufficient signs for the deaf community to participate meaningfully in the debate around the Ocean and the challenges it faces against climate change.
This is why Abecedarium was born as a participatory, long term educational program, first of its kind, that aims to create a new vocabulary for the Ocean and its environment in Italian Sign Language, with the direct involvement of the deaf community.
In 2020, through an open call for bilingual deaf people who know LIS and Italian, 12 “ambassadors” were selected to participate in the first phase of the project. This phase consisted in research and training sessions conducted by experts of the Institute of Marine Sciences along with architects and artists, during which the most urgent themes for the construction of the new glossary emerged.
The second phase of the project is a collaborative multimedia art production by Berlin-based Italian artist Giulia Bruno. The artist intends to develop an exhibition project whose creative and aesthetic process will be the result of a participatory workshop with the deaf community, that becomes an integral part of the exhibition and a bridge between possible worlds. The artwork will create equitable opportunities for cultural access and enjoyment for all, promoting accessibility and contributing to the growth of the awareness and debate around the Ocean.
Abecedarium is a first important step towards catalysing collective action for a sustainable, livable, and equitable future, by promoting active participation in knowledge exchange from a diverse group of people. Only by ensuring wide accessibility we can support the involvement of everyone - professionals and civil society alike - in the conversation about the most pressing issues of our time.
In order to care for the Ocean, it is absolutely essential that everyone has access to scientific knowledge and artistic content, without excluding anyone. Everyone needs to be involved in saving the planet and needs to have the tools to do it.