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Creative method: Poetry in sign language learning

Titled ‘The Poet is the Poem’, showcase will premiere poem film 'Walls'

Updated 5 years ago · Published on 24 Feb 2021 11:00AM

Creative method: Poetry in sign language learning — The film is the culmination of a year-long collaboration between Malaysian and UK artist educators. – Pic courtesy of British Council, February 24, 2021

THE School of English at the University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus and MY Poetry School will be holding an online presentation of Malaysian Sign Language in its highest literary form.

The event will be held on Friday (February 26) from 6pm to 7.30pm via Facebook Live. It will premiere 'Walls', a poem film in Bahasa Isyarat Malaysia (BIM) by Anthony Chong with a translation in English by multimedia poet Sheena Baharudin.

In a press release, the British Council said the film is the culmination of a year-long collaboration between Malaysian and UK artist educators, which happened online due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Together with the creation of the film, the team developed a potential teaching methodology for using poetry and other creative signing literary forms to support the education of hearing-impaired people in Malaysia. BIM or Malaysian Sign Language is the officially recognised language of the deaf in Malaysia and is integral to their identity.

The event is made possible by the British Council’s Connections Through Culture (CTC) grant.

Originally a mobility grant to enable artist exchanges between the UK and Southeast Asia, the CTC grant was redesigned to meet the demands of a ‘new norm’ to make sure meaningful artistic and cultural exchanges could still happen.

The launch of the film will be followed by a sharing session and Q&A with the artist educators and special guests.

The artists are:

Sheena Baharudin (moderator) is an educator, performance poet and author of two bilingual poetry collections, Rhymes for Mending Hearts (2013) and All the Bodies We've Embraced (2017). She currently teaches literature and creative writing at the University of Nottingham Malaysia.
Elaine Foster (moderator) is a poet educator and community theatre-maker from Malaysia and the UK. Founder of the PCKL Youth Poetry Slam and MY Poetry School, Elaine recently completed an MA in Applied Theatre from Goldsmiths University.
Anthony Chong is a Deaf community leader based in Kuala Lumpur, a graduate of the University of Malaya, majoring in linguistics and of Gallaudet University majoring Deaf Studies. He is a founder and member of Malaysian Sign Language and Deaf Studies Association (MyBIM).
Ana Jonessy is a Sabah based facilitator and community arts organiser working with the d/Deaf community in East Malaysia. Ana runs a community collective in Kota Kinabalu (Bentarakata) which facilitates workshops and events around social justice issues and LGBTQ+ rights.
The special guest is Jessica Mak or Jc, who fully believes in the interests of sign language through communication with the Deaf community. She is fluent in multiple sign languages. She is an executive board committee of Deaf Sports Association Singapore (DSA) and the founding president of the Malaysian Sign Language and Deaf Studies Association (MyBIM) to promote and create awareness of Deaf communities through sports, sign language and deaf culture.

For updates, follow the artists on Instagram (@anthonychong123, @anajonessy and @sheenabaharudin) and My Poetry School on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter or visit the British Council’s Connections Through Culture website for more information.

The Facebook event link is: https://www.facebook.com/events/870846810367259 – The Vibes, February 24, 2021