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History: A woman is standing in front of a painting while making an Auslan sign

Deaf History International Conference – Auslan and ISL Tours

The tenth Deaf History International (DHI) conference is taking place in Sydney from 17 – 21 July. This is the first time the DHI conference is being held in the southern hemisphere. The event is presented by Deaf Australia and the theme for the conference is Colonialism in Deaf History.

To coincide with this important event, tours in both Auslan and International Sign Language will be held at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA) Australia and the Art Gallery of New South Wales on Wednesday 18 July.

Museum of Contemporary Art Australia

6:00 pm – 7:30 pm Sun Xun with Angie Goto and Cindy Chen

Join this tour for visitors who are Deaf or hard of hearing. It will be led by Artist Educators Angie Goto and Cindy Chen. Sun Xun is one of China’s most exciting young artists, best known for his animations made up of thousands of ink paintings, charcoal drawings and woodcuts.

Tea and coffee will be provided, and you are invited to engage in an art-making session in MCA’s creative studios.

This is a free event, but bookings are required. Please email accesstours@mca.com.au or call (02) 9245 2400. For more on this tour, visit here.

Art Gallery of New South Wales

6:00 pm – 7:00 pm: Colonialism in Art History tour with Dr. Riona Tindal

For visitors who are Deaf of hard of hearing and with a special focus on the DHI conference, join Dr. Riona Tindal, Deaf Arts Officer with Accessible Arts. This tour will explore colonial art in the Gallery’s Australian Collection.

This is a free event, but bookings are recommended. Please email pp@ag.nsw.gov.au or call (02) 9225 1740. Please meet at the information desk to start the tour. For more on this tour, visit here.

7:00 pm – 7:15 pm: break

7:15 pm – 8:15 pm: Archibald, Wynne and Sulman Prizes 2018 tour with Todd Wright

For visitors who are Deaf or hard of hearing, join Todd Wright, presenter from the Deaf community, for a tour of Australia’s most extraordinary art event: the annual Archibald, Wynne and Sulman Prizes exhibition.

This is a ticketed event. Bookings are required. Please email pp@ag.nsw.gov.au or call (02) 9225 1740. Please meet at the information desk to start the tour. For more on this tour, visit here.

To read more about the Deaf History International conference, visit their website right here.


This page was first published on 6 July 2018. This page was updated on 11 July to include information on the tour at MCA.

Photograph: Auslan tour, June 2018. Featured: Lara Merrett, Paint me in, 2018. Commissioned by the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia for the Jackson Bella Room, 2018. Photograph: MCA