On Monday, August 8, and Tuesday, August 9, 2022, the members and employees of the Deafblind Association of Slovenia DLAN participated in the 11th DHI (Deaf History International) conference, entitled “DEAF PEOPLE IN THE SHADOW OF THE BREAKS AND RUPTURES OF THE 20TH CENTURY : 1917–2000”, about the history of the deaf around the world and in Slovenia
The conference, which is taking place in Ljubljana and Zagreb between August 7 and 13, was organized and carried out by Društvo Učiteljev Gluhih Slovenije, with mag. Petra Rezar, who is also the legal representative of Združenje gluhoslepih Slovenije DLAN, Udruga »Kazalište, audiovizualne umjetnosti i kultura Gluhih – DLAN« and Deaf History International. The honorary patron of the event is the President of the Republic of Slovenia, Mr. Borut Pahor.
As stated on the DHI 2022 website, the conference presents the life of the deaf from the first appearance of communist and totalitarian government in 1917 in Russia until the collapse of these political systems and the resulting transition period until 2000.
At the end of the Second World War, the deaf were more or less involved in the reconstruction of their country, even the youngest children helped as much as they could, and everyone cooperated in solidarity. The world was divided into East, West and other unaligned countries. The life, education and work of the deaf in the former communist countries was under the control of the authorities at the time. They took care of the deaf by providing them with free education, employment, and accommodation, which suddenly changed overnight when individual countries began to become independent. The deaf have experienced all the misery of economic and political changes and have even been victims of economic losses. As a result, they could not adapt and compete with others in the labor market and in the social and political space.
Members and employees of the DLAN Association participated with pleasure and interest in the two-day conference held at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering in Ljubljana. Some people with deafblindness attended the conference in person, accompanied by personal assistants and employees of the DLAN Association, while others followed it remotely, via the Zoom online application.
Scientists from 22 countries from all over the world presented to the general public their findings of research into the history of the deaf in the world and in Slovenia, both in person and via the Zoom application, and highlighted some historical figures of particular importance to the deaf population, who in various ways significantly influenced and contributed to a better life for people with deafness.
The secretary of the DLAN Association, asist. dr. Simona Gerenčer also presented her research titled »Develpoment of Work with People with Deafblindness in Hungary between 1900 and 2000« . Mag. Petra Rezar presented the life and work of Ciril Sitar, a deaf printer during the occupation of Ljubljana. Personal assistant and volunteer of the DLAN Association, Gašper Rems, presented the history of the life of the deaf and hard of hearing in Ljubljana through old photographs.
The project, which they have been preparing for two years, started very successfully in Ljubljana and we believe that it will complete in Zagreb in the following days.
We are very happy that we were able to attend the conference, which was extremely interesting and very professionally conducted. Above all, we would like to praise the technical execution of the interpretation, as simultaneous translation into Slovenian Sign Language, international sign language, Slovenian spoken language, English spoken language and written interpretation with simultaneous recording of the lectures ensured that the content of the conference was accessible to all participants, who attended either in person or online.
We would like to thank mag. Petra Rezar and congratulate all the organizers of this large and important project for the superb execution of it and wish them successful work in the future as well.
You can find more information about the conference and lectures, which are taking place until August 13, 2022, at the following link: https://www.dhi2022slocro.com/
You are also invited to read the article about the conference on dostopno.si website, at the following link: https://www.rtvslo.si/dostopno/clanki/zgodovina-gluhih-ni-bila-v-interesu-vecinske-druzbe/636443
