The Unheard World was a brand new performance showcase presented by Audiovisability and funded by Arts Council England, The Arab British Centre and Decibels/Sobell Foundation Project (Creating Music through Technology for Deaf & Disabled People), held at the Arlington Arts Centre, which is part of the Mary Hare GS for Deaf Children.
The Unheard World explored the experience of deafness, migration, displacement and loss, plus language from a deaf perspective by working with artists and individuals from the UK, Syria, Iraq, Middle East and the Arab-Sudanese region.
Whilst music is the core driver for Audiovisability, they work across artforms including live painting, accessible music captioning, signed languages, textiles, photography, film and other visual arts to illustrate the auditory.
The Unheard World was led by Creative Director, musician and Decibels Consultant Ruth Montgomery. Live paintings by visual artist Rachel Gadsden and creative sign by Nadia Nadarajah. Textiles by Omeima Mudawi-Rowlings. Photography and writing by Stephen Illiffe. Musical captioning by Decibels Consultant Eloise Garland, and Sign Language storytelling by Layla Fitzgerald-Woolfe with Oud by Syrian musician Rihab Azar.
