Скачать или смотреть The Poet is the Poem: Malaysian Sign Language Poetry in Translation

The Poet is the Poem premiered ‘Walls’, a poem film in Bahasa Isyarat Malaysia (BIM) by Anthony Chong with a translation in English by multimedia poet, Sheena Baharudin. 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.

In tandem 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 d/Deaf people in Malaysia. Bahasa Isyarat Malaysia (BIM) or Malaysian Sign Language, is the officially recognised language of the d/Deaf in Malaysia and is integral to their identity.

Originally a mobility grant to enable artist exchanges between the UK and Southeast Asia, the Connections Through Culture (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 was followed by a sharing and Q&A with the artist educators and a few special guests. The event was hosted by the School of English at the University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus and MY Poetry School, and supported by British Council SEA/Malaysia.

Follow the artists on Instagram - @anthonychong123, @anajonessy, @sheenabaharudin, @mypoetryschool and @mypoetryshool on Facebook/Twitter. #thepoetisthepoem

Programme
6:00pm: Welcome remarks by Dr. Melissa Yoong - Head of the School of English, University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus
6:05pm: Intro by Elaine - MY Poetry School
6:10pm: Poetry reading by School of English (UNMC) students x 2
6:20pm: Poetry reading in BM by Abby Latif
6:25pm: Poetry reading in English by Shivani Sivagurunathan
6:30pm: Poetry reading in BIM by Jessica Mak
6:35pm: Launch of the poetry film ‘Walls’
6:40pm: Sharing by artists
7:15pm: Q&A
7:30pm: Ends

The Team
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 has participated in both solo and ensemble performances at various art events including Urbanscapes, Iskarnival Festival, Melaka Arts Festival, Georgetown Literary Festival, Singapore’s Lit Up Festival and London's National Poetry Library. Her works have been translated into Spanish and French, and featured in several local and international anthologies. 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. As one of the pioneers of poetry education in Malaysia, she has coached young aspiring poets around the world for over 10 years. Founder of the PCKL Youth Poetry Slam and MY Poetry School, Elaine recently completed an MA in Applied Theatre from Goldsmiths University. She is also the founder, co-host and co-writer of BFM’s ‘Speak Easy’, a monthly radio show dedicated to poetry. Elaine is the recipient of the British Council’s UK-Southeast Asia Connections Through Culture Grant 2019-2020.

Anthony Chong is a Deaf community leader based in Kuala Lumpur, graduate of 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). He is actively promoting the development of Malaysian Sign Language and Deaf leadership through working projects with the Deaf community. He is involved in several research projects related to the Deaf community. He has facilitated training courses and workshops for the Deaf and hearing people who work with the Deaf community.

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. They are the main point of contact with the Deaf community for the project including community leaders, schools, and workshop participants.

Special Guest
Jessica Mak or as she is fondly known, Jc is a person who fully believes in the interests of sign language through communication with the Deaf community. She is fluent in multiple sign languages including Malaysian Sign Language (BIM), Singapore Sign Language (SgSL), Japanese Sign Language (JSL), just to name a few. She is currently based in Singapore with her husband and has worked with the Deaf communities in Malaysia and Singapore. She is an executive board committee of Deaf Sports Association Singapore (DSA) and founding president of Malaysian Sign Language and Deaf Studies Association (MyBIM) to promote and create awareness on Deaf communities through sports, sign language and deaf culture. She has conducted various courses and workshops for deaf and hearing youths/adults and the community in Malaysia, Philippines, Macau, and Singapore.