Frankie:
Welcome to this interview. My name is Frankie and I work at the EUD as a project manager. Would you like to introduce yourself?
Marek:
Thank you for inviting me to this interview. Yes, my name is Marek Kanaš and I am project manager at DeafStudio.
Frankie:
Within the Deaf Museum's project you guys will be producing an exhibition on Deaf History. Can you let us know what you'll be focusing on?
Marek:
Yes. Our team came together and we decided on three themes. One theme we'll be looking at is World War II and how Deaf people's lives were at that time.
Secondly, we're also looking at the occupation that happened in 1968. Specifically looking at two days and how the Deaf people communicated about it amongst themselves, because they were completely cut off from communication. There is some dispute about what actually happened in those times. We want to look into that.
The third theme we'll be looking at is the Communist era. So we will be producing small exhibitions on all three themes.
Frankie:
Deaf History comprises of so many different possible themes, how'd you guys decide on those specific themes?
Marek:
Well, first we looked at existing information and materials that we had within Deaf History here. And also we wanted to see if there was any information or materials. There's so much that has happened in our history. We want to make sure that we have an exhibition focusing on that, because in the hearing community they have this information and we don't.
Frankie:
How did you guys go about it? Did you first contact people and then delve into the information or the other way around?
Marek;
Well first we focused on what information and knowledge we had within the team, so we looked at existing knowledge and experiences. We also have Deaf magazines, a whole pile of them. So we wanted to see if there's any information in there as well. We want to combine those.
We also did a call on social media, to see what people wanted to focus on. But we also want to make sure those were paired with existing information or official media that we have our hands on. Before 1972 we didn't have any magazines, so if there is something that happened we can also try and get that information from family members or from the community.
Frankie:
That sounds very interesting looking forward to see how it all unfolds. If there are people that want to set up a similar type of exhibition or project, do you have any advice for them?
Marek:
I think what's important is that if there's any type of public storytelling or information being shared in sign language: make sure you record it. Thankfully since 16th century we have recorded information thanks to the invention of the camera and video. There's so much history that we have access to thanks to that and we need to keep on registering any type of event that happens, regardless of the quality. If there are people that want to look into a certain situation it would be be nice if they have supporting information. That goes along with it if people think oh this is really old i can just throw it away: please don't!
We need to preserve all materials we have. It's also important for future generations. It's actually a pity because now that we're trying to find materials for this exhibition for our Deaf Museums, some people said: "Oh, I had that two years ago, but then I threw it away." So, if anything, my advice is to make sure you keep all types of materials and videos and make sure you continue to record it.
Frankie:
You bring up a good point because so often we have so much information so much materials that we just get rid of it because it's collecting dust, but it's actually important to make sure that maybe someone can archive it or it can be kept in a good in a safe place.
Do you have any other comments that you'd like to share with us?
Marek:
i think it's important that if any of you are walking around with important or not important historical information or stories: don't keep it within you ,make sure you share your stories and record them. It doesn't matter if people think:"Oh, this is old news.". It's important for us and for the world as well.
Frankie:
Thank you for that comment.You're right we can always learn from the past to make our future better.
Marek:
Thank you.