Ode to Joy is now accessible for all dubliners at The Douglas Hyde Gallery in Irish Sign Language.
Amanda Coogan, Freude! Freude!, installation at The Douglas Hyde (Dublin). Taken from: @DGH_Dublin a X.
Irish Sign Language (ISL) classes are one of the elective subjects in any Humanities degree at University College Dublin (UCD). When my roommate—now I'm a dubliner—mentioned it to me, I was pleasantly surprised. On one hand, by the offer of sign language as any other oral language; on the other hand, the fact that it's in Gaeilge.
What is even more surprising is that it wasn't until December 15, 2017, that the Irish parliament formally recognized ISL as a legitimate language and made its use mandatory in any public institution, just like the bilingual Gaeilge and English informational panels and traffic signs. The belated recognition of ISL allows for the revival of an oppressed language (Gaeilge) within the context of another marginalized language, which is sign language.
The eternal dilemma of diglossia is having to justify the need and importance of preserving the oppressed language. This particular case opens the debate in two ways: the relevance of keeping Gaeilge alive and the recognition of sign language as a legitimate language. It's worth noting that this is a unique case where we find gender variations: segregation by sexes in Irish Catholic schools resulted in the language being taught differently between boys and girls, leading to two dialects marked by gender.
In any case, the art gallery affiliated with Trinity College Dublin—yes, the college has a contemporary art gallery indoors—The Douglas Hyde Gallery features the installation by Amanda Coogan (Dublin, 1971) with the help of Alvean Jones and Lianne Quigley, who orchestrated the collaboration with the Centre for Deaf Studies (TCD) and the Dublin Theatre of the Deaf, titled "Freude! Freude!" (October 11-29, 2023).
The gallery showcases Coogan's installation, a ceiling created by joining pieces of clothing, which creates effects of light and shadow on objects made with fabric and felt, attached to the ceiling with pulleys, emulating hearing aids from different eras. The lower space, open to the main room, features six screens where Coogan's rehearsals for the ISL interpretation of Beethoven's Ode to Joy from the Ninth Symphony (1824) are played on loop—the composition that was acclaimed by an audience the composer could no longer hear.
Coogan's performance interacts with the objects and the light effects created by the pieces of clothing, to the rhythm of the soundtrack: first, Beethoven's stanza plays, and then, a humorous symphony of Dublin's streets—bells and tram screeches, car horns, engines, pedestrian footsteps, sounds of traffic lights turning green and red, etc. Two completely different tracks that encompass the torment of an artist unable to hear her own work and that of a citizen unable to hear his city.
Coogan appears brilliant and energetic in her performance. Her dance, through ISL, exposes the difficulties faced by people with hearing impairments in a noisy society.
Amanda Coogan, hearing aid at Freude! Freude!, The Douglas Hyde (Dublin). Taken from: @DGH_Dublin in X.
The work conveys, on one hand, the beauty and hope within the community and the collectivity of individuals—just like the sewn pieces of clothing—can weave a society capable of protecting and providing accessible spaces for the deaf community. On the other hand, it's a call to attention for a society intolerant of the needs of vulnerable communities. The artist seeks what the European Union wanted to achieve by naming Beethoven's Ninth Symphony the anthem of transnational unity: harmony, peace, fairness, solidarity, and inclusion for everyone. For Coogan, however, all of this goes beyond words: it requires collective mobilization.
Ní neart go cur le chéile.
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