Integrated deaf-blind theatre
In this study, which is my most recent area of work, I explore notions of reclaiming and appropriating disabilities, attending to dilemmas regarding hiring, casting, and representation, building upon and bringing together Disability Culture’s politicized call for a return to a phenomenology of disabled people, performance studies’ attendance to the political role of theatre within bitterly contested domains, and “new interculturalism” scholars’ positioning of performance as a crucial site of cultural dialogue. I locate my study on integrated theatre in these contexts, sharing their demand for bringing the realm of affect and touch, the visceral, sensory body, and corporeality more broadly, to the front stage of scholarly analysis of cultural exchanges across differences.
This is an exploration of multi-sensory communication in a deaf-blind theatre. In this project, I conducted a two-year anthropological study, in collaboration with Efrat Hen, an Israeli research assistant. In a multi-sensory cultural center in Israel, the home of one of the only professional deafblind theatres in the world, we conducted hundreds of hours of observations in rehearsals, meetings, performances, and workshops, alongside 31 in-depth interviews with the CEO, theatre director, play writer, creators, sound and costume designers, choreographers, actors, employees, volunteers, and interpreters.
About this study
Photos
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![Sign language. Photo by Efrat Hen. Gili Hammer, research.]()
Sign language
Photo by Efrat Hen.
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![Everybody's different, everybody's equal]()
Everybody's different, everybody's equal
Sign with a picture drawn by Yoav Arcusin. Photo by Gili Hammer.
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![Na Laga'at Theatre. Gili Hammer, research.]()
Na Laga'at Theatre
Photo by Gili Hammer.
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![Different together sign. Sign discusses embracing differences and encouraging tolerance in English, Arabic, and Hebrew. Photo by Gili Hammer.]()
Different together
Sign discusses embracing differences and encouraging tolerance in English, Arabic, and Hebrew. Photo by Gili Hammer.
Publications
Gili Hammer. 2020. On The Importance Of Disability Culture. The Ministry Of Culture And Sport, The Institute Of Advancing Cultural Work Integrating Artists With Disabilities (Hebrew).
Nili Broyer and Hammer, Gili . 2018. “Disability and the Performance of Everyday Life.” In Disability in American Life: An Encyclopedia of Policies, Concepts, and Controversies. Santa Barbara: CA: ABC-CLIO.
Media
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In this three-part podcast, Dr. Hammer meets with the director, choreographer, and creator, Emanuella Amichai, to discuss shared aspects of art and research in and on disability culture.
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