1880: when one conference banned sign language

Irene Holub and Walter Kadiki's world-premiere commission revisits the decision that suppressed Deaf language and culture for generations.

Told by Paige Turner · 18 September 2026

1880 was the year one conference decided Deaf people should stop signing and start talking, which went about as well as you'd expect if someone banned your tongue and handed you a harmonica. The Second International Congress on Education of the Deaf, held in Milan that year, voted to suppress sign language in deaf education across Europe and beyond — a decision that shaped, and suppressed, generations of Deaf language, culture and identity. Now Deaf artist Irene Holub and dramaturg Walter Kadiki are revisiting that pivotal moment in 1880: Manifesto of Silences, which has its world premiere at Arts House, North Melbourne, from 6 to 11 October as part of Melbourne Fringe.

It grew out of Arts House's Warehouse Residency and follows a sold-out development season in March 2025, and it weaves operatic performance, sign language opera, projection art, sound vibrations and experimental techniques into a piece that examines the poetic and emotional dimensions of that 1880 decision. It is performed predominantly in visual vernacular — a form of signed storytelling that uses the body, space and gesture rather than formal sign language grammar — and there are no captions, voiceovers or interpreters on stage. It is designed for a Deaf or signing audience, which is both the point and a reversal: hearing people can watch, but this one is not for them first.

Holub, who co-founded the FLOW festival and leads Auslan Art Tours at galleries including Ballarat and Bendigo, draws on her experience as a Deaf CALD artist navigating a predominantly hearing society. Kadiki is a master of signed poetry and visual vernacular who has delivered Deaf Slam Poetry workshops across Australia, performed at the Melbourne Deaflympics and the Australian Parliament, and collaborated with US interdisciplinary company NOW-ID on a Tonal Caress, which premiered in Utah in 2018. Together they have built a piece that honours Deaf resilience and, in Holub's words, builds pathways for future Deaf creatives.

The work contains adult themes including eugenics, violence, historical terms relating to deafness and radicalised language — because the history it examines is not a polite one. It also contains smoke, haze, loud music, very loud sound effects, flashing lights, low lighting and lights that change in colour and intensity. Arts House lists it with a visual rating of 75 per cent and an aural rating of 50 per cent, wheelchair accessible, quiet space available, Companion Card and assistance animals welcome. A post-show artist talk on 8 October will be interpreted in Auslan and English.

The performers are Walter Kadiki, Luke King, Anna Seymour, Ramas McRae, Maya Sandon and Franco Spadea. The project has been supported by Creative Australia and developed with support from Arts Centre Melbourne's Alter State programme.

Tickets are $25 to $40. The season runs 6 to 11 October at Arts House, North Melbourne Town Hall, 521 Queensberry Street.

Correction, 27 September 2026: an earlier version gave the dates, price and details of the March 2025 development showing. The world premiere season runs 6 to 11 October 2026. A repeat version of this story has been removed.