A new creative network for Wales

Deaf artists have long suffered a lack of opportunities in Wales. A new creative network, officially launched yesterday, seeks to change that, writes Jenny White

- Jenny White

YESTERDAY saw the launch of Our Visual World, a new Wales-wide network for deaf creatives that aims to act as a bridge between the deaf community and the art world.

Plans for the network were hatched after deaf actor, writer and activist Jonny Cotsen and artist and gallerist Jane Simpson met while online mentoring during Covid. They recognised a shared desire to create opportunities for others, especially the kinds of opportunities they lacked as young artists.

Cotsen’s work in this field had already helped leading theatres in Cardiff to embrace the deaf community, and he identified a need for similar approaches within the visual arts, particularly in the face of a lack of opportunities, including any opportunity to develop deaf artist role models within Wales.

“There's very little for deaf visual artists within Wales - there's a much wider understanding within the theatre world, because of trailblazers such as Jonny and allies such as Hannah Firth from Chapter, and Letty Clarke of Artes Mundi, listening and acting,” says Jane.

“Jonny identified the need for a network, and he could see that I could bring the skills from my experience of artist-run organisations to develop the network. We applied to Arts Council Wales for a connect and flourish grant, an amazing funding stream bringing together different organisations to do exactly what this funding stream says on the tin - connect and flourish.”

‘As a first step, they partnered with Swansea's Glynn Vivian Art Gallery, resulting in real successes that have helped to demonstrate the need for the network.

“The Glynn Vivian’s relationship with the deaf community has blossomed, the fear of working with deaf people has gone, and the network will have a group exhibition with them in November 2025,” says Jane.