Royal glitter bestowes Deaf Culture Days in Bergen
Princess Märtha Louise threw a handful of royal glitter over the opening of the Deaf Culture Days in Bergen. This year’s event is the 50th in a row.
The deaf Culture Days are an annual cultural, and social, encounter for sign language users, and interested people from all over Norway.
The princess is the ‘Døveforbundets’ (The deaf society’s) patron, and therefore participated in Friday’s opening of this year’s event.
The princess was welcomed by the Norwegian Deaf Federation’s leader, Hedvig Sinnes, and also the general secretary, Bjørn Kristiansen.
She then took a tour of the expo part of the event, where several companies and organisations have stands. Among other things, she visited Supervisuell (Super visual) , the company who are responsible for film, and sign language communication, as well as Nav’s stand for Aid to the Deaf.
People from afar
The Culture Days also offer experiences into nature, such as a walk to Trolltunga, and there were guests who’d traveled from as far away as Singapore, the hip-hop dance troupe, Redeafination,who were about to perform.
Lectures and theatre groups also featured during the festival, as well as a ‘professional day’, in which mental health was a theme.
The first Culture Days for the Deaf was organised in 1967, when the Youth Committee in the Norwegian Deaf Federation initiated a nationwide cultural event for deaf people, called ‘Unge Døves Kulturdager’.
In 1972, the name was changed to Deaf’s Culture Days (Døves Kulturdager), and the event has been held annually since then.
© NTB Scanpix / Norway Today
