Background
The social exclusion of disabled people and the unequal chances in getting the same opportunities for education, career, transportation and leisure facilities are a major challenge. 610 million people worldwide are registered as disabled - the millions unregistered not even mentioned. 2/3 of them are living in the developing countries. Basically prejudices and determined patterns are responsible for this situation. The interaction between “abled” and “disabled” people is often hindered by stereotypes, fears, avoidance and prejudices. The levels of understanding, support and access to education, information, jobs, etc. vary from country to country. The prevailing opinion that disability is “less worth than normal” leads to discrimination and marginalization of disabled worldwide. The interaction with deaf, blind and other marginalized people is still dominated by pity and welfare and is focused mainly on the deficits of being disabled. There is a lack of understanding of the potential that might arise out of a handicap as well as for the fact that disabled “suffer” much more from the ignorance, information deficit, unequal rights and uncertainty of the “abled” than from their disability itself.
In order to stop these grievances and to give equal rights to the disadvantaged, Andreas Heinecke is following the conclusion of Martin Buber: “The only way of learning is by encounter.” (I and Thou, Practicing Living Dialogue). Referring to the phenomenon of disabilities and their social consequences, this means that solutions have to be found for disabled and “abled” to interact: a forum to facilitate the open exchange between one another in order to reduce prejudices, clichés, stereotypes and simple avoidance.
Dialogue in Silence is not an installation simulating deafness. It is a platform where hearing and non-hearing people meet to overcome the barriers between “us” and “them” and re-define “disability” as “ability” and “otherness” as “likeness”.