Throwing Shapes. The Rave Experience for Deaf Clubbers
Sixth Tone
26th September 2024
Throwing Shapes. The Rave Experience for Deaf Clubbers
BassBath is a clubbing experience in Shanghai designed to be deaf-friendly while promoting knowledge of sign language.
Editor’s Note: BassBath is an inclusive clubbing experience in Shanghai in which mid- and low-frequency music is played throughout, allowing Deaf partygoers of all ages to enjoy the rhythm and energy through powerful vibrations. Here, one of BassBath’s organizers, Ding Jiayue — aka Pang Ding — discusses the people and ideas that inspired this project.
One night two years ago, I had just finished manning a secondhand goods stall at a flea market with my friend Eva, an artist who was learning sign language. We were at a restaurant eating and moving our hands, trying to use body language to talk to Hu Xiaoshu, aka Alice, a friend we’d just met who is deaf. From the start, I felt that Alice’s enthusiasm and lively spirit were infectious. She skillfully answered every “stupid question” that I asked from the perspective of someone who can hear. She told me that when she was a child, as she couldn’t hear, even her dreams were silent.
Not long after, Alice reached out to say that an elderly-hard-of-hearing woman had seen a post of us at the flea market on the instant messaging app WeChat and that she had liked my crossbody bag. That’s how I came to know Grandma Hu.
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