A deaf music artist whose ground-breaking sign songs have seen him overcome barriers and open doors for the deaf community in being able to access and enjoy music, has been honoured with an innovate art installation at London’s iconic music venue, The Roundhouse, unveiled by Love Island star Tasha Ghouri,
Kevin Walker, aka Signkid, has helped use his own experiences to help make the arts more accessible for his community with the help of National Lottery funding.
The writer, producer and rapper has pioneered and developed a unique style by integrating and adapting British Sign Language (BSL) signing into a visually based language for live hip-hop, rap and urban music performance. A judging panel selected him as the winner of the Arts, Culture and Film category in the 2022 National Lottery Awards.
The artwork forms part of a National Lottery campaign to highlight the importance of making the arts accessible to all. National Lottery players raise more than £30 million every week for good causes throughout the UK.
The striking sculpture, created by artist Liam Hopkins of Lazerian Studio is an interpretation of Signkid’s work, story and legacy and features two hand-shaped sculptures that form a ‘V’ shape representing the BSL sign for ‘Visual.’
Tasha Ghouri, Love Island’s first ever deaf contestant, said: “Music brings joy to people all over the world, and that includes those who are hard of hearing. SignKid has achieved incredible things in making a challenging art-form for the deaf community accessible and relatable, and as somebody who has struggled with inclusion within this space in the past, I am honoured to today unveil this stunning artwork celebrating his achievements, made possible by The National Lottery funding.
Kevin Walker, aka Signkid said, “It’s an honour for my work to be recognised with such an incredible piece of art, at one of the most iconic music venues in the world, and to win a National Lottery Award. I’ve been able to achieve amazing things with the help of The National Lottery funding, so I would love this campaign to inspire others from the deaf community and beyond to not to let any barriers stand in their way”.
Darren Henley, chief executive of Arts Council England and chair of the National Lottery Forum , added: “For 28 years National Lottery funding has been transforming communities, turning dreams into reality and making life better for millions of people. Stories such as Kevin’s showcase the true impact National Lottery funding can have to communities up and down the country. With more than £30million raised for good causes each week,, we have launched this campaign to inspire people from across the UK and encourage them to make a difference in their community, just like Kevin.”
Alongside the installation, three additional digital images have been created by digital artist, Yoniest Chun, which immortalise the stories of other individuals and projects who have achieved incredible things for their communities and peers in the accessible art space as part of The National Lottery’s Peoples’ Portraits series. These include Dee Conaghan, founder of the Stage Beyond Theatre Company in Derry, Northern Ireland, deafblind film enthusiast Charlotte Little, from the Matchbox Cine organisation in Scotland and deaf theatre performer and consultant Jonny Cotsen, from Wales.
