From January 18 to 30, the Valais – Martigny Media Library is hosting an interactive exhibition to raise public awareness about deafness and hearing loss.

What if the world switched to “silence” to better understand one another?

This fall, the Valais Society for the Deaf is presenting a traveling exhibition to raise awareness about deafness in the canton’s major cities.

In Switzerland, more than one million people live with hearing loss. Among them, 20,000 to 30,000 deaf people use sign language. Yet deafness remains largely misunderstood: often downplayed or exaggerated, it remains largely invisible. As a result, deaf and hard-of-hearing people are all too often excluded from the daily flow of information, from accessible communication, and from human relationships—all of which are essential to everyone’s well-being.

This exhibition aims to shed light on the reality of deafness, create spaces for encounter and exchange, and promote inclusion. Designed for both children and adults, it invites visitors to discover deafness as a source of richness rooted in difference, rather than as a sensory disability.

It’s an opportunity to challenge certain preconceived notions and to discover the world of sign language, lip-reading, and a culture that remains all too little known.

For more information, please contact the Médiathèque-Valais-Martigny.