Jewelry designer Naama Gilo was born with a hearing loss. Because she grew up in a hearing environment, sign language wasn’t a big part of her life. When she received cochlear implants a few years ago, her perspective shifted. She’ll soon be launching sign language jewelry.
“The journey toward hearing improvement brought me back to the deaf world, as I got to know many deaf people and immersed myself in deaf culture,” she writes on her website. “Being deaf became part of my identity.”
New Sign Language Designs
Following this “renewed acquaintance with the deaf world,” Gilo was looking for an attractive and interesting way to bring representation to deaf culture. At the time, she was already designing jewelry and hosting workshops from her studio in Jaffa-Tel Aviv. She began creating jewelry in sign language. The response was amazing.
Three years later, after receiving multiple requests to expand, Simanim was born.
The Sign Language Collection
The name means “signs” in Hebrew. The logo, as Gilo creatively explains, “is constructed from English, Hebrew and American Sign Language.” These are the three main languages in her life. The collection features a wide range of products, from quirky stationery to homeware and jewelry.
“Our hope is that these designs will draw attention and create dialogue around sign language, an expressive language with depth and beauty,” Gilo says on her website.
“Our hope is that these designs will draw attention and create dialogue around sign language, an expressive language with depth and beauty.”
Increasing ASL Awareness
Gilo hopes that her collection will reach out to the deaf community and beyond. This includes people who haven’t been exposed to sign language. She wants her products featuring ASL prints “to reach as many people as possible, because [ASL] really is a beautiful language.” She is “super excited” to announce that her jewelry collection is currently in the final production stages.
Concepts like Gilo’s that reflect hearing loss in a positive light are important. They help combat the stigma that unfortunately still surrounds deafness today. We look forward to the launch of her new jewelry line!
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