At the Academic Musical Theater held a round table on the topic "Involvement of people with hearing impairments in art"

Azerbaijan State Academic Musical Theater organized a round table discussion on "Involvement of people with hearing impairments in art”. Members of the "Inclusive Theater" studio established at the Musical Theater with the participation of children, adolescents and young people with hearing impairments, ministries, scientific institutions, educational institutions, as well as experts in this field from public organizations participated in this event, which is implemented within the framework of UNESCO's "Participation Program for 2020-2021". The moderator of the event – General Manager of the Azerbaijan State Academic Musical Theater, Honored Art Figure, and Doctor of Philosophy Aligismat Lalayev informed the guests about the "Inclusive Theater" project. He said that although they have participated in many events related to the disabled in our country, the "Inclusive Theater" project with people with hearing impairments is being implemented for the first time. The well-known director invited the guests to watch the rehearsal process of the actors of the studio in order to inform the guests that they have achieved positive results in a very short time since the establishment of the "Inclusive Theater". The participants of the meeting warmly welcomed performances of young people performing illusion numbers and pantomime scene "Genesis” Producer of the project, leading researcher of the "Theater, Cinema and Television" department of the Institute of Architecture and Art of the Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences, Doctor of Philosophy Rajab Mammadov spoke about the purpose of the project, challenges and plans. Then the invited specialists - Ministry of Education, Adviser of the Department of Content, Teaching and Evaluation in General Education, Chairman of the Republican Psychological-Medical-Pedagogical Commission - Anar Khalafov, Leading Researcher of the Department of Psychology and Special Education of the Institute of Educational Problems, Associate Professor, Doctor of Philosophy - Dilara Dostuzade, Tamilla Agayeva, Associate Professor of the Department of Special Education of ASPU named after N.Tusi, Doctor of Philosophy, Head of the Department of Theater, Cinema and Television of the Institute of Architecture and Art of ANAS, Associate Professor, Doctor of Philosophy Vidadi Gafarov, President of the Union of Disabled People Organization and expert on Disability Rights and Accessibility International- Davud Rahimli, teachers of the Republican special boarding schools No. 2 and 3 - Aynura Hasanova and Gunel Karimova made interesting proposals on the project. Family members of the actors of "Inclusive Theater"- Khadija Murtuzayeva, Shanana Safarova shared their joy and thanked the project leader, as well as art teachers, People's Artist, Associate Professor of ASAU, master of illusion- Parviz Mammadrzayev, laureate of International Illusion Festivals Tofig Isgandarli. Aida Safarova, the project partner and chairwoman of the "Silent World" Sign Language Association for the Support of Disabled People and Athletes, also expressed satisfaction with her participation in the studio's work. At the end, Araz Bagirli - Department of International Cooperation and Innovative Development of the Ministry of Culture, Consultant of the Sector for Cooperation with International Organizations, PhD student of the Economic Reforms Research Institute spoke about the special interest of this international project in UNESCO, its importance and future prospects. The participants of the event spoke under the slogan "Special attention should be paid to raising the status of sign language in the country." stressed the importance of using special tools to attract hearing-impaired audiences to each cultural institution, removing psychological barriers to creating a suitable environment for the hearing-impaired in theaters to make their activities accessible to the hearing-impaired. At the end of the event, Aligismat Lalayev thanked the guests for their valuable ideas and called on them to work closely with the Academic Musical Theater in the future, to provide advice and assistance.