Sunday, 6 July 2003

Greenbelt

Very Visible Voices

Trafalgar Square, yesterday, 3pm. The quietest and busiest I've ever known it to be.

All around me people of all ages and backgrounds were laughing, shouting, arguing and chatting -- the usual Trafalgar Square crowd -- but all I could hear was the distant rumble of traffic, the clicking of camera shutters and the flutter of pigeons.

I'd stumbled onto the tail end of a rally/march for better recognition of BSL, and everyone in the square seemed to be signing. It was an odd experience. I wanted to find out more about the march, but didn't know who'd be able to understand if I started talking with them. Eventually I picked up a discarded leaflet and moved on, but I'm left with this beautiful vision in my head of a crowd so vocal, so silent.


(Is this the right time to point out that Greenbelt tries to be as accessible as possible?)

(This entry was originally posted on the Greenbelt Blog.)

Posted by pab at 22:38