1880 THAT: Christine Sun Kim and Thomas Mader

This spring, Wellcome Collection will present '1880 THAT', the first major London exhibition by Berlin-based artists Christine Sun Kim and Thomas Mader. Collaborating for over a decade, Kim and Mader use humour and word games as tools to reveal the complexities of communication and highlight the intersections between social interaction and exclusion.

'1880 THAT' will feature new commissions and recent works that explore sign language’s relationship to spoken language and the policies that govern linguistic suppression and freedom. The exhibition seeks to challenge a medical perspective of deafness as something that needs to be cured and will invite visitors to imagine new possibilities for understanding between signed and spoken languages.

'1880 THAT' will bring together drawings, film and sculptures that explore the idea of language as a home – an essential place of belonging – and what it means for your sense of safety when that language is under threat of extinction.

The exhibition draws on the shift in Deaf education, driven by 19th century policymakers who mandated the use of oral education over sign language. The exhibition’s title refers to the 'Second international congress on education of the deaf' that was held in Milan in 1880, more commonly known as the Milan conference.

The term THAT is an emphatic expression in American Sign Language (ASL), which adds weight and significance to a preceding statement. The central topic debated at the Milan conference was the superiority of oral education over sign language that was common in Deaf schools at the time. Yet out of 164 delegates at the conference, only one participant was Deaf.

A prominent and influential figure at this time was the Scottish-born American scientist and inventor Alexander Graham Bell. Bell was a strong advocate for lip reading and a system called Visible Speech, invented by his father, Melville Bell, that sought to teach Deaf people to speak with their voices.

The Milan conference ushered in a century of systemic suppression of teaching sign language, leading to stigmatisation, exclusion and diminished opportunities for Deaf people across multiple professions, including in education, writing, art and law.

While the Milan conference frames the exhibition, 1880 THAT is not intended to be a history of this event; rather Kim and Mader’s artworks employ the directness of humour to draw attention to the ripple effects of the conference, and the consequences of those decisions that are still felt by sign language communities to this day.

The exhibition will open with a commemorative plaque made from bricks with "1880 THAT" imprinted on to each side. These bricks have been created to address the absence of a commemorative plaque on the building where the conference took place, symbolically protesting the erasure of this pivotal moment in Deaf history. The brick motif, a recurring theme in the exhibition, pays homage to urban Victorian architecture while symbolising the foundations and building blocks of language, as well as the act of throwing bricks as a gesture of protest.

Notable works in the exhibition will include the newly commissioned ‘Look Up My Nose’ (2025), a large hanging fibreglass sculpture modelled on the noses of Melville and Alexander Graham Bell. Designed to release vibrations that visitors can feel, the piece mocks notions of superiority and critiques Bell’s role in the suppression of sign language. ‘NOT CROSS’ (2025), a large brick wall which addresses the disconnection between words and body language in spoken and signed languages, will illustrate the frustration of not being understood, whilst the large-scale kinetic installation ‘ATTENTION’ (2022) features two absurdly oversized inflatable arms that depict the ASL sign for attracting attention. Each arm points to historical and contemporary sites of policymaking to underscore the ongoing fight for recognition and inclusion by the Deaf community. Additionally, three new video works – ‘F on Eye’, ‘What’s Left’, and ‘Eye Spy’ (all 2025) – will explore themes of linguistic vulnerability, cultural resistance and shifting perspectives, offering visitors a deeper insight into the challenges of communicating, as well as the funny side of miscommunication and the right to be understood.

1880 THAT is a free exhibition at Wellcome Collection curated by Laurie Britton Newell. It will be open to the public from 17 April 2025 – 6 April 2026. All works in the exhibition will be accompanied by British Sign Language (BSL) interpretation.

An extensive public programme will accompany the exhibition later this summer. 'Finger Talk', a British Sign Language (BSL) film installation by artist and curator Cathy Mager will explore the shared language, heritage and cultural identity of the British Deaf community. Discussions, workshops and performances co-curated by Mager and a group of Deaf collaborators will challenge common perceptions of Deafness by shifting the narrative from “hearing loss” to “Deaf gain” and exploring different perspectives on contemporary BSL culture.

Description of works

‘ATTENTION’ explores the ways in which attention can be received and directed by people in Deaf and hearing cultures. The kinetic installation features two large inflating and deflating red arms, that will be positioned at opposite ends of the exhibition. In American Sign Language (ASL), the most common way to attract attention from a person is by waving downwards with the palm and tapping in their field of vision; the opposite of this gesture is a finger pointing at someone or something. In the gallery, one hand points towards an erosion on the wall which is in the direction of Milan, and the other hand will wave in the direction of the Houses of Parliament, where policies impacting Deaf people are decided on today. The installation underscores the enduring need to advocate for recognition and inclusion, whilst the site of erosion reflects the exhaustion and endurance required to repeatedly draw attention to something.    

‘F on Eye’ (new commission) is a video artwork exploring linguistic vulnerability through the perspective of a person peering through a fisheye peephole from inside an apartment. In the hallway, a nose in a human-like form repeatedly approaches the door at varying speeds. The protagonist, gripped by fear, is unable to resist watching the unsettling threat. Detailed subtitles convey the growing tension, replacing the traditional horror movie soundtrack to create an atmosphere of unease. The piece reflects the fragility of safety, both in the home and in the concept of “language as a home,” questioning what happens when this safe space – one’s native language - is threatened.  

‘Look Up My Nose’ (new commission) is a hanging sculpture that resembles a cluster of noses, that has been modelled on Melville and Alexander Graham Bell’s noses. It is a cross between a bell and a drum and has been designed to produce as little audible sound, whilst maximising the vibrations that will be felt by audiences standing beneath it. The title of the work references the English ​saying​ to “look down one’s nose”, meaning to think of oneself as superior to others and refers to the Bells​’​ distain for sign language users. The nose plays an important role in sign language grammar, vocabulary and nuanced expression. Designed with an audio engineer and drum maker, the piece creates a strong bass frequency while simultaneously pushing air out through the nostrils of the bell.  The automated drumming evokes the exhibition’s title: four beats for “1880” and four for “THAT.” 

‘Running Gag’ is a large-scale pencil and colour drawing that depicts 164 noses, capturing each of the participants of the Milan conference. All the noses, apart from one, are drawn with a condescending snort, to represent the only Deaf delegate at the conference. As the noses progress towards the top of the drawing, they change into a hospital-green hue, symbolising the medicalisation and stigmatisation of deafness as something that needs to be cured. 

‘What’s Left’ (new commission) reimagines the Sesame Street character Lefty the Salesman, known for selling letters and symbols in a clandestine manner. In Kim and Mader’s film interpretation, Lefty becomes a bootlegger smuggling the building blocks of language and selling devices that will ensure the survival of sign language. Sesame Street was the first mainstream children’s TV show to incorporate sign language bringing it into millions of homes worldwide. Linda Bove a Deaf actress and cast member of Sesame Street from 1971 – 2002 makes a cameo in Kim and Mader’s film.  

‘NOT CROSS’ (new commission) is a large-scale wall work ​depicting​ the words ‘I AM NOT CROSS’ spelt out in giant brick lettering. The installation references the disconnect between words and body language. In hearing culture people often verbalise feelings such as "I am not angry" but their body language tells you that they are.  Facial expressions and their intensity are a key grammatical and emotive element in sign languages, yet this often eludes hearing people, creating miscommunication and the frustrated feeling of talking to the proverbial “brick wall”.  

The final work in the exhibition will be the film ‘Eye Spy’ (new commission). In this short animation the ASL expression “If only you could see things with my eyes” is visualised by two transparent avatars passing a set of eyeballs between them. This simple gesture resonates with the overarching theme of the exhibition: if the decision makers at the Milan conference could have seen through the eyes of the Deaf people who they were making decisions for, they might have come to a different conclusion.  

Notes to editors

For a BSL version of this press release and for further information and image requests, contact:

Artists biographies

Christine Sun Kim was born in California, USA, in 1980. She uses the mediums of sound in performance and drawing to investigate her relationship with spoken languages and the aural environment.

Thomas Mader was born in the South of Germany in 1984. He is a research-based artist who works with themes related to national identity, storytelling and communication. 

Since 2013 Kim and Mader have collaborated on a shared artistic practice. They are based in Berlin.  

Their projects include recording an overnight shipment from Berlin to New York ('Recording Contract', 2013), compiling 24 hours of invited contributors’ studio time ('Busy Day', 2014), using the arm game, a combination of body and face, in order to describe a series of awkward social situations ('Classified Digits', 2016), and animating signs that show the power of decision-making ('Palm Reader', 2020)

Selected solo exhibitions include: 'Lighter Than Air', White Space, Beijing, China (2024),  'ATTENTION', curated by Lena von Geyso, Kunstraum München, Munich, Germany (2022), 'Find Face', MGKWalls, Museum für Gegenwartskunst Siegen, Siegen, Germany (2022), 'To Point a Naked Finger', Knox-Albright Museum, Buffalo, New York, USA (2019). Selected group exhibitions include:  'Grace Under Fire', The Shepherd, Detroit, USA (2024), 'Oh Me Oh My', Contemporary Art Gallery, Vancouver, Canada (2022), 'Readings from Below', Times Art Center Berlin, Berlin, Germany (2020), 'It’s Origins are Indeterminate', Whitechapel Gallery, London, UK (2018), 'Soundtracks', SF MoMA, San Francisco, California, USA (2017), 'Cancoes de Amor', V Mostra de Arte Digital, Insituto Tomie Ohtake, São Paulo, Brazil (2014). 

Visitor Information

• ‘1880 THAT’ runs from 17 April 2025 – 6 April 2026 
• Admission is free. 
• Opening hours: Tuesday to Sunday 10:00 to 18:00, Thursdays from 10:00 to 20:00, closed Mondays. 
• Address: Wellcome Collection, 183 Euston Road, NW1 2BE. 

https://wellcomecollection.org/visit-us

Access Information  

• Wellcome Collection is committed to ensuring that our messages are accessible to everyone. As part of this commitment, this announcement is made available in both English and British Sign Language (BSL). 
• All works in the exhibition and press materials ​will be made available in both English and British Sign Language (BSL).​ 
• The press view will have BSL and ASL translations and English/BSL interpreters for any interviews with the artists.  
• Step-free access is available to all floors of the building. 
• Large-print guides and magnifiers will be available in the gallery. 
• Ear defenders, tinted glasses, tinted visors and weighted lap pads will be available on request.  
• A digital highlights tour will be available with audio described and British Sign Language tours of the exhibition. All exhibition texts will be available in screen readable formats via QR codes. A tactile floor line may be used to follow the digital tour’s route. 
• A visual story will be available to help you plan and prepare for your visit.  
• We will be providing relaxed openings and accessible tours during the exhibition, including BSL tours. Further information will be available at wellcomecollection.org/whats-on   

About Wellcome Collection

Wellcome Collection is a free museum and library. We believe everyone’s experience of health matters. Through our collections, exhibitions and events, in books and online, we explore the past, present and future of health.

You can find us near Euston station in London and at wellcomecollection.org. Our exhibitions and events are always free. You can use our library and view items from our collections free of charge too – you may just need to book in advance.

Wellcome Collection opened in 2007. We care for many thousands of items relating to health, medicine and human experience, including rare books, artworks, films and videos, personal archives, and objects.

We’re part of Wellcome, a charitable foundation supporting science to help build a healthier future for everyone.

wellcomecollection.org 
wellcome.org

Social media

Instagram: @wellcomecollection 
Facebook: @wellcomecollection
TikTok: @wellcomecollection