Such a relief, to have a language with the right words in it! (2020)

Participatory project on the empty frame of “The Disappearing Wall” installation by Maria Yablonina and Goethe Institut

The project «Such a relief, to have a language with the right words in it!» invites the audience to reflect on the powerful role of language and its potential to unite and/or divide people. The project’s title is a phrase I borrow from the book Native Tongue (1984) by American linguist and science fiction writer Suzette Haden Elgin. In Native Tongue, in a dystopian future where women have been stripped of their civil rights, the secret language Láadan becomes the medium for female solidarity, care and resistance. The project encourages the participants to share thoughts, experiences, and emotions regarding the potential of language and to collaborate in order to create a speculative multilingual vocabulary in the form of ephemeral collective mosaics.

Presented at the Port of Thessaloniki (September 2020)

Concept – Realisation: Viki Zioga
Production: PHĒNO _ space for imaginative arts practices & Goethe Institut Athen
Video documentation: Nikos Kostopoulos/PHĒNO | Photo documentation: Alexandros Krasios/Stef Tsakiris studio

Commissioned by Goethe Institut Athen
Supported by MOMus – Experimental Center for the Arts and Thessaloniki Port Authority