Individual Project

How Language Moves

Goleb, Burg. de Vlugtlaan 125, Amsterdam (NL)

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Brigitte Kovacs contributes to this 3 day event that tests the parameters of 'translation' in artistic practice.

What is translation other than the movement of language?

The event is initiated by Marianna Maruyama and hosted by Goleb.

Saturday 25 July, 14.00-20.00
Friday 31 July, 14.00-20.00
Saturday 1 August, 10.00-17.00

The idea behind this mid-summer gathering is to set aside a concentrated period of time to test out a range of theories and hypotheses about translation, and closely watch how it moves. Beginning with the most fundamental questions – What is translation? What can it be? What can it not be? – each presenter will offer his or her reflections on these questions, and introduce a practical exercise for the group to carry out in any arrangement (as a group, as individuals, or pairs, etc). A generous amount of time has been allotted for these exercises with the aim that they can and should be carried out fully; not as proposals or suggestions, but rather as tests that have a (preliminary) conclusion.

What kind of theories about translation could we explore? Though we are of course interested in experimenting with translation of verbal signs (interlinguistic – text to text), we also want to consider all the other ways that “translation” has been employed as a method. If we expand the notion of translation, we might also consider intersemiotic translations, such as the translation of text into image; or to broaden the scope a bit further, the translation of thought into action, or the translation of a life into fiction; also, translation as dialogue, translation as publishing itself, or translation as embodiment.

The field is rich, and yet, this kind of boundless speculation can become problematic if we want to communicate our ideas and arrive at a common point of understanding. Thus we need to offer some tentative definitions of translation, even if (especially if!) they are highly subjective. It’s still helpful to differentiate translation from transformation, interpretation, or adaptation; not everything can be considered translation – or can it? Through these experiments, we’ll work through fundamental questions about the nature of translation.

With contributions from: Renata de Andrade, Matthias van Baaren, Maurizio Buquicchio, Coco Duivenvoorde, Andrea Reyes Elizondo, Cissie Fu, Louis Hothothot, Go Eun Im, Brigitte Kovacs, Martín La Roche, Mirko Lazović, Marianna Maruyama, Christian Nyampeta, Mariajosé Rodríguez Pliego, Angela Serino, Igor Sevcuk, Mounira Al Solh