IT GO HAVE TO ADJUST. ON LANGUAGE AS PARASITE

:: GERMAN BELOW ::

EXHIBITION IN BERLIN
WITH Pelumi Adejumo, Blick Bassy, Onur Çimen, Hargeysa Cultural Center, Lucas Lugarinho Braga, Jimmy Robert, Lerato Shadi, Farkhondeh Shahroudi, Lulëzim Ukaj, David Zink Yi
OPEN 14.09.-26.11.2023 Thursday-Sunday 14:00-19:00

FREE ENTRANCE Donations welcome
ACCESS Our space is accessible by wheelchair

Together with artists, writers, programmers, translators, scholars, activists and other thinkers, the project IT GO HAVE TO ADJUST. ON LANGUAGE AS PARASITE reflects on the parasitic nature of language and its potential to facilitate the suitable climate and conditions for subversive feminist, anti-racist and de-colonial practices within art and publishing. We are interested in how that parasite can be transmitted through interactions that can also take place without our influence and how a subversive language can provoke laughter as joy and disavowal.

Suppose we are "participants in the future of our languages," as the poet Ocean Vuong argues. Can we find procedures for optimising our communication to aid the creation of networks that can parasitize to proliferate and develop liberating practices?

The title of the project stems from Derek Walcott's play Pantomime and borrows from the Creole words of black Trinidadian servant Jackson, who, recounting his experience of hearing a parrot use infected language to Mr Trewe, is asked how a parrot can be prejudiced and in return replies that the parrot is remnant from the "pre-colonial epoch", and if it wants to survive in Trinidad then "it go have to adjust".

We have considered the project's research chapters in the framework of modes of transmission. Our journey to Hargeisa began with a collaboration with youth-led art space Fankeenna that acts in a region steeped in the history of oral storytelling that gave Somali speakers the epithet "A Nation of Poets". The collaboration resulted in an intergenerational gathering and conversation on the metaphorical apnoea that characterises lulls in cultural circulation during and after conflict and how those channels have been cared for and resurrected.

The second research chapter looks at water as a mode of transmission and is a collaboration with the Port of Spain-based art space Alice Yard. There, Walcott's character Jackson acts as a point of departure from which to explore motions over and in bodies of water that have contributed to the development of Creole.

In this exhibition chapter at SAVVY Contemporary which we consider to be the body of our project, we bring together works from artists, scholars and researchers who through their practice deliberate and expand on the parasitic nature of language within their various contexts. With works by Berlin-based and international artists, the exhibition offers a multi-perspective translation of the concept note (which you find at the end of the handout), and traces back to aspects of the research done in Hargeysa as well as ruminations developed with our second collaborator Alice Yard in Port-of-Spain.

IT GO HAVE TO ADJUST. ON LANGUAGE AS PARASITE is a living curatorial endeavour that, through a series of exercises, research, exhibitions, and public programs, will evolve, expand and build upon this exhibition. The curatorial concept introduces the reader to a series of themes and events that, on the surface level, seem to be unrelated but that, on closer inspection, will show shared symptoms or bear witness to points of convergence through unlikely common denominators. Pay close attention, and new manifestations of our research journeys will find their way into our rooms. As the project progresses, the curatorial text will also reappear in new variations wherein new authors will speak.

:: EN ::

EXHIBITION IN BERLIN
WITH Pelumi Adejumo, Blick Bassy, Onur Çimen, Hargeysa Cultural Center, Lucas Lugarinho Braga, Jimmy Robert, Lerato Shadi, Farkhondeh Shahroudi, Lulëzim Ukaj, David Zink Yi
OPENING HOURS 14.09.-26.11.2023 Thursday-Sunday 14:00-19:00

FREE ADMISSION Donations welcome
VISIT SAVVY is wheelchair accessible

Together with artists:ing, programmers:ing, translators:ing, scholars:ing, activists:ing, and other thinkers, the project IT GO HAVE TO ADJUST explores the parasitic nature of language and its potential to create the appropriate climate and conditions for subversive feminist, anti-racist, and decolonial practices in art and publishing. We are interested in how this parasite can be transmitted through interactions that can take place without our influence, and how subversive language can evoke laughter as joy and non-recognition.

Let's assume for a moment that we are "participants in the future of our languages," as poet Ocean Vuong asserts. Can we then find procedures to optimize our communication and networks that develop and spread these liberating practices through parasitic behavior?

The title of the project comes from the play Pantomime by Derek Walcott and is borrowed from the creole words of Jackson, a black Trinidadian servant who, after telling Mr Trewe of his experiences with a parrot using infected language, is asked how a parrot could possibly be prejudiced. To which Jackson replies. That it was a remnant of "pre-colonial times," and if he wanted to survive in Trinidad, he would have to "get along and adapt."

We designed the research chapters of the project with modes of transmission in mind. Our journey to Hargeisa began with a collaboration with Fankeenna, a youth-led arts space operating in a region deeply rooted in the history of oral storytelling, which also earned Somali speakers the nickname "Nation of Poets." The collaboration led to a cross-generational meeting and conversation about the metaphorical respite that characterizes the interruption of cultural circulation during and after conflict, and how these channels have been nurtured and revived.

In the second research chapter, we collaborate with Port of Spain-based art space Alice Yard to explore water as a medium of transmission. There, Walcott's character Jackson will serve as a starting point for examining movements over and in bodies of water that contributed to the development of Creole.

In the chapter taking place at SAVVY Contemporary, which we consider the corpus of our project, we bring together works by artists:scholars:researchers who, through their respective practices, reflect on and extend this consideration of the parasitic nature of language in their contexts. Featuring artworks by international as well as Berlin-based artists, the exhibition offers a multi-layered translation of the initial concept and continues aspects of the research conducted at Hargeisa as well as the reflections undertaken with our closest partner Alice Yard in Port-of-Spain.

IT GOES HAVE TO ADJUST. ON LANGUAGE AS PARASITE is a living curatorial endeavor that evolves, expands, and builds upon this exhibition through a series of exercises, research, exhibitions, and public programs. The curatorial concept introduces readers to a series of themes and events that on the surface seem to have little to do with each other, but on closer inspection share common symptoms or testify to points of convergence through unlikely common denominators. If you look closely, you will find new manifestations of the research journeys in our spaces. As the project progresses, the curatorial text will also reappear in new variations in which new authors will appear.