Language: no broblem

Masterproef van Marah Haj Hussein

Based on recordings made personally in Palestine, this work attempts to spatialize different voices, in the form of conversations in colloquial Palestinian Arabic around language itself.

The presence of the performer acts as a mediator juggling on a string of two universes, diving into the impossibilities of translation and of translating one reality into another.

How does one’s relationship to their mother tongue transform when one starts to master other languages? What power dynamics emerge when speaking more than one language?

This research departs from interrogating the definition of a mother tongue whether in a local or an immigration environment. It looks at the intersectional layering, relativity and ever evolving reality of a language through its humor, power, pressure, and imagination.

Giving voice to spoken Palestinian Arabic as well as including Hebrew, Dutch and English, Language: no broblem wishes to investigate the role of language through personal narrations in shaping our understanding of borders and displacement.

Gratis mits reservatie (vrije bijdrage aan de avondkassa)
Duur: 60 minuten