LANGUAGE

***Welcome to a lecture about language. The best invention man has ever known. An invention that invented itself.***Welkom bij een college over taal. De beste uitvinding die de mens ooit heeft gekend. Een uitvinding die zichzelf heeft uitgevonden.***Dobro došli na predavanje o jeziku. Najveći izum koji je čovjek ikad poznavao. Izum koji je sam sebe izumio.***Добро дошли на предавање о језику. Највећи изум који је човек икад познавао. Изум који је сам себе изумео.***言語に関する講義へようこそ。言語はこれまで人類が知っていた最高の発明です。それは自体に発明された発明なのです。***Wilkommen zu einem Vortrag über die Sprache. Die beste Erfindung die der Mensch je gekannt hat. Eine Erfindung die sich selbst erfunden hat.***언어 강의에 오신 것을 환영합니다. 언어는 지금까지 알려져 있는 발명들 중에 서 최고의 발명입니다. 자체적으로 발명된 발명입니다.***

A one-man show on the wonderful world of language

If two people do not share a language, they cannot understand each other. Simple. But, if you understand even one word of someone else’s speech, you are presented with a problem. You have entered the world of another culture, another way of doing things, maybe even a different way of thinking.

Naturally, in this performance, language is central. Communication is a bridge between cultures, but it’s also a barrier. How can particular words, and even rules of grammar, determine thinking patterns, world visions and culture? Why is it impossible to create a ‘true’ translation? And can you disconnect language from feeling or experience?

concept, text & performance Vanja Rukavina dramaturgy Thomas Lamers light & stage Marijn de Jong video Peter van Til sound Jimi Zoet coaching Quirine Racké & Helena Muskens danscoach Sarada Sarita photography Sanne Peper