Festival a/d Werf, Utrecht

This work, commissioned by Festival a/d Werf, was inspired by the multiplicity of languages spoken in Utrecht and how different cultures contribute a shifting dynamism to a city and vice-versa. 

Forty translators from 20 linguistic groups in Utrecht sequentially engaged with a poem about the components of identity. 

The poem travelled through all these languages with Dutch acting as a link between them. Each translation reveals the subtle permutations of meaning and emphasis that each language inputs into the evolution. 

The content of the poem and its process are intrinsically linked – both are about grappling with the complexities of similarity and difference we experience as human beings. 

The project was realised both in book form and as a dynamic kinetic sculptural intervention in the city with Dutch artist Gijs van Bon.