“Sorry, I didn’t Understand. Can you say that again?” features contributions by/with/from Omar Al-Zo’bi, Noemi Alfieri, Emma Ben Aziza, Tewa Barnosa, Virginie Bobin, Diyae Bourhim, Chiara Cartuccia, Allison Grimaldi Donahue, Vir Andres Hera, Danae Io, Joyce Joumaa, Asel Kadyrkhanova, Thais Akina Yoshitake, Nona Markaian and Engy Mohsen. It was designed collectively.
Sorry, I didn’t Understand.
Can you say that again?
To print and assemble the different parts of the publication, follow the instructions at the bottom of this page.
Notes on Translation
Duo Translations
Hijacking the Space of the Bio
During the workshop, Qalqalah قلقلة invited each participant to bring a fragment of text in a language of their choice, either by them or by another author, which could serve as material for a collaborative translation with another person—it could also be an image, a sound piece, etc. Translation duos were randomly formed, with the person bringing the material and the person acting as translator not necessarily knowing each other’s languages. Thus, different strategies had to be devised and negotiated in order to produce possible (un)translations of the original material.
“Hijacking the Space of the Bio” derives from an exercise proposed by Mirene Arsanios during her workshop to unsettle the predetermined form and value of individual biographies: “Write a biography as anything but a biography. Write your biography as a call. Address the elephant in the room.” The exercise was inspired by Fargo Nissim Tbakhi’s essay “Notes on Craft: Writing in the Hour of Genocide”, published the week before our gathering, in which he offers several tactics to reclame writing as “a space in which to fight”. These include “hijacking the space of the bio”, as he himself does at the bottom of his text—“calling on you to join with the revolutionary masses across the globe in fighting for the survival and liberation of Palestinians and all oppressed people.”
Gelato al forno
“Gelato al forno” is a collective translucination of “On Pussy”, a poem recited by Vanessa Place, which Andrea Ancira played for us a few times while we frantically and laughingly attempted various possible translations in real time on a pirate pad. The title is both a tribute to the sexual charge of Place’s poem, and to a decadent dessert encountered in a local pizzeria.
Glossary
A collection of untranslatable terms in languages we “smoke, lick, or lose”.1
How to print and assemble the publication
The Glossary document (1 page) should be printed in a regular clear acetate sheet. This is the cover of the print.
The Gelato al forno document (2 pages) should be printed in a colored sheet, on both sides, green and blue work well with it. It should be folded in two.
The Notes on Translation, Duo Translations and Hijacking the Space of the Bio comme in the same document, they should be printed double-sided in regular A4 sheets.
The Gelato al forno once it is folded, serves as a folder to hold all the pages together. The cover comes right above all. Enjoy your reading and feel free to share this document.
Qalqalah قلقلة would like to thank UNIDEE Visiting Curator Chiara Cartuccia as well as well as UNIDEE Residency Programs and Cittadellarte – Fondazione Pistoletto for their invitation and support.