The Wonders of Multilingualism #6: (un)learning languages
Locations
Category
Price
Programme
you can buy a ticket for the performance via this link.
Language
Kaaitheater and Passa Porta present the sixth edition of The Wonders of Multilingualism, which focuses on the layeredness of multilingualism. This time, in (Un)learning languages, several makers take a closer look at the links between migration, power and language acquisition. Thus, they unravel the relationships between language and power and dig into (language) resistance.
Language: no broblem is a performance by Marah Haj Hussein that explores the complex relationship between multilingualism, power and migration. A train journey in Belgium leads to intriguing encounters and conjures up voices from occupied Palestine.
After the performance, author Maud Vanhauwaert will present her project Ik spreek de taal nog niet zo goed (I don’t speak the language very well yet) and engage in conversation with Marah Haj Hussein, Fatima Noori and
Zaïneb Hamdi. Brussels City Poet Lisette Ma Neza will provide a poetic framework.
This performance is also part of the Molenfest programme.
« Language: no broblem »
The first part of this edition of The Wonders of Multilingualism consists of the performance Language: no broblem, for which Belgian-based Palestinian theatre-maker Marah Haj Hussein was awarded the Roel Verniers Prize at the 2023 Theaterfestival. In it, she reveals layered forms of pressure, violence and domination that one language can exert on another, constantly transforming and changing it. The performance embraces the limits of a language’s translatability in order to keep thinking about processes of resistance.
“Ik spreek de taal nog niet zo goed” (I don’t speak the language very well yet
After the break, we will continue with Maud Vanhauwaert, who, after someone apologetically introduced themselves to her by saying ‘Ik nog niet goed spreek de taal’ (I not very well yet speak the language), asked herself how many combinations were possible with the words ‘Ik spreek de taal nog niet zo goed’ (I don’t speak the language very well yet).
It turns out there are 40,320 combinations possible, and all were voiced over the past few years. She presents the world's longest audio poem and we explore how it would sound in other languages.
Fatima Noori and Zaïneb Hamdi
Maud and Marah will reflect on multilingualism, migration and language acquisition, and they will do so with writers Fatima Noori and Zaïneb Hamdi.
Afghan-Belgian Fatima Noori had to flee her homeland and after a horrific journey ended up in Belgium, where she learned Dutch very quickly. When she was 13, she wrote Het boek van Fatima (The book of Fatima) about her experience, describing what it is like to be a refugee and dealing with powerlessness and racism.
French-language poet Zaïneb Hamdi made her debut in 2017 with the collection Fils d’Arabe. She has also written several contributions for publications in Belgium and France. She also transforms her texts into stage performances and video art. April 2024 saw the publication of her second collection of poems, in which language and physicality resonate.
Lisette Ma Neza
She is from the Netherlands but now lives in Brussels where she studies film. In 2017, she became the first Dutch-speaking woman to win the Belgian Poetry Slam Championship. In 2018, she became vice-world Slam Poetry champion in Rio de Janeiro. She has so far only published her work on stage, both solo and with her backing band. VRT called her ‘our own Amanda Gorman’. In 2024, she became the first Brussels City Poet.
The Brussels City Poet wrote a cycle of poems about language and identity for Molenfest. She will read from it and will also provide an improvised poetic conclusion at the end of the evening.
Org. : Passa Porta et Kaaitheater
photo dinner © Sepideh Farvardin, Fatima Noori © Jan De Meuleneir, Zaïneb Hamdi © Pauline Colleu, Lisette Ma Neza © Ivan Put
Coming soon at
FRMeet the Author : Alice Zeniter
Romancière autant qu’essayiste, figure intellectuelle et féministe, traductrice, dramaturge, Alice Zeniter manie les genres et les registres, passant de l’essai au roman, et de la gravité à la légèreté. Invitée par Passa Porta en partenariat avec l’Espace Magh, elle vient parler de son itinéraire de lectrice et de son dernier roman Frapper l’épopée, dans lequel elle continue d’explorer les violences de la colonisation.
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
More than ten years after Americanah, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie has published her new novel Dream Count. During her one and only book presentation in Belgium, we delve into the power of her storytelling.
This program is a coproduction of Passa Porta and Bozar.
Meet the author: Arundhati Roy
Deeply saddened by the death of her mother Mary, but at the same time surprised and ‘more than a little ashamed’ by the violence of her response, Arundhati Roy set to work on a book about her. It became an intimate work on how Arundhati Roy became the author and activist she is today. She will be in conversation with Catherine Vuylsteke.