https://queertongue.com Homecoming — Greatest Hits! Sat, 24 Sep 2022 12:09:56 +0000 https://queertongue.com en https://queertongue.com/Top-Nav Fri, 16 Sep 2022 10:35:37 +0000 Homecoming — Greatest Hits! https://queertongue.com/Top-Nav <img width="138" height="150" width_o="138" height_o="150" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/f0d78580f09ab0407b83e0b2b53c244985b457faf7b22778bc155c0464bcaaca/homepage.svg" data-mid="154684081" border="0" data-scale="6" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/138/i/f0d78580f09ab0407b83e0b2b53c244985b457faf7b22778bc155c0464bcaaca/homepage.svg" /> <img width="157" height="150" width_o="157" height_o="150" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/826478ab2016a98c08005e29a750d8efcfce6682e478a7b73425ea6553100eb7/Group-9.svg" data-mid="154684163" border="0" data-scale="7" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/157/i/826478ab2016a98c08005e29a750d8efcfce6682e478a7b73425ea6553100eb7/Group-9.svg" />&nbsp;<img width="158" height="150" width_o="158" height_o="150" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/bc88b022446043103793a8721e83dd326883920b78859f280a1b59d7f02235e6/Group-10.svg" data-mid="154684164" border="0" data-scale="7" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/158/i/bc88b022446043103793a8721e83dd326883920b78859f280a1b59d7f02235e6/Group-10.svg" /> https://queertongue.com/ARTISTS Sat, 24 Sep 2022 10:25:53 +0000 Homecoming — Greatest Hits! https://queertongue.com/ARTISTS ARTISTS Thirteen artists created work in response to the Queer language Damiá. They include songmakers, filmmakers, writers, poets, performance-makers, and photographers. You can find out more about each artist below and click on their names to listen to, watch, or read the work they made as part of the project. All portrait photos are by Óscar González. <img width="1000" height="1500" width_o="1000" height_o="1500" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/93ff284378a2fc77145d5f3caf70f0a018223c53266cb8785501dc25ce8d83b3/OWWI_Amber_Portrait_web.jpg" data-mid="153808947" border="0" data-scale="45" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/93ff284378a2fc77145d5f3caf70f0a018223c53266cb8785501dc25ce8d83b3/OWWI_Amber_Portrait_web.jpg" /> AMBER FASQUELLE / EGOPA CIAL Amber Fasquelle (she / her, born San Francisco, California) is an opera singer and collaborative performer living in Berlin and working throughout Europe. Amber began her career with the Deutsche Oper Berlin after winning the Opera Foundation competition in 2018. Before moving to Germany, Amber worked with renowned companies in the USA including the Aspen Music Festival, Opera Theatre St. Louis, and Cincinnati Opera. Beyond her experience singing in the United States, Amber also participated in the Britten Pears Aldeburgh Festival as a young artist. Most recently, Amber finished working in Valencia as a Young Artist of the Placido Domingo Opera Studio at the Palau Reina Sofia. Autumn 2021, Amber was a finalist in the Montserrat Caballé Competition. In Berlin, Amber has expanded her professional work as an actress and songwriter, collaborating frequently with the collective ONCE WE WERE ISLANDS. <img width="1000" height="1500" width_o="1000" height_o="1500" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/b4825f0b134b8d18bd91e44fed3ffeb24793d942d92ba1f785053192a939edf1/OWWI_Chris_Portrait_web.jpg" data-mid="153808949" border="0" data-scale="45" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/b4825f0b134b8d18bd91e44fed3ffeb24793d942d92ba1f785053192a939edf1/OWWI_Chris_Portrait_web.jpg" /> CHRIS GYLEE / DOGAI BOR Chris Gylee (he / him, born Stockport, UK) is a performance-maker and scenographer working in the independent Berlin scene. He trained in theatre, and, later, scenography in London and Bristol, UK, and relocated to Berlin in 2014. Since 2012, Chris has made performance, film, and publications together with Aslan as Queer performance collective ONCE WE WERE ISLANDS. Their works have regularly premiered at Ballhaus Ost, Berlin, including the performances: Dogs of Love (2019), KARELIA (2021), The Crossing (2022) and the durational film project 12 Months — A Year (It’s About Time festival, 2021/2). As a solo artist, Chris wrote Dedications (2018), a constellation of eight narrations for eight performers, and, in summer 2022, he has written FORTY, a collection of 40 poems about Queer elders living between 1983 and 2022. [ Poems Multiverse Listening (x 7) are included in the printed book Expanded Liner Notes with Additional Letters, Essays, &amp; Studio Visits with the Artists to Accompany the Extended Play Record Homecoming — Greatest Hits! ] <img width="1000" height="1500" width_o="1000" height_o="1500" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/338d82888c85ee0787d949faed67efd94fe9ff88b6aed4396c16203f8aee10cb/OWWI_Jennifer_Portrait_web.jpg" data-mid="153808951" border="0" data-scale="45" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/338d82888c85ee0787d949faed67efd94fe9ff88b6aed4396c16203f8aee10cb/OWWI_Jennifer_Portrait_web.jpg" /> JENNIFER BELL / ANGET HAA Jennifer Bell is a composer, creative producer, and artist who creates song portraits of people drawn from verbatim material. She specialises in close-harmony vocal compositions, through which she chronicles places or groups of people. Her practice was the focus of Michael Rosen’s BBC Radio 4’s Word of Mouth, following her song tour of The Houses of Parliament, Mouthpiece. Her BBC Radio docu-drama Bread and Butter was shortlisted for Best Drama Production (BBC Radio and Music Awards), and made an international pre-selection for Best Radio Drama (Grand Prix Nova). She stages arts events and performances in unusual locations, such as on buses, in offices, and in living rooms, and she has worked nationally and internationally at arts venues such as Bristol Old Vic (UK), Seedworks (USA), and Sophiensaele (DE). <img width="1000" height="1500" width_o="1000" height_o="1500" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/61f2cbaa388880943908d26b6ecd296c0b3b0291c55b894f70a3a87d92963c1b/OWWI_Oscar_Portrait_web.jpg" data-mid="153809484" border="0" data-scale="45" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/61f2cbaa388880943908d26b6ecd296c0b3b0291c55b894f70a3a87d92963c1b/OWWI_Oscar_Portrait_web.jpg" />ÓSCAR GONZÁLEZ / AR GOGO Óscar González (he / him, born Mérida, Spain) is a photographer and visual artist living and working in Berlin. He studied Art History and Photography in Spain and Italy, and then moved to Berlin in 2012. Since then, Óscar has been combining different creative jobs in bigger corporations with his personal projects and collaborations. His work together with ONCE WE WERE ISLANDS started with Tante Tod (2020), a photographic research project about facial expression and portraiture. This was followed by Karelia (2021), and The Crossing (2022). 2022 opens a new chapter in his work, as he stops working for big companies and focusses on his own journey as an artist. It is a moment of redefinition and self-critique and the conclusion of two-and-a-half years of isolated home-office. <img width="1000" height="1500" width_o="1000" height_o="1500" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/d287bdbba0bd07aa2f14176a5595a957653583132009d52d8022a0a5bf91d25a/OWWI_Mars_Portrait_web.jpg" data-mid="153809853" border="0" data-scale="45" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/d287bdbba0bd07aa2f14176a5595a957653583132009d52d8022a0a5bf91d25a/OWWI_Mars_Portrait_web.jpg" />MARS DIETZ / IOS Mars Dietz (she / it) is an artist and musician from Brooklyn. Her hybrid background includes music production, sound art, DJing, writing, and installation. Her solo work is often research driven and centered on historical analysis, such as histories of extractivism and human rights discourses, but sometimes it also composes love songs about people and bodies of water. Mars performs as DJ Sapphic Faggot as part of the party BODYSNATCH Berlin, and frequently collaborates with Berlin-based choreographers as a musical accompaniment to live performances. <img width="1000" height="1500" width_o="1000" height_o="1500" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/220689a74d5405c57b20f076e80f7a9a6723a3d3f44a8556a331dde67bcd909b/OWWI_Elliott_Portrait_web.jpg" data-mid="153810750" border="0" data-scale="45" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/220689a74d5405c57b20f076e80f7a9a6723a3d3f44a8556a331dde67bcd909b/OWWI_Elliott_Portrait_web.jpg" />ELLIOTT CENNETOGLU / SOTI SOTLA Elliott Cennetoglu (he / they) thought they were going to be a scenic painter. Then, they moved to New York and fell into lighting design. Eventually they sold their brushes and moved to Berlin. Now they're an artist and writer and other things. <img width="1000" height="1500" width_o="1000" height_o="1500" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/f5086457bedec58b81dc829ed5d4fcc8cefb59717c0034d8d253d01d7e7070cb/OWWI_Elie_Portrait_web.jpg" data-mid="153810307" border="0" data-scale="45" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/f5086457bedec58b81dc829ed5d4fcc8cefb59717c0034d8d253d01d7e7070cb/OWWI_Elie_Portrait_web.jpg" />ELIE GREGORY / DOAN ZON Elie Gregory is a composer and sound artist with roots in Brighton and Berlin, an educational background in electroacoustic music, and an electro-synthpop project under the moniker Strip Down. Their primary focus is on collaborating with Queer and feminist artists, creating a space between music and abstract sound. <img width="1000" height="1500" width_o="1000" height_o="1500" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/abaaea6101b4a6c58cb209a4ff1976678ccaebfead1b9fe8d44a72753ee200c0/OWWI_Mmakgosi_Portrait_web.jpg" data-mid="153811265" border="0" data-scale="45" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/abaaea6101b4a6c58cb209a4ff1976678ccaebfead1b9fe8d44a72753ee200c0/OWWI_Mmakgosi_Portrait_web.jpg" />MMAKGOSI KGABI / LALLA MAI Mmakgosi Kgabi ((s)he / they, a.k.a. Ouma) is a founding member of Motherbox Organisation for Co-Operation in the Arts. She completed her MA in Solo Dance and Authorship at HZT, Berlin University of the Arts (UdK) and the Hochschule für Schauspielkunst Ernst Busch (HfS) in co-operation with TanzRaumBerlin in 2019. Her research proposal was to approach language as a choreography / dance opening up the possibility to move closer to the ‘dance’ which is ‘language.’ She has a broad portfolio as a dramaturg and voice artist with a keen interest in acting for the camera. She is a trained actress, performance facilitator, and physical theatre and improvisation performer. She trained with Causing a Scene (JHB), Performance of a Lifetime (POAL-NYC), and Clowns Without Borders South Africa (CWBSA). Her BA was in Theatre at Rhodes University with Choreography, Dance Repetoire, and Acting as her majors. She has developed her skills in South Africa and internationally as an onscreen and stage actor. She has worked closely with HAU in Berlin and Tanz im August festival as a production associate.[ Essay and letters Catch Me If You Can&nbsp;are included in the printed book Expanded Liner Notes with Additional Letters, Essays, &amp; Studio Visits with the Artists to Accompany the Extended Play Record Homecoming — Greatest Hits! ] <img width="1000" height="1500" width_o="1000" height_o="1500" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/f4e186d58ddee7d57360f3da09e750a5a06a79f6a1902d82609aadd2b0429d7f/OWWI_Inky_Portrait_web.jpg" data-mid="153812511" border="0" data-scale="45" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/f4e186d58ddee7d57360f3da09e750a5a06a79f6a1902d82609aadd2b0429d7f/OWWI_Inky_Portrait_web.jpg" />INKY LEE / BOL-BOL HASTEL Inky Lee (they / them) is a multidisciplinary artist based in Berlin. They are the artistic director for the performance Floating Roots (Tanzfabrik Berlin, winter 2022). The work tells about the lives of the 1.5 generation immigrants living in Germany, especially the ones who are Asian-read and are Queer. Their recent music album, one of many, was presented as a part of Sound of Berlin #10 by LOLA Magazine (2021). The album sings about the life of an illegal immigrant worker and a mother. Inky was the artistic director for the experimental writing platform, Right Now, which wrote about the experiences of marginalised individuals in the independent performance scene in Berlin (Tanzbüro Berlin, 2020-2021). <img width="1000" height="1500" width_o="1000" height_o="1500" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/2bd5270b22bddfe866da822fe73079454faf459a768e5e1a73b5c01f2cfea9fd/OWWI_Ethan_Portrait_web.jpg" data-mid="153812967" border="0" data-scale="45" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/2bd5270b22bddfe866da822fe73079454faf459a768e5e1a73b5c01f2cfea9fd/OWWI_Ethan_Portrait_web.jpg" /> ETHAN ALLISON FOLK / HATEN AAL Ethan Allison Folk (USA) is a director, cinematographer, and co-founder of Buttermilk Films, a Berlin-based production company serving&nbsp;‘New Queer Cuisine’, a genre blending&nbsp;porn and&nbsp;hybrid documentary. <img width="1000" height="1500" width_o="1000" height_o="1500" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/a47dbc38906c4c92e613c64b2951de2a1b807c13f3ad61c07705f6ded3acc682/OWWI_MINQ_Portrait_web.jpg" data-mid="153813454" border="0" data-scale="45" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/a47dbc38906c4c92e613c64b2951de2a1b807c13f3ad61c07705f6ded3acc682/OWWI_MINQ_Portrait_web.jpg" />MINQ / MAI SARI MINQ (they / them, born Baton Rouge, LA) is a sound artist, DJ, and music producer living, loving, and creating in Berlin. In 2009, MINQ was swept away by turbulent hurricane winds and transported to New Orleans where they started a new life. Upon arrival they disguised themselves as a university student, but after years of drinking swamp water in secret, MINQ became a creature of the night; organising concerts and events at the historic Preservation Jazz Hall. In 2016, MINQ’s eyes grew wide, skin, hot and sticky, and suddenly found themselves in the DJ booths of Berlin’s Queer night life. In this new chapter, MINQ also began to produce music and create sound-design for performances at places such as Ballhaus Naunynstraße, Sophiensaele, and Haus der Statistik. Their current mission is to create spaces for mindfulness practices for QTBIPoC through their sonic-somatic workshop series, Sonic Utopias | Research Lab. Autumn 2022, they will begin to study Sound Studies and Sonic Arts at UdK in Berlin. Stay tuned … <img width="1000" height="1500" width_o="1000" height_o="1500" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/39fe8cfbbc909a743b96aafb69bd4cdfd32967ec8436205c7831381801d62652/OWWI_Kate_Portrait_web.jpg" data-mid="153814708" border="0" data-scale="45" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/39fe8cfbbc909a743b96aafb69bd4cdfd32967ec8436205c7831381801d62652/OWWI_Kate_Portrait_web.jpg" /> KIT GEE / ANNEC TOO Kit Gee (they / them, born Surrey, UK) is a poet, performance-writer and LGBTQ+ activist working in English and Welsh. They trained in Theatre, Book-Art, and Avant-Garde Poetics in London. They worked in theatre and burlesque before leaving the metropolis in 2015 to make home and work in rural spaces elsewhere. Kit is an artistic collaborator with Queer performance collective ONCE WE WERE ISLANDS. Their solo projects have been performed and exhibited in the UK and Europe.[ Poems&nbsp;Teeci Oso and Lieb-Cob are included in the printed book Expanded Liner Notes with Additional Letters, Essays, &amp; Studio Visits with the Artists to Accompany the Extended Play Record Homecoming — Greatest Hits!&nbsp;] <img width="1000" height="1500" width_o="1000" height_o="1500" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/c949b714455714846f0da43c9a5911b8b0aba9b356e94e37695da1b276b77d25/OWWI_Aslan_Portrait_web.jpg" data-mid="153814303" border="0" data-scale="45" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/c949b714455714846f0da43c9a5911b8b0aba9b356e94e37695da1b276b77d25/OWWI_Aslan_Portrait_web.jpg" />ASLAN / TOMPO GAZZE Aslan (they / them) is a writer and artist, focussing on theatre, film, and the written word. In 2012, Aslan and Chris Gylee created Queer performance collective ONCE WE WERE ISLANDS, and relocated to Berlin in 2014. They have been showing their work regularly as part of the family at Ballhaus Ost, alongside filmworks and publications. Projects include the Dogs of Love (2019), KARELIA (2021), The Crossing (2022) and the durational film project 12 Months — A Year (It’s About Time festival, 2021/2). Aslan also has a writing practice that involves mentoring writers and creating their own work. They are currently writing their second novel, a Queer sci-fi written in English and Damiá. Their first novel We Need a Century — also a Queer sci-fi — might even, one day, be published. https://queertongue.com/WHAT-IS-DAMIA Sat, 24 Sep 2022 10:33:38 +0000 Homecoming — Greatest Hits! https://queertongue.com/WHAT-IS-DAMIA <img width="1000" height="1500" width_o="1000" height_o="1500" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/880733983764e7ad5de98c1b5d43e09409e10350cb1d7a74daa0b5973067a839/OWWI_Amber_Hand_web.jpg" data-mid="154553931" border="0" data-scale="42" data-no-zoom src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/880733983764e7ad5de98c1b5d43e09409e10350cb1d7a74daa0b5973067a839/OWWI_Amber_Hand_web.jpg" /> WHAT IS DAMIÁ? Damiá is a fully-functioning language with an extensive grammar and a vocabulary of around 10,000 words, created by Aslan. They began creating it when they were just 13 years old and it represents a lifelong passion. Aslan speaks it fluently. At the beginning of 2020 — after more than 10 years of living and making art together — Chris began learning Damiá in earnest, and so will slowly become the second person to speak it. By actually learning to use and speak a new language (instead of simply simulating or imagining it), we engage in an authentic act of transformation that cannot help but alter our perspectives. Damiá is a learnable, speakable language. Damiá is not designed to be especially easy to learn, and, although it is more regular than many languages such as English and French, it still has some irregularities and quirks. Damiá is not an experimental language that is specifically designed to change or affect the thoughts of the people who learn it. This doesn’t mean, however, that the thought-pictures that Damiá makes are the same as those of other languages. Damiá is not a combination of existing languages or an imagination of a language that has developed from a language that used to exist. It borrows some words from other languages (mostly Arabic for words to do with science and government) but most of its words are its own. People often ask what it is about Damiá that makes it Queer. It is a good question but not always an easy one to answer. All answers are partial at best — true and untrue at the same time, but never completely either. This is perhaps fitting for a Queer language. The first and easiest answer to the question is: nothing at all except for the fact that it belongs to Queer people. When it comes to a Queer bar or community centre, there is nothing that is intrinsically Queer about the bricks and mortar of the building, but it is defined as Queer by the people who use it. It is a Queer space of expression, community, and safety. Damiá is exactly the same. The second answer, which is related to the first, is that it is getting Queerer and Queerer. Just like the Queer community centre, its fabric is being slowly altered by the people who use it. An improvement here, an adaptation there. The third answer is that it is very Queer. Damiá grammar looks at the world in ways that are, in combination, unique, and often highly compatible for use by a Queer community. The most obvious example is that it is a gender-free language in terms of verbs, pronouns, and nouns. Even a word like ba mother is actually better translated as someone who cares for someone or something during its infancy and beyond, such as a mother. The fourth and final answer is that it’s very Queer indeed because Damiá is first and foremost the product of a Queer brain and a Queer life experience. By using Damiá and teaching it to others, we want to ask: Could Damiá be a specifically Queer language for Queer people? What would it mean for Queer people to have a language of our own? To what extent would a Queer language define new spaces for Queer togetherness? How would we do things differently if we had brand new words to speak with? How can we open up a new dimension of Queer kinship? If we were both in a position to have conversations, recite poems, sing songs, and translate with a community, could we construct a world of words that exists between comprehension and incomprehension, between inclusion and exclusion? Linguistic Features of Damiá Damiá has a relatively simple sound system and just three different vowel sounds. Those vowels can be short, long, or nasalised. Damiá has a very simple tone system with high, low, and falling tones. The melody of some words is just as important as the sounds or the stresses. Damiá is a so-called VSO language. That means that, in a sentence, the verb (V) comes first, followed by the subject (S), and then the object (O). This is in contrast to SVO languages like English, Mandarin, and Hausa, and SOV languages such as Hindi, Korean, and Hungarian. Other VSO languages include Welsh, Classical Arabic, and Maori. Damiá has no grammatical gender. The pronoun sie means she, he, they, or it. Damiá nouns have no plurals, so horo can mean ‘dog’ or ‘dogs’ according to context. There is a special ending -na however, that means ‘just one’, so horona means ‘just one dog’.Where English tends to convey a lot of emotion with intonation and word order, Damiá does this with small words called particles, such as ca, na, ia, va, sia that usually come at the end of the sentence. Damiá intonation and word order is a lot more fixed than English and a lot less expressive.Damiá has 11 cases which define the role of the noun. They are mostly formed very regularly by adding a small word after the noun. They are often translated by prepositions in English. Damiá can be written in Latin letters but it also has its own alphabet called Tolpata. There are 18 basic letters in Tolpata, plus 15 special letters, and only one punctuation mark. You can find out more about learning Damiá here. https://queertongue.com/NAVIGATING-AN-ARCHIVE Sat, 24 Sep 2022 10:47:05 +0000 Homecoming — Greatest Hits! https://queertongue.com/NAVIGATING-AN-ARCHIVE <img width="1000" height="1500" width_o="1000" height_o="1500" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/8662bf5c9ba25e851a4dbdca2b9e9e71ce8ee591e4683c57e366bfa37d9f3d8b/OWWI_Aslan_Hand_web.jpg" data-mid="154554938" border="0" data-scale="42" data-no-zoom src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/8662bf5c9ba25e851a4dbdca2b9e9e71ce8ee591e4683c57e366bfa37d9f3d8b/OWWI_Aslan_Hand_web.jpg" /> NAVIGATING AN ARCHIVE Homecoming — Greatest Hits! is a constellation artwork with various points of entry and more than one way to encounter and navigate it. Inky Lee and Mmakgosi Kgabi suggest ways of interacting with this archive.&nbsp; INKY LEE This text was inspired by the artists' interviews, in which the topic of Damiá being a safe place for queer people was frequently mentioned. When you invited me for gin &amp; tonic in your bed, I replied, "Convince me with a song." After the first time we met, you sent me a song, Sool Ar. When I listened to it, I was overwhelmed by the feeling of fingertips grazing over my skin. We hadn't yet touched each other, so I couldn't imagine it being your touch, but oh how intense the feeling was! Only later, I learned that that was your "gift". In our region, each person is born with a special "gift", and yours was to send physical touch through songs. After the first time we held each other, you sent me the song, Neno ios cie ge. I felt your arms around me, calmly and steadily, and this time I was certain it was you. When, during your work dinner, you suddenly said "en mesivata sie boos servelieet nan", a quote from the poem, Teeci Oso*, that I sent you in a letter, you were perplexed. When, during a work presentation, you said, "O seer pag-pag sie neo nie dego onna na", a quote from the film,&nbsp;Cergi Siorba, that we watched together the night before, you blushed. That evening, you asked me what I'd done and I revealed my gift: To send words to other people's mouths to be spoken."Does that mean I … belong to your language?" you wondered. "With our gifts, we can build a world just for us," I responded.It was an agreement of affection, a game we played, or a translation of our own. For each moment we wanted to remember together, we used our gifts to capture the feeling of it so that we could recreate the memory whenever we wanted to.&nbsp;For example, after watching the film, onai, sinárra, ioidar, we contemplated which scene we would like to remember.&nbsp;The big blue fabric rippling in the wind. Which part from the soundtrack, Aren Nie, would accompany that scene? "aren nie / a ten i'aren cie / ead bavsan / gen ne mver sibé ierbai" What kind of touch would transfer the feeling of the moment? Soft blowing of air from the mouth brushing neck and ears. Sometimes, I would put the words to your mouth to sing. At other times, you would simply sing them by yourself. In both cases, you would deliver the touch through the verses. We would be transported to our sensorial memory of the scene. The more we continued developing scenes together, the more our world expanded. As our world became rich with sounds, touch and feelings, we invited others with queer gifts to join our world, to deepen our world with their gifts. "Would you like to share your gift with us?" we would ask.Each time a new queer being joined our world with their unique gift, there was collective joy. Gradually, we built a world for a community of queer beings that was wholly ours. In this archive, we share some of our moments with you. *Teeci Oso by Kit Gee / Annec Too is included in the printed book Expanded Liner Notes with Additional Letters, Essays, &amp; Studio Visits with the Artists to Accompany the Extended Play Record Homecoming — Greatest Hits! MMAKGOSI KGABI Dearest Reader, I wonder how you found me. I wonder what you found of me. I wonder how you will explore me. I wonder what you will see. I wonder what is left. I wonder what you will hear. I wonder how you remember what has been left here. I wonder where you will begin. I wonder how you will hold on. I wonder how you will let go. I wonder what you will activate of me. I wonder what you will reawaken. I wonder why you will look up. I wonder why you will look up, look inward. I wonder when you will pull me closer. I wonder when you will walk away. I wonder why you will rest only to return, to turn the page, to read from my end to your beginning. I wonder what will remain with you. I wonder how you will get closer to where I was when I gave this form. I wonder what you will understand of what I said, how I said it, why I said it, when I said it. I wonder why you came to pause, to carry on, to query, to question, to be, with me. I wonder why you returned. I cannot give you a clear road map as to how I got here. All ways are ways. We are always on the way, as long as we are still here. I wonder where here is. I wonder why you are curious. Wonder. Wander. Wonder. Wander. I lay on the corner of a bed closest to the wall. Azure blue. I imagined the smell of sea salt. I imagined the lingering of warm gentle lips and tongue splitting my worlds open like a roasted castania nut. Exploring me. Awakening me. Parting roads within me. Returning me home. As I wondered further from home. Wondering. Wanderer. Asking me how I got here. Where I came from. A memory. A fantasy. A kiss. A song played on repeat. At first one song over and over again. I open my eyes slightly. I drifted again. Drifting. Drifters. Down the river. Down the street. The lights, a river of yellow lights. City lights. Candle lights. I sat. I walked. I sat. I did not move from the bed. I had no choice. Or was this the choice. Listen. Repeat. Listen. Stay on the page. Keep the needle on the track. Track. Trace. Follow. Start at the beginning. Start somewhere. Anywhere. It will be a start nonetheless. Your beginning. My end. To begin, begin again. Your end, my beginning. Track. Trace. Your own pace. A page here. A line there. A musical note. A photograph. A moving image. A still image. A longing. An embrace. A kiss. A memory. A trace. Breathe. Take your time. Time. https://queertongue.com/MOVING-IMAGES Sat, 24 Sep 2022 10:49:08 +0000 Homecoming — Greatest Hits! https://queertongue.com/MOVING-IMAGES <img width="1000" height="1500" width_o="1000" height_o="1500" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/0471ecd70f75a3923f6f13f36ac431428a35898517f50f44b1685995501c5714/OWWI_Chris_Hand_web.jpg" data-mid="154555031" border="0" data-scale="42" data-no-zoom src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/0471ecd70f75a3923f6f13f36ac431428a35898517f50f44b1685995501c5714/OWWI_Chris_Hand_web.jpg" /> MOVING IMAGES The films below were created by the artists in response to their personal encounter with Damiá. onai, sinárra, ioidar Directed / edited: Ar Gogo a.k.a. Óscar González Music — 'Aren Nie' Written / performed: Aslan Mixed: Mars Dietz Mastered: Ro Stambuk Soup Frog Written &amp; directed: Ethan Allison Folk 3D animation: wro wrzesińska Character creation: Ethan Folk &amp; wro wrzesińska Vocal performance &amp; Damiá translation: Aslan Vocal processing: Lemonboy Music: Samuel Hertz Recorded at BBK Medienwerkstatt Damiá font: Monika Janulevičiûtė letárgiemta By Elliott CennetogluMusic — 'Neno Ios Cie Ge'Written / performed: Mars DietzMastered: Ro Stambuk Thank you:&nbsp;Phoenix Adler, Pelenakeke Brown, Mars Dietz, Cat Obuhof, Joseph M. Pierce, Brody Polinsky, Ty + Frances Wardell, Enrico Dau Yang Wey Siart Cessoi Directed / edited: Chris GyleeGoPro camera: AslanSlides: unconfirmed source, Bristol, UK, circa 2010Music — 'Siart Cessoi'Written / performed: Elie GregoryMastered: Ro Stambuk Naer Appa Asesi Directed / edited: AslanFilm footage courtesy:&nbsp;National Archives and Records AdministrationMusic — 'Naer Appa Asesi'Written: MINQMastered: Ro Stambuk Cecól Cor Nan Directed / edited: Chris GyleeCamera: Aslan Performance: Kysy FischerMusic — 'Cécol Cor Nan'Written / performed: Anget Haa a.k.a. Jennifer Bell Drums / mixed: Luke Harney Guitar: Jeff Spencer Mastered: Ro Stambuk ACES Directed / edited: Chris GyleeMusic — 'Aces'Written / performed: Inky LeeMixed: Mitchell KeaneyMastered: Ro Stambuk Collaged film footage courtesy: National Archives and Records Administration https://queertongue.com/TRANSLATION Sat, 24 Sep 2022 10:50:01 +0000 Homecoming — Greatest Hits! https://queertongue.com/TRANSLATION <img width="1000" height="1500" width_o="1000" height_o="1500" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/7df82b85121572f396532ccc0dadc9044f67bb89caadc440dcb461c979d9eead/OWWI_Elie_Hand_web.jpg" data-mid="154555058" border="0" data-scale="42" data-no-zoom src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/7df82b85121572f396532ccc0dadc9044f67bb89caadc440dcb461c979d9eead/OWWI_Elie_Hand_web.jpg" /> TRANSLATION Most of the artists in this project do not speak Damiá (yet). This means that they began their work by formulating their ideas in a language other than Damiá (though there were exceptions. Jen wrote part of her song directly into Damiá using the online dictionary) and then those ideas were translated. Translation, therefore, has been a key part of this project. It is important to remember what translation is, and what translation isn’t, which also means considering what a language is and what a language isn’t. It is tempting to consider a language to be a cataloguing system whereby we attach simple labels to objects that exist in reality. This is, of course, sometimes true. ‘Book’ is a word that we can attach to an object that exists. In this reality, it is a very simple job to switch the label of the object for a different label. So ‘book’ becomes calta (or ‘libro’ or ‘كتاب’ or ‘መጽሐፍ’ or ‘書’). Easy. In this reality, translating from one language to another is a simple mathematical process of switching labels. Of course, it’s not this simple. For a start, not all languages agree on where words end (for a simple example, is ‘football’ one word or two?) and languages have different word orders and grammatical structures. English tends to put the doer of the verb first (S), then the verb (V), then the thing the verb most affects (O) at the end. It’s a so-called SVO language. Damiá is a VSO language. Turkish and Japanese are SOV languages: S the goat V en co sie o‘it is eating it’ S山羊は‘goat’ Veats Siacen ze ‘goat’Oフットボールを‘football’ O the football O ieer coi‘football’V食べる ‘eats’ This could also be solved by an algorithm, right? To a degree. But often the algorithm gets very complex. Anyone who has learned German knows that it takes around three years of study to work out exactly where the verb goes. Things get more complicated when one language requires information that another language does not. In the example above, English requires the word ‘the’ or ‘a’ before a lot of nouns. Neither Damiá or Japanese do: the goat = iacen = 山羊 but both Japanese and Damiá do require a little particle after some words that explain the function of a word in a sentence (i.e. whether they are S or O, for example), which English does not: the goat = iacen ze = 山羊は It is very easy just to leave something out in the target language that doesn’t need to be there, but it starts getting difficult when we have to add information that isn’t present in the source language. A single word in one language can correspond to more than one word in another. As a simple example, there are two words for ‘dog’ in Damiá and two words for ‘red’: avanhoro == a sight hound any other kind of dog harma &nbsp;ores == ‘dry’ orange red ‘wet’ purple red and the word ‘sie’ in Damiá can be translated into no less than 13 words in English: sie = they / them / theirit / itsshe / her / hers&nbsp;he / him / hisone / one’s &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Although context and grammar give us clues as to which word might or might not be the right choice, how can you know which is the correct choice without any further information from the writer? There are also words that refer to concepts that are culturally or context specific. Words that require an entire paragraph of explanation, or which evoke a particular feeling or a shared experience. There are words we use that don’t mean a lot (some speakers tend to use more or fewer words to say the same thing — ‘Do you mind if I just interrupt here to maybe ask a hopefully simple question?’ vs. ‘May I ask a question?’) or words that show we are polite or impolite. Sometimes we don’t want to be clear. All of this adds up to a very complex equation indeed and a reality that is very far from switching labels on objects. In short, languages are self-contained (or interlocking) systems of transmitting meaning. They are also systems for generating meaning, hiding meaning, obfuscating, clarifying, confusing. They create ugliness and beauty. They are tools and weapons. A language is a multi-layered thing. There is a surface layer of words over a skin of grammatical rules which hold together a way of caring about what is said and not said which underpin assumptions about shared values and experiences. A language may have more in common with a language it has a close relationship to — a neighbour, a family member, a friend — but it is never identical. Language is a way of saying. It is always possible to say what you wish to say in every language, but the process of getting there can be very different. Translation is the practice of retracing the steps back in one language, and then tracing them out again in another. All the translations in this project, therefore, are approximate and products of the person who translated them and the moment they were translated. Another translator might well make different choices, or even think the translation is wrong. There is always a middle step between English and Damiá where the ideas are translated before the language is. Damiá and English are not very similar, either grammatically, or in the way they express ideas. et bos sibé molt asesi nan I was looking for a territory in myself I searched for a territory within myself I found a place in myself ten ie sapec mie haa nan And we will be free within it That we could be free in Where we could free ourselves en col mcé cor nan vo vai t-ho I’m / we’re coming back home by the external path I / we return to you at home on the way of the outside I’m coming home by the outside way ten ie sam mné non nan And I / we will dance with you in the flat-bottomed valley So I / we can dance with you in the valley To dance with you in the valley A language is much more than a cataloguing system for an objective, concrete world. It is also a world in itself. Somewhere to be. We look forward to seeing you there. *A further conversation between Aslan and Kit Gee about the process of translating the poem Lieb-Cob is included in the printed book Expanded Liner Notes with Additional Letters, Essays, &amp; Studio Visits with the Artists to Accompany the Extended Play Record Homecoming — Greatest Hits! https://queertongue.com/THE-FUTURE Sat, 24 Sep 2022 10:50:31 +0000 Homecoming — Greatest Hits! https://queertongue.com/THE-FUTURE <img width="1000" height="1500" width_o="1000" height_o="1500" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/b616cf00030ba72fd5829081e5269a26fd852027313f21db54ac98aa671b6532/OWWI_Inky_Hand_web.jpg" data-mid="154555067" border="0" data-scale="42" data-no-zoom src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/b616cf00030ba72fd5829081e5269a26fd852027313f21db54ac98aa671b6532/OWWI_Inky_Hand_web.jpg" /> THE FUTURE We do not know what will happen with Damiá in the future. From our side, we are committed to continuing working with the language over the coming years to see what can happen and what questions and adventures this long-term engagement creates. At its heart, Damiá is a desire to understand how to imagine a different world by asking: What would be possible if Queer people had our own language? It’s a deceptively simple question but the search for an answer, and the other questions that this enquiry provokes, are fascinating and complex. Damiá can act as a kind of real-world laboratory that allows us to be curious about Queer connection, Queer identities, Queer belonging, and Queer separatism.&nbsp; Of course, Damiá also has the potential to become a language that we as Queer people can use — to communicate with each other, to play with, to create in. For Damiá to have a speech community would, of course, be a strange and wonderful thing. We are always here to talk about Damiá, to hear your ideas, or to facilitate the use of the language. We have already run a season of online classes and plan another from winter 2022. If you would like to learn Damiá or simply want to find out more, please do not hesitate to be in touch with us. Send us an email or get in touch via IG. https://queertongue.com/FOOTNOTES Sat, 24 Sep 2022 10:50:59 +0000 Homecoming — Greatest Hits! https://queertongue.com/FOOTNOTES <img width="1000" height="1500" width_o="1000" height_o="1500" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/e64ddba54153440de7b2596e7beb2ddec1d07c459039939b6361c42f008702a8/OWWI_Mmakgosi_Hand_web.jpg" data-mid="154555089" border="0" data-scale="42" data-no-zoom src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/e64ddba54153440de7b2596e7beb2ddec1d07c459039939b6361c42f008702a8/OWWI_Mmakgosi_Hand_web.jpg" /> FOOTNOTES FURTHER READING, VIEWING AND LISTENING: — Laurie Anderson, From The Air, Warner Bros. Records, 1982. — Paul Baker, Fabulosa! — The Story of Polari, Britain’s Secret Gay Language, Reaktion Books, 2019. — Anne Carson, If Not, Winter: Fragments of Sappho, Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 2003.— Samuel R. Delany, Babel-17, Ace Books, 1966. — Ani DiFranco, Fuel, Righteous Babe, 1998. — Suzette Haden Elgin, Native Tongue, DAW Books, 1984. — José Esteban Muñoz, Cruising Utopia: The Then and There of Queer Futurity, NVU Press, 2009. — ONCE WE WERE ISLANDS, Damiá 1 — A Queer Tongue, 2021. (PDF version) — ONCE WE WERE ISLANDS, Damiá — A Structural Grammar, 2022.— ONCE WE WERE ISLANDS, The Crossing, 2022. — ONCE WE WERE ISLANDS,&nbsp;Queer Tongues — A Documentary, 2021.— ONCE WE WERE ISLANDS, Instagram: @oncewewereislands— ONCE WE WERE ISLANDS, Instagram: @a_queer_tongue— ONCE WE WERE ISLANDS, Instagram: @damiawordoftheday — ed. Wendy Gay Pearson, Veronica Hollinger, Joan Gordon, Queer Universes: Sexualities in Science Fiction, Liverpool University Press, 2010. — Anna T, Opacity — Minority — Improvisation: An Exploration of the Closet Through Queer Slangs and Postcolonial Theory, Transcript, 2020. — Ursula K. Le Guin, Always Coming Home, Grafton Books, 1988.— Ursula K. Le Guin, The Carrier Bag Theory of Fiction, Ignota Books, 2019.— Ursula K. Le Guin, The Dispossessed, Harper &amp; Row, 1974. https://queertongue.com/SOOL-AR-AMBER-FASQUELLE Fri, 01 Jul 2022 13:19:34 +0000 Homecoming — Greatest Hits! https://queertongue.com/SOOL-AR-AMBER-FASQUELLE SOOL AR - AMBER FASQUELLESIDE A, TRACK 1: SOOL AR DURATION: 2:16 WRITTEN / PERFORMED: Amber Fasquelle RECORDED / MIXED: Aude Langlois MASTERED: Ro Stambuk Homecoming — Greatest Hits! by Amber Fasquelle sOl ar gol naN tierina ha bOsna lo asi naN ameN hodo lo areN davla e cai siA os es ser sinex haboc nie e diav mie vo lo eactamar otana arnaz lampada daz asmet tazel ge hO naN e sitaxc sinex hietida ser vai e sitaxc sinex hietida hares cai sOl ar gol naN tierina nieN cibex soi naN e les sicex no bOsna e Hasta mnex tierida naN iameN niA sotla naN ges ceo sibex nad zoN daro vai sool ar gol nan tierina ha boosna lo asi nan amen hodo lo aren davla e cai siaa os es ser siné haboc niee diav mie vo lo eactamar otana arnaz lampada daz asmet tazel ge hoo nan e sitác siné hietida ser vai e sitác siné hietida hares cai sool ar gol nan tierina n’ien cibé soi nan e les sicé no boosna e t-hasta mné tierida nan i’amen niaa sotla nan&nbsp; ges ceo sibé nad zon daro vai Blue band round your wristWish we could kissWhere the stars fallCuz nations don’t exist Time diesYou say you watch me flyWe get lostSuspended way up there high Headlights glareSnow whips round the airI could just stare into your eyesCould just stare into your eyes till I die Blue band round your wristI’ve been thinking of youGotta steal another kissWanna run to your armsFall upward to the sky Come touch my skinBare in the moonlight [data-predefined-style="true"] small { font-size: 1.2rem; font-weight: 300; font-style: normal; line-height: 1.3; letter-spacing: 0.07rem;} .second { font-size: 1.2rem; } @media screen and (max-width: 1000px) { [data-predefined-style="true"] small, .second { font-size: 1.7rem; } } https://queertongue.com/CECOL-COR-NAN-JENNIFER-BELL Sat, 24 Sep 2022 12:09:56 +0000 Homecoming — Greatest Hits! https://queertongue.com/CECOL-COR-NAN-JENNIFER-BELL CECÓL COR NAN - JENNIFER BELLSIDE A, TRACK 2: CECÓL COR NAN DURATION: 4:30 WRITTEN / PERFORMED: Jennifer Bell DRUMS / MIXED: Luke Harney (Maco Iot Hoc) GUITAR: Jeff Spencer (Vago Ocoi) MASTERED: Ro Stambuk Homecoming — Greatest Hits! by Jennifer Bell Accompanying music video — Cecól Cor Nan — directed by Chris Gylee available to view here. et bos sibex molt asesi naN teN ie sapec mie hA naN eN col mcex cor naN vo vai Ho teN ie sam mnex noN naN ge cor naN ge cor naN ge cor naN ai col cibex ca nieN sinex carta vo cob lo molt zie et po sibex ast onai ze sam mcex onai ge tsam nie dioN ge os teN ie sam mie dioN ge o darna sibex ostcoi oroN os teN ie sam mlex nana ge cor naN ge cor naN ge cor naN ai col cibex ca nieN sibex carta vo cecoxb lo molt zie et po sibex ast onai ze sam mcex onai ge eN dioN nie eN hom nie basma vai eN del nie teo teN iENda nie eN cvAso nie calem lo nlO nie teo teN ie saSa vaia nie naN sibex EN o bar iebex ostcoi mie teN ie sam mie nal nar noN naN na et bos sibé molt asesi nan ten ie sapec mie haa nan en col mcé cor nan vo vai t-ho ten ie sam mné non nan ge cor nan, ge cor nan, ge cor nanai col cibé ca n’ien siné carta vo cob lo molt zie et po sibé ast onai ze sam mcé onai ge t’sam nie dion ge os ten ie sam mie dion ge o darna sibé ostcoi oron os ten ie sam mlé nana ge cor nan, ge cor nan, ge cor nan ai col cibé ca n’ien sibé carta vo cecób lo molt zie et po sibé ast onai ze sam mcé onai ge en dion nie, enhom nie basma vai en del nie teo ten i’eenda nie en cvaaso nie calem lo n’loo nie teo ten ie sassa vaia nie&nbsp; n’an sibé eeno bar iebé ostcoi mie ten ie sam mie nal nar non nan na I discovered a place in myselfWhere we could free ourselvesI am coming home by the outside wayTo dance with you in the valley Come home, come homeWill you come homeWith me?Here is a map for youA way to discover this land It has sometimes been lonelyI will not therefore dance again aloneI was dancing by myselfWhen we’re dancing by ourselvesWe don’t move the same feetAs when we’re dancing with each other Come home, come homeWill you come homeWith me? Here is a map for meA way to rediscover this landIt has sometimes been lonelyI will not therefore dance again alone I am being a seed, I am being an indigo cloudI am being a rootToday I am an infinite multiplierI am being a flute, I am being the tip of a penToday I will be a helicopter There are people, their feet are beautifulDancing by the river in the valley [data-predefined-style="true"] small { font-size: 1.2rem; font-weight: 300; font-style: normal; line-height: 1.3; letter-spacing: 0.07rem;} .second { font-size: 1.2rem; } @media screen and (max-width: 1000px) { [data-predefined-style="true"] small, .second { font-size: 1.7rem; } }