Хэлэн
Multimedia installation
Today, many languages are slowly dying out. It is a phenomenon that goes largely unnoticed, yet it is extremely widespread: with every language that dies out, the culture to which it belongs also vanishes. The Buriat language, spoken by the ethnic group to which my family belongs, is now classified as a language at risk of extinction. My great-grandfather spoke it, my grandfather wrote stories in it, my mother could only speak it, and most of my generation no longer understands it.
This research project, which weaves together history, sociolinguistics, cognitive science, and artistic research, revolves around this story and its gradual disappearance.
This research project, which weaves together history, sociolinguistics, cognitive science, and artistic research, revolves around this story and its gradual disappearance.
Хэлэн. Dissolution of the Word is a performative installation that explores the cultural dissolution brought about by linguistic loss. On a suspended frame, two layers overlap: the face of the artist’s grandfather, rendered in water-soluble pastel, and the text of the story Хии, written by her grandfather and sewn with blue thread. During the performance, the water gradually dissolves the face, while the words remain intact: like a language that can be preserved but not understood, even as the culture to which it belongs dissolves.
