‘Repeated Words Lose Their Meaning’ is an exhibition featuring the works of artists Laivi, Ana Likar, Liudmila, and Teja Miholič, curated by Justina Špeirokaitė and Hana Čeferin. Hosted at Improper Walls in Vienna, Austria, the exhibition runs from September 18 to November 6.
There is hardly a concept as unifying – or divisive – as language. Words are powerful tools, ones that build nations and crumble them to the ground, that shape our thoughts, stories and actions, that can stoke the fire of a revolutionary idea or fertilise the ground for violence and prejudice. Words give shape to our dreams and nightmares, our pasts and futures, our realities. But once meaning is imbued, can it be taken away? Can the politics of language change through loss of meaning, and what happens in this new (post)geography? The group exhibition repeated words lose their meaning explores these questions through works by artists from Lithuania, Estonia, and Slovenia. The geographical position as well as the post-socialist past of these Eastern European peripheries still carry certain connotations, approximating two remote regions – the Baltics and the Balkans. In an attempt to deconstruct certain meanings, particularly those associated with identity constructs and feminist and anti-capitalist perspectives, we suggest repeating the same words over and over again until meaning is lost. How can we look at our histories and our present from a perspective that doesn’t presume further marginalisation? Is it possible to find new models of language in the digital space? And are they unifying or even more dividing? The exhibition explores both the histories and futures within the context of language, mapping its already transpired traces and the possibilities it holds in the post digital world. Language is a power structure, but one that can be overcome.
Supported by MA7, BMKÖS, Lithuanian Council for Culture, Lithuanian Embassy in Vienna
In collaboration with LT.art Vienna
