Is it possible to miss a word? Is it possible to feel homesickness for a language rather than a country itself?
Pidgin X departs from this abstract question making it concrete through discussions between people who have had to learn the local language during adulthood. We ask each other which words we miss from our mother tongue. Sometimes they are extremely practical, words which are shorter, or more easily pronounceable; sometimes they are more beautiful to us than their equivalent in the local language, or they roll off the tongue more easily; sometimes they carry a certain connection or nostalgia and sometimes they are merely untranslatable.
We become the Founders. In our discussions we begin to talk about the grammar and pronunciation in the new language. We discuss what the hardest parts to learn were and what - if given the chance - we would change. We start with individual discussions but eventually we assemble to discuss such topics in a group. The dominant city-language is what binds us, and it's our common struggle with it which unites us. We take this language as our starting point and begin to make incisions. The simplification of an article or a pronoun, the changing of a particular sound, or the scrapping of irregularities. Slowly we build a new base for a language which would be easier for our future selves. The words which came up in our discussions create a basis next to the grammatical foundation we arrive at. And like that a new, contemporary Pidgin language is born. A language which attempts to reflect the true complexity of our modern-day cities, with all its diversity, mistakes and nuances. Each word carries the history and memories of one of the Founders or contributors.
DATES
18 October CANCELLED Brainwash Festival Amsterdam, NL WORK-IN-PROGRESS
25 & 27 June 2021 Explore the North Leeuwarden, NL
17, 18 August 2021 Noorderzon Groningen, NL
TBC Zwolle, NL