A01. Event: AHRC Research Network Learning at the Intersection of Language and the Arts Event Leeds – 06 February 2020

We took part in this event focusing on Making at Leeds Central Library on 6th February 2020 with a presentation and by letting participants interact with the multilingual coat and headwrap we produced in 2018 at Tate Exchange, Tate Modern London.

The aim of the event was to explore how material is translated between different linguistic and artistic or aesthetic forms in processes of artistic making. The presentation was entitled 'Multilingual Worldmaking through the Arts' and was produced by Dr Inma Álvarez, Dr Mara Fuertes-Gutiérrez and Dr Carlos Montoro. You can read the abstract below.

We thank the LILA Network for hosting us!

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Abstract

Multilingual Worldmaking Through the Arts

Dr Inma Álvarez, Dr Mara Fuertes-Gutiérrez & Dr Carlos Montoro, Open University

We are pleased to present the work we produced at Tate Modern London during the 2018 Who are we? exhibition on migration. We combined textile work and linguistic-cultural exchanges between language teachers, migrant embroiderers, academics, artists, curators, Tate staff and visitors. This event resulted in the collective creation of a multilingual coat and headwrap featuring 120 proverbs stitched in 15 languages. Attendants will be able to feel and wear the garments during the presentation. Rich audio-visual data of the collaborative process was captured during the event and relevant excerpts will be shown. In line with the present call for contributions, we will be asking: What did we learn at the intersection of languages and the arts? How did we learn it? How did this multilingual learning experience contribute to enhanced relationships, wellbeing, and social justice for individuals, communities, and organisations? We will explore the processes involved in the collaborative venture with artists and members of the public as part of this multisensorial experience, focusing, in particular, on the emerging binaries of what was said and unsaid, planned and improvised, valued and rejected, naturalised and culturalised, learnt and unlearnt, recognised and unrecognised, appreciated and ignored.