Graft the Words, Whip My Tongue

Works in the exhibition part 2

The Library, 2020

In the first part of the exhibition, the 21 bentwood sculptures were installed alone in the gallery. The installation has now been densified with benches, the publication Stridsskrift and sections of a fence supported by aluminium. Together they constitute the installation The Library. Archives, museums and libraries that house accumulated knowledge, compiled under thousands of years, are part of what makes us human. Books on Judaism, Nazism and LGBT issues were burnt outside Linköping City Library during the night of 27 January 2020. The collections of the International Library in Stockholm are broken up. The Swedish Library Act 2 § states: “Public libraries shall be accessible to everyone”. Visitors are invited to sit down on the benches and read the book Stridsskrift.

Untitled, 2020

A piece of fabric found on the shore of the Baltic Sea on the southern tip of the island of Öland has been installed like a flag. All the world’s sovereign states have a national flag and rules governing its usage. A flag could be described as a tool for collectively manifesting a common cause: a battle, a struggle, a loss, a victory, a jubilee. The sculpture has no title and the fabric has no motif.

Monolingual Territory, 2020

The sculpture Monolingual Territory comprises black-lacquered bentwood objects from a found piece of furniture, and cast aluminium mounted on the wall in a gun rack. Hose clamps, used to seal a hose, gird the bentwood. Tools and methods employed in Sweden to establish a monolingual norm have varied throughout history. The first Alphabet book, for example, was an important instrument in the Swedification of Skåne in the 17th century. In our time, the methods are expressed as bills introduced in parliament to restrict mother-tongue education. In Sweden today, some 200 languages are spoken and written.

Paroll Parole Parole, 2020

The installation Paroll Parole Parole has a trilingual title: ‘Paroll’ in Swedish means ‘slogan’, In English ‘parole’ means ‘early release of a prisoner’. The French ‘parole’ means ‘everyday speech’. ‘Parole’ is also a concept created by the renowned Swiss linguist Ferdinand de Saussure (1857–1913). He divided language into two parts: Langue and Parole. ‘Langue’ was the linguistic system of alphabet, grammar etc, while ‘parole’ was the application of these rules. ‘Parole’ is the active language, the actual speech that we hear in real life. Rigid materials from public space are suspended motionless from a structure. They do not limit or restrict; we can move in between the gaps of the structure.

The Wave, 2020

The word ‘wave’ may refer to an elemental force, a movement or a trend. The waves of the sea may provide opportunities for play or constitute a threat, as in a tsunami. ‘Wave’ is also a part of words, as a ‘soundwave’, or a concept such as ‘fourth-wave feminism’. An unstoppable elemental force, an invisible movement without its own moral or agenda, or a gathering force that brings people together to collaborate towards a common goal.

The Invisible Order, 2020

The first work visitors encounter in the exhibition is The Invisible Order, 2020. The work features sections of a fence installed in a v-shape. In public space, fence sections are a directional structure, aimed to protect or to confine.

Works in the exhibition part 1

VOX, 2020

The first work the viewer encounters in the exhibition is VOX, 2020. Vox is Latin for ‘voice’. The installation comprises various elements that disseminate into all the galleries of the exhibition space. Modelled aluminium poles and distressed barrier tape create obstructions. A piece of fabric found on the shore of the Baltic Sea on the southern tip of the island of Öland has been installed like a flag. A steel rack covered by reflective fabric is illuminated by a spotlight that lights up the reflector and, at the same time, blinds. Language is a constant, collective negotiation in which words and dialects continuously appear and disappear. The work assumes different forms depending on the position of the viewer.

L/anguish–But if the Word Gags, Does Not Nourish, Bite it Off, 2019  

The installation is composed of 21 sculptures in which parts of bentwood have been synthesised using various grafting methods. The bentwood, which in itself has been elaborated into shapes beyond its organic capacity, has, in the sculpture, been further compressed until cracks and tears appear. Grafting is a method in plant breeding. A foreign part is united with a growing plant by insertion. For example, grafting makes it possible for several types of apples to grow from one tree. Grafting is both enriching and violent. Gustafsson Fürst has returned to the idea of banning or confining a language as a kind of mutilation in contrast to the proliferation by grafting. The title is composed of two synthesised fragments from two poems in the collection She Tries Her Tongue, Her Silence Softly Breaks (1989) by poet M. NourbeSe Philip: “L/anguish” from the poem Discourse on the Logic of Language and “but if the word gags, does not nourish, bite it off” from Universal Grammar.

The ABC-book, 2020

The exhibition process set out from the experiences of language loss that Gustafsson Fürst encountered in Norrbotten. The ABC-book is a work that began as an in-depth study of language policies as an instrument for constructing a nation. In 1611, Johannes Bureus created Sweden’s first alphabet book for schools, a primer on national language teaching and a Swedification tool, which has appeared in various versions since then. In the work, steel fence sections have been joined together into a mesh. In a public environment, fence sections constitute a directional structure. A tool for public administration in order to protect or constrain. The question of how a language system is interwoven and how individuals encounter and are woven into the system has been central to Gustafsson Fürst.

The Mothertongue, 2019

The title The Mothertongue is borrowed from the English mother tongue, one’s native language. Gustafsson Fürst notices with interest that the English word points to the assumption that a specific language is related to origin and body. The development of a language is an organic and changeable process of synthesisation with no a clear beginning or end. A language is always in a state of flux and if one is raised in a multilingual environment one has several “mother tongues”. In the sculpture, chair components and burls from Norrbotten have been synthesised. In some sections, the material has been carefully ground to achieve a seamless body; in other sections, the breaks are clearly visible.  

– Therese Kellner, Curator

The book Stridsskrift

The second part of Johanna Gustafsson Fürst’s exhibition Graft the Words, Whip My Tongue at Accelerator will coincide with the launch of the book Stridsskrift, edited by literary critic and author Sara Abdollahi. At an early stage in the exhibition process, Gustafsson Fürst expressed the importance of providing space to explore the themes of the exhibition in literary texts: “I wanted to bring together a group of people who use language as their medium for an expression of the joy of words, the pain of having one’s language restricted and the need for linguistic freedom and difference”. In collaboration with Sara Abdollahi, Gustafsson Fürst invited the writers and poets Lars Raattamaa, Negar Naseh, Balsam Karam, Ida Börjel and Loretto Villalobos. In consultation with Gustafsson Fürst, Jonas Williamsson has designed the book in relation to the sculptures and the benches, where the book has been placed.

The contributing writers have departed from Gustafsson Fürst’s topics explored in Graft the Words, Whip My Tongue and interpreted it freely based on their own experiences and fields of interest. In “Dripsa Dickadejor”, Ida Börjel has brought together writers that she has “read and read” with ideas on how languages are used in various situations. Negar Naseh’s story “Vinden slår” (The Wind Beats) begins at a maternity ward and the naming of a newborn, while Lars Raatamaa’s “Fragmentvers” (Fragment verse) is, as the title indicates, a collection of fragments. “Stum” (Mute) is the title of Loretto Villalobo’s essay about having to leave one’s mother tongue as a child and end up, as an adult, between languages. The point of departure for Balsam Karam’s “Avståndsmätning” (Distance measuring) is the Turkish-Kurdish conflict and how language violence is committed. Sara Abdollahi writes in the introduction: “The collective work on Stridsskrift is part of a larger whole. Beyond a nationally closed linguistic non-community, and loosely joined, in conjunction with the artwork, it collectively upholds an integrity and a musicality in order to resist a given centre.”

Stridsskrift is available for order for 100 SEK including postage. Send your order to accelerator@su.se for information about payment and delivery options. The book is also available at the following retailers: Konst-ig, Aspudden’s book store, Hedengren’s book store, Söderbokhandeln, Rönnells antikvariat (Stockholm).

Researcher collaborations

In the process of producing the exhibition for Accelerator, Johanna Gustafsson Fürst met with language researchers at Stockholm University who generously shared their research. Stockholm University has long defended and upheld a strong position in foreign-language teaching, language didactics and linguistics. The research, and not least the researchers in language didactics and multilingualism who have been involved in the exhibition, agree that mother-tongue education promotes further language learning. In collaboration with researchers at the university, Accelerator will present a series of talks based on the exhibition’s central issues.