marianne mispelaëre

LIBRARY OF SILENCES

charcoal in situ wall drawing
non-advertised performative action, eraser
variable dimensions
2017 - ongoing

The Library of Silences lists languages officially declared extinct since 1988. These languages, once vital societal means of communication and understanding, as well as cultural and spiritual objects, are now silences. On the wall are drawn their names, precise or approximate dates of their disappearance and geographical locations. All this information will then be erased during a non-advertised performance.
Through the phenomenon of language disappearance, the Library of Silences draws a global map of systems of domination, including colonialism, conquests, occupations and traumas. It raises questions related to the concept of modernity and the notion of identity. If the consequences of policies carried out throughout the 19th and 20th centuries are widely felt through the disappearance of languages, the dynamics of extreme globalization, fluidification, and simplification generated by our capitalist societies also contribute to these invisible disappearances.

MARIANNE MISPELAËRE