The provisional publication ‘On Disuse’ (working title) is a publication about the physical and metaphorical voice of women, orally transmitted stories among women, the word ‘mother-tongue’, and speaking as a method to bring minorities together and for, solidarity.
“The world’s earliest archives or libraries were the memories of women. Patiently transmitted from mouth to ear, body to body, hand to hand. In the process of storytelling, speaking and listening refer to realities that do not involve just the imagination. The speech is seen, heard, smelled, tasted, and touched. It destroys, brings into life, nurtures. Every woman partakes in the chain of guardianship and transmission.”
- Trinh T. Minh-ha, Woman, Native, Other: Writing Postcoloniality and Feminism (Indiana University Press, 1989), 121.
Vocal women have always been associated with unreliability, alleged to bring disorder within communities. Therefore their voices are considered something that should be kept inside and not suitable to be hear publicly. Also, the primitivity of oral storytelling is perceived as backwardness, ignorance, and illiteracy, since most of the time it is hard to claim a singular owner of the spoken stories because of their ephemeral nature. However, its ephemeral quality makes one’s experience mobile and fluid. Primality makes itself the proper form for everyone to express themselves and speaking has always been a way for women to build solidarity in the community. I want to collect speaking women’s stories and what has been spoken by women that have been marginalised.
I kindly ask for your contribution, one piece (or more) of writing, in any kind of form, at any length. It doesn’t matter if it is existing or newly written one. Accompanying images are always welcomed. All the contributors will be credited and will receive a copy.
This result will be displayed in the 2023 Gerrit Rietveld Academie graduation show which will happen on the 5th-9th of July as a part of my graduation project in the graphic design department.
Deadline:
15th of June
Please submit to:
yooheecha@gmail.com
IG:
@yooheecha
