Tableaux vivants
Billboards in public space

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2015, 16 billboards, 89,5 x 128 cm, mirror foil, UV-print..

Several interpreters were interviewed for Décalage – An Exhibition by Westfenster Bern about Interpretation in the Intercultural Field. Based on these interviews, a selection of statements in the different languages and alphabets of the interpreters was printed on mirror foil. These statements were juxtaposed on eight billboards situated in the context of an urban landscape and/or neighborhood with a high level of ethnic and cultural diversity. The quotations are reflected in each other and include the viewer mirroring in the statements. The billboards thus become living images that reflect their environment. They form a portrait that is both collective and individual, an arrangement within which the statements form a whole that integrates them amongst each other as well as in relation to the viewer and the environment, lending visibility to the persona and situation of the translator. “It is not just about language, but also about people, about stories of migration and the difficulties of translation”.